LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Tristan Gommendy found himself
leading Sunday, late in only his second race in the Champ Car World
Series.
The 27-year-old Frenchman, who finished fifth a week earlier in
his debut in Las Vegas, took the top spot by using a different fuel
strategy than the leaders. He wound up 11th after having to make
his final pit stop under the green flag 11 laps from the end of the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
"I continue to learn," Gommendy said. "To lead a Champ Car
race, it is a new experience.
"We used a new setup on the PKV Racing car for the race and,
basically, at the beginning of a stint, the car was quite good.
But, at the end of the stint, I had a huge understeer.
"I think the biggest thing for me right now is to test, so I
can work on the setups and learn more about the car. But, overall,
I think we have improved. We led the race 13 laps today, which was
quite nice. Also, we finished the race and our result is not that
bad."
Sebastien Bourdais dominated Sunday on the way to his third
straight Long Beach race, but couldn't get past Gommendy on the
tight street circuit until his countryman finally pitted.
"I was feeling, `Maybe you shouldn't be pressing him so hard
because if he does stuff it in the tires, you end up in the back of
his car, you're really going to look stupid,' In the meantime, I
know Tristan is quite a good driver," Bourdais said.
"He's got plenty of experience. But I also know he's pretty new
to Champ Car. You do think about all those things when that kind of
situation happens."
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LOOKING BETTER: Heralded rookie Graham Rahal, the son of
longtime racing star Bobby Rahal, had a much better time of it in
Long Beach after crashing out before even reaching the first turn a
week earlier in Long Beach.
"At least we got the first race behind us and the next one
should be better," the 18-year-old driver said after finishing
eighth Sunday. "I know what it's like to drive a whole race now
and I'm happy to say that I was physically prepared enough to drive
a whole race now because I don't feel too bad.
"I'm pretty happy about that. Certainly I'll be getting a
massage the next couple of days. I had a major back cramp."
Rahal, Bourdais' teammate on the powerful Newman/Haas/Lanigan
Racing team, said the only problem he had during the race was slow
refueling on both of his pit stops.
"It was no fault of the crew, the new equipment just took
longer," the youngster said. `I think everybody is having the same
issues but it took us longer to fuel than others.
"On the track, I think we were competitive with whoever we were
running with. Unfortunately, we got behind (Neel) Jani at the end.
He may have been slower than us but he had a lot of straightaway
speed. I don't know where he got it because I was better off the
hairpin than he was, but he had some speed which eliminated the
possibility of getting by him."
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LET ME AT 'EM: Paul Tracy was back at his Las Vegas home Sunday,
beginning his recuperation from a fracture to the vertebra in his
lower back.
The 38-year-old Tracy, the oldest and winningest active driver
in Champ Car, was injured Saturday when his car slid nose-first
into a concrete barrier. He is expected to be out of action for
about eight weeks, possibly returning in time for the June 10 race
at Portland, Ore.
Vivian Tracy, his mother, said she talked with the 2003 series
champion by telephone on Sunday morning and that "he said he was
feeling good, not a whole lot of pain even without the pain pills
the doctor gave him."
Mrs. Tracy was with her son in the hospital Saturday and said he
kept asking her what time it was as he lay on a gurney while
waiting for X-rays.
"I told him it was 12:15 and asked him why he kept asking me
what time it was and he said, `I've got to get back to the track.
Qualifying is at 2 o'clock.' Unfortunately, that's not the way it
worked out."
She said her son would know more about his timetable for
returning to racing after visiting with noted orthopedic surgeon
Dr. Terry Trammell sometime this week in Indianapolis.
Oriol Servia replaced Tracy in the Forsythe Championship Racing
entry and qualified 14th in the 17-car field. He finished second
Sunday.
"Obviously, I hope Paul gets back soon," Servia said. "I hope
I find another ride, but I hope he gets back soon. He's a good
friend and you always feel bad when a driver gets hurt, and
especially him.
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FEELING GOOD: Cristiano da Matta, badly injured last August when
his Champ Car hit a deer during testing at Road American in Elkhart
Lake, Wis., waved the green flag for the start of Sunday's race.
"I'm back to normal," the 2002 series champion said. "If I
was my own doctor, I'd be racing now."
The 33-year-old Brazilian was hospitalized for several weeks and
underwent brain surgery following the Aug. 3 accident.