The duel between Team Australia and Newmann/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the Champ Car World Series is set to ignite during this weekend’s Cleveland Grand Prix.
Both teams impressed during testing earlier this week at Elkhart Lake’s Road America circuit by dominating the one and two positions on the timesheets on their allocated session time.
With the field split over two days, Team Australia’s Will Power, who is currently placed second in the overall championship standings, managed to top the timesheets, while series leader and three-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais swept all before him on day two.
Bourdais (#1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) was fastest on the track despite having flown straight from the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Bourdais lapped the 4.048-mile track in 1m42.60secs, nearly half a second quicker than his teammate Graham Rahal who was second fastest at 1m43.00 seconds.
Similarly the Team Australia performance provided a first class exhibition as Power set the fastest time of the first day at 1m43.75secs in the #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01, narrowly beating his rookie team-mate Simon Pagenaud of France, who was an outstanding second-fastest with a time of 1m43.87secs.
The runways and taxiways of the Burke Lakefront Airport are the scene of this weekend’s Grand Prix of Cleveland, a venue that has traditionally turned on fantastic Champ Car events since 1982.
Meantime, the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series moves North where the SKYCITY Triple Crown will be contested at the Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Since the championship first trekked to the ‘Top End’ in 1998, the Hidden Valley venue has undergone continual improvements to grow into one of the most popular stops in the series.
Becoming the most successful driver in the history of the championship after taking out the previous round at Eastern Creek, Mark Skaife can become the first driver to secure two round wins in 2007 if he is victorious this weekend.
The Darwin circuit has been one where the Holden veteran has enjoyed tremendous success over the years by securing four pole positions and two round victories.
Skaife’s Holden Racing Team team-mate, Todd Kelly, won back-to-back rounds in 2004 and 2005 and enters this weekend equal third in the championship standings with round four winner, Jamie Whincup who is the only Ford driver to win a race so far in 2007.
Kelly’s brother, Rick continues to maintain a consistent run and now boasts a 25-point championship lead over his Toll HSV team-mate Garth Tander.
Ford’s Russell Ingall won the first ever round contested at the 2.9km circuit.
Ingall, who is currently ninth in the championship standings, has six race victories in Darwin and will be aiming to continue his team’s success at the track this weekend.
Ingall’s Stone Brothers Racing outfit has won three times at Hidden Valley with Jason Bright in 1999 and Marcos Ambrose (2001 and 2003). Craig Lowndes became the first non-SBR Ford driver to win a round for the manufacturer when he took out the corresponding round last year.
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