SNOOZE FEST; Sebastien Bourdais wins Road America for the first time in his career.(Competition)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

"I hope the race wasn't too boring for the fans,'' said winner-and master of understatement-Sebastien Bourdais.

The Champ Car Generac Grand Prix at Road America in Wisconsin was a snoozer thanks to the Newman-Haas-Lanigan driver's dominance. He qualified more than a second and a half faster than Team Australia's Will Power. He led most of the laps. And on the final lap, he set the day's fastest time to guarantee that he would earn an extra point for the quickest lap of the race.

It was also a minor milestone for Bourdais, who had never won at Road America. It was the only Champ Car track the series has visited more than once where Bourdais was winless.

The race launched with the now-customary standing start under steamy conditions. Moments later, the caution flag flew for a turn-five collision involving Team Australia's Simon Pagenaud, Forsythe's Paul Tracy and Pacific Coast's Ryan Dalziel, making his return after missing a race for a broken collarbone suffered in a bicycle crash. All three cars continued, but none was a factor.

Bourdais got an excellent start, with Minardi's Robert Doornbos moving past Power for second. Bruno Junqueira, quick all weekend in his Dale Coyne car, moved from fifth to third but was black-flagged for jumping the start.

Also uncharacteristically fast was Minardi's Dan Clarke, who qualified on the pole here in 2006. Working an alternate pit strategy, Clarke led the few laps that Bourdais did not and remained in contention all day, finishing a career-best second. Bourdais' NHLR teammate, rookie Graham Rahal, was third. Forsythe's Oriol Servia picked up a point for advancing the most positions during the race, starting 14th and finishing fourth.