EURO DOMINANCE; Sebastien Bourdais wins Champ Car's Belgium stop.(Competitions of car racing)

Byline: GARY WATKINS

The last time the Champ Car World Series came to Europe, at Brands Hatch in May 2003, Sebastien Bourdais recorded his first series win. Four years and three titles later, he notched another European triumph, at Zolder, Belgium. If the Formula One-bound Frenchman does what he did four years ago and wins the second leg of the fly-away tour, at Assen in the Netherlands, the 2007 crown should be his.

Bourdais was in superlative form all weekend. He stuck his car on the pole, led from the start and won by 13 seconds.

Not only was he faster than his rivals, but Bourdais pulled one of the race's handful of actual overtaking moves. Bruno Junqueira had ended up ahead of him after the third of three safety-car periods, courtesy of a more aggressive strategy, but he could do nothing to stop Bourdais from moving past into what was effectively the lead. The three drivers now ahead of Bourdais, led by Simon Pagenaud, all would have to make another pit stop before the race ended.

Junqueira had a topsy-turvy race on the way to second place. He ran fifth until the first round of fuel stops after 17 laps. The fuel hose didn't go on correctly, and the time lost cost him 10 places.

Coyne, Junqueira's team, brought its driver in when the race went yellow for a second time after only seven more racing laps. That vaulted him up to second place once everyone else had been sorted out, but an early third stop meant he had to conserve fuel in the closing stages.

Graham Rahal came close to making it a Newman- Haas-Lanigan 1-2, but he couldn't quite find a way past Junqueira. The 18-year-old qualified only 13th after a protracted red flag disrupted his strategy. He, too, opted to make an early second stop, which propelled him up the leader board.