BOURDAIS, RAHAL MAINTAIN LEAD IN CLOSELY CONTESTED PHANOS CHAMP CAR EUROPEAN TEAM CUP

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Team earn 16 points in today’s qualifying session

Assen, The Netherlands (August 31, 2007) – Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) maintained their slim lead in the Phanos European Team Cup Championship today in Assen by scoring points for a third (Rahal) and sixth (Bourdais) position in the first round of qualifying.

The McDonald’s and Medi |Zone NHLR drivers entered today with a 9.5 point lead, and following today’s results, the pair now sits 10 points ahead of the second place team of Simon Pagenaud and Will Power of Team Australia, who respectively came out of Friday qualifying in second and eighth places.

 

Champ Car teams earn points during both the Friday and Saturday qualifying sessions, with first place earning 10 points and each following position .5 points less than the preceding driver (10 / 9.5 / 9 / 8.5 / 8 etc.), making the qualifying sessions an important part of the Phanos Champ Car European Team Cup competition.

 

Sunday race points start at 20 for the winner with each following driver picking up one point less (20 / 19 / 18 / 17 etc.). The points are then totaled for each teammate to determine the standings.

 

Conquest Racing’s points gained by lone driver Jan Heylen will be doubled for each session. (Please see attached document with current standings and points distribution.)

 

With so many points still available, it remains any team’s game. The third place pair of Justin Wilson and Alex Tagliani currently has a total of 70 points while Forsythe Championship drivers Oriol Servia and Paul Tracy are in fourth only five points behind.

 

The Phanos Champ Car European Team Cup champion will be crowned this weekend following the Bavaria Beer Champ Car Grand Prix of Holland Presented by Audi, Gant, Hertz, Pioneer and Jumbo. The team with the most points after the two European races will be rewarded with trophies and a week-long stay at a Phanos Resort location.

 

An element of the new partnership between Champ Car and Phanos provides the entire Champ Car World Series organization including executives, team owners, operations personnel and drivers with deluxe housing at a Phanos Resort during their stay in Assen.

 

 

PHANOS CHAMP CAR EUROPEAN TEAM CUP STANDINGS
 
Pos.
 Team
 Drivers
 Points
 
1.
 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
 Sebastien Bourdais / Graham Rahal
 86.5
 
2.
 Team Australia
 Simon Pagenaud / Will Power
 76.5
 
3.
 Rocketsports / RuSPORT
 Alex Tagliani / Justin Wilson
 70
 
4.
 Forsythe Championship Racing
 Oriol Servia / Paul Tracy
 65
 
5.
 Dale Coyne Racing
 Bruno Junqueira / Katherine Legge
 59.5
 
6.
 PKV Racing
 Tristan Gommendy / Neel Jani
 54.5
 
7.
 Minardi Team USA
 Dan Clarke / Mario Dominguez / Robert Doornbos
 47.5
 
8.
 Conquest Racing
 Jan Heylen
 37
 
9.
 Pacific Coast Motorsports
 Ryan Dalziel / Alex Figge
 32