Race Report.(Motorsports)(CART in Australia)

For some reason, the Australian stop on the CART schedule is always good for a wild, if not downright weird race. For a semitropical paradise, the weather can be violent and unpredictable, and the quick, 2.795-mile street course, especially its tricky chicanes, is always a challenge. Or maybe it has something to do with racing upside down. When this one was all over, the result was not what many had predicted when the season began: Reynards finished 1-2-3 in the Champ Car event, and Paul Tracy has a CART championship.

Tracy came to Surfers Paradise with a 226-197 lead over Bruno Junqueira and an opportunity to clinch the title by finishing second or better. Sebastien Bourdais took pole position, robbing teammate Junqueira (who qualified second) of one badly needed championship point. But when the race started Newman-Haas team orders were in full force, as Bourdais set a comically slow pace to the flag, giving Junqueira a jump on the field. The start was waved off, and on the next lap Bourdais' game was a little quicker, if just as transparent. Junqueira sped off, while Tracy and Bourdais tangled in the first turn, with Tracy punted to the back. "So that's the game they're gonna play,'' Tracy could be heard saying into his helmet on the Team Player's radio channel.

On lap 12 Bourdais, his tie rod bent from the altercation with Tracy, clouted the wall to bring out a caution flag, and two laps later the race was red-flagged due to rain and surprisingly large hail. Forty minutes later the ...