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TWO IN A ROW; Allmendinger is on a roll, taking the Cleveland Grand Prix.(Motorsports)
Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH
Drivers need perhaps 10 seconds to enter Turn One, navigate Turn Two and enter Turn Three at the Burke Lakefront Airport track, but it will take a bit longer to explain all that occurred during those 10 seconds on the opening lap of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland.
First Andrew Ranger spun and was clipped by Cristiano da Matta. Charles Zwolsman and Alex Tagliani were also involved. And after a rocket-fast start by Oriol Servia, pole-sitter A.J. Allmendinger, convinced Servia was about to lose it next to him, spun into the grass and damaged his front wing.
And then things got really interesting: Fighting for the same Turn Two real estate, Forsythe driver Paul Tracy got sandwiched between Newman/Haas teammates Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais. Junqueira needed only a new wing, but the contact between Tracy and Bourdais was terrifying, as Tracy's car launched over Bourdais' cockpit. Tracy somehow landed on all four wheels and kept the engine running, but the day was done for points-leader and defending champion Bourdais, as he was strapped to a neck brace and backboard and rushed to a local hospital for a CAT Scan.
Bourdais was examined and released from the hospital. Surveying his scuffed helmet and the damaged roll hoop on his Lola-the TV camera mounted there was ripped away, and there were gouges in the side of the hoop-it could have been so much worse.
Having won four of the five Champ Car races this season, Bourdais' finish, last in the 18-car field, cost him points, but his lead was so substantial he remains well in front.
With Bourdais out of the race, Allmendinger-fresh from his first Champ Car win at Portland after being fired by his RuSport team, then adopted by Forsythe to replace the fired Mario Dominguez-set his sights on a second win, and he got it. But it wasn't easy. Allmendinger didn't know what had occurred between Bourdais, Junqueira and teammate Tracy. But he knew he needed to pit and get his front wing repaired.
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