2007 San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 9 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season | |
Redback Raceway
|
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| Date | July 29, 2007 |
| Official name | San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway |
| Location | Streets of San Jose San Jose, California, United States |
| Course |
Redback Raceway (Temporary street course) 1.443 mi / 2.322 km |
| Distance | 107 laps 154.401 mi / 248.484 km |
| Weather | Sunny with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds approaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Justin Wilson (RSPORTS) |
| Time | 49.039 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Justin Wilson (RSPORTS) |
| Time | 49.584 (on lap 35 of 107) |
| Podium | |
| First | Robert Doornbos (Minardi Team USA) |
| Second | Neel Jani (PKV Racing) |
| Third | Oriol Servià (Forsythe Racing) |
The 2007 San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway is the ninth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season. It was held on July 29 at the Redback Raceway temporary street circuit, in San Jose, California.
Sébastien Bourdais lead Friday's qualification session with a late fast lap near the end of qualifying. However he faded on Saturday due to some mechanical issues with his car and Justin Wilson posted the fast lap Saturday taking the pole. By virtue of his fast lap Friday Bourdais managed to maintain second position on the grid into the race.
* Pagenaud assessed 25 second time penalty for blocking.
The first two editions of the San Jose Grand Prix were mostly processional affairs with little to no passing. The 2007 edition, on the other hand, proved to be a very competitive affair with the winner fighting through the field from 15th position on the starting grid. The race was reminiscent of the Cleveland race where Paul Tracy rebounded from early contact and pit stops to win the race, except this race was held on a tight street circuit and not on Cleveland's wide open airport runways. The recent introduction of a painted white line in certain corners to visually enforce Champ Car's "no blocking" rule has resulted in the unintended but happy consequence of increasing the possibility of overtaking.
The standing start went off without a hitch but trouble hit at the Turn 1 hairpin, where a logjam developed in the rear of the field. Robert Doornbos lurched into the back of Jan Heylen's car knocking off his own front wing. Meanwhile, Sébastien Bourdais made a mistake in Turn 2, allowing Justin Wilson to take the lead. Doornbos and Heylen pitted under the yellow resulting from their contact.
More trouble hit as the field was preparing to take the green flag. Second place runner Dan Clarke ran into the back of Justin Wilson's car on the Balbach straight. The rear suspension on Wilson's car was damaged, sending him to the pits. The damage was eventually repaired, but Wilson finished the race 20 laps off the leader. Clarke's day was done.
Oriol Servià took advantage of the misfortune in front of him and led until lap 34 when Neel Jani was able to pass him at Turn 1. The two drivers would continue to battle at or near the front of the race the rest of the day.
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