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Russ Bond Motorsport Report: Power-slide in Toronto

Thank God it rained in Toronto on July 8 for the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto.The rain made the Champcar race something to watch, even though you would call the crowd sparse at best. It is a sad reality, that like the Indy 500, the Champcar race in Toronto is just a shadow of its former self.

Need proof? French Canadian Alex Tagliani, a local hero, finished 8th, a good result, until you know what really happened, he was two laps down, and finished ninth ... (the math says only eight cars running at the end.)

You had to feel for Tagliani, because when the rains came on lap 37, Tagliani and his RSports team had played the strategy perfectly, by bringing him in on each yellow so that he could stay out as long as possible waiting for the rain. He could make one stop for rains and fuel, and emerge as the leader. Where did it go wrong?

The rains came harder than expected, and on Tag's in lap, he crashed into the tire wall. It took two laps to pull him out ... the win was gone.

“With the yellows and the times we came into the pits for refueling, we had a pretty good shot at finishing on the podium,” Tag said after the race. “But we just missed the opportunity to come into the pits for wet tires when it was raining in the back straight away. Because of that I spun out, because it really was slippery out there. Then Oriol (Servia)

The Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto got exciting when the rains came. (Photo: Russ Bond, Russbondagency.com)

ran into me when I was stopped on the track after I spun and he pushed me into the tires. I was stuck there and it took forever to get us out, which is when we lost the two laps.”

Even so, Tag got some points, which is more than you can say about Paul Tracy, the other Canadian in the field. He was gone by the end of the first lap.

Tracy hit somebody's wing that had gotten knocked off, and it got stuck under the front wing of his car. As Tracy's car picked up speed (he couldn't see the wing due to it being below his sight line) on the back section of the track, so did the height at the front of his car until the front wheels were no longer touching the ground. A hard crash, which caught up four other cars, meant the field was reduced to 12.

Most would have headed for the exits at that point, but the rain made it interesting. The ongoing battle between Robert Doornbos and Sebastien Boudais reached new heights when Doornbos ran into the back of Bourdais at the end of the straight. Doornbos was able to continue,

Alex Tagliani looked to be in for a good finish, maybe a win, until he got caught out in the rain. (Photo: Russ Bond, Russbondagency.com)

Bourdais was done, but he was a lot better in the post race interviews ... “Robert made a small mistake but it had a big consequence on both the race and the (championship) standings for the McDonald's team,” Bourdais said. “I could see in his eyes (at the crash site) that he was sorry and he apologized after the race. I didn't see anything, he just t-boned me and was able to continue which gained him another six or so points, which was enough to take over the lead.”

Up front, Will Power was asserting himself, taking the lead and the win, followed by Neel Jani and Justin Wilson, who marched back through the field – at the expense of Ryan Dalziel – to claim the final podium spot.

The last two races of the Champcar series have been interesting solely because the rains came ... all we can do is hope for a wet Edmonton in a few weeks.

Also at Toronto ...

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