11/05/2006

TEAM Australia’s Alex Tagliani believes the experience of both himself and his crew will give him a shot at podium place or better in this weekend’s Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston – the second round of the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.

Tagliani is coming off a confidence-boosting third place in the opening round at Long Beach California last month in his Aussie Vineyards Lola and is looking forward to tackling the new temporary street course in Houston.

Tagliani and fellow Canadian Paul Tracy are the only two drivers in the field who have had more than 100 starts in Champ Car competition and this can only be seen as an asset when attacking a brand new layout.

They are also two of eight drivers in the 19-car field who have recorded race wins in the series.

This year Champ Car will be revisiting the streets of Houston after a four year hiatus from the “Space City.”

Houston hosted four Champ Car races from 1998-2001 on the streets of downtown. During the four year run, Houston produced four different winners.

Of the current roster of drivers only Tagliani, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia raced on the old layout.

While Tagliani is one of the most experienced drivers in the field his young Australian team mate Will Power will be having just his fourth Champ Car start.

One of six rookies in the field, Power is confident he can build on his season-opening ninth place in Long Beach where he admits to making a couple of “rookie” mistakes which possibly cost him a top five result.

This year’s Houston Grand Prix marks just the second time in history that Champ Car has run a temporary road course event under the lights

The only other temporary road course race to run at night came in 2003 when Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport. On that occasion Tagliani qualified seventh and finished a credible eighth.

CHAMP CAR ATLANTICS – ROUND 2

This weekend will also see the second round of the Champ Car Atlantic Series which will feature Team Australia’s Simon Pagenaud and James Davison.

Frenchman Pagenaud is coming off a fourth place in the opening round in Long Beach and a successful two-day test this week where he was quickest on day one and second-fastest overall.

Davison, a talented young Australian from Melbourne, has shown increased speed at each outing and is definitely adapting to the Atlantic car after graduating from Formula BMW at the end of last season.

For further information, please call:
Brett Murray – BAM Media - +61 418 760066
Communications Manager – Team Australia

12/05/2006

TEAM Australia’s Alex Tagliani has posted the third quickest time in the opening qualifying session for this weekend’s Houston Grand Prix in Texas – round two of the Champ Car World Series.

Tagliani recorded exactly the same time as fourth-placed AJ Allmendinger in his Aussie Vineyards Lola, but was given third spot because his second-fastest lap was quicker than the young American’s.

Defending champion Sebastian Bourdais was more than half a second faster than the field during qualifying, but his car failed post-qualifying technical inspection and he was relegated to the back of the field.

Bourdais’ team-mate Bruno Junqueira has taken provisional pole as a result from Canadian Paul Tracy and Tagliani.

Will Power was officially ninth in the second Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Lola, but could have also been further up the time sheets if not for a late session mishap.

Qualifying was halted by four red flags and turned into a whirlwind of activity in the final few minutes, as the majority of the field circulated around the 11-turn course in search of quick times.

Bourdais had supplanted his Newman/Haas Racing team-mate Junqueira atop the time charts just before the last of the four red flags flew, this time for the car of Power, who deposited his car in the turn five tyres.

Despite the incident Power is still the quickest rookie in the field.

It was in these last few minutes that Tagliani posted his time and gave himself a solid foundation on which to build tomorrow.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY….

ALEX TAGLIANI - #15 AUSSIE VINEYARDS TEAM AUSTRALIA

“It was a great team effort, it would have been interesting to see what Will could have done; he was doing really good early on,” said Tagliani.

“I’m very pleased with the effort of the team, the car is getting better and better.

“We keep working hard, and it’s been a good weekend so far. If we can keep that up for tomorrow, at the end of the day we will be better.”

WILL POWER - # 5 AUSSIE VINEYARDS TEAM AUSTRALIA LOLA

“Unfortunately we got our quickest lap time taken away, so that was a bit disappointing,” said Power.

“I found a little extra speed so the car should be better tomorrow.”

DERRICK WALKER – CO-OWNER

“We have some good early speed and that is encouraging,” said Derrick.

“The track and is quite bumpy and the lights always take a little getting use to for the drivers, it is certainly a different experience out there.

“I think everything is on track for a solid final qualifying tomorrow.”

CRAIG GORE – CO-OWNER

“That was a pretty good start to the weekend and I am sure there is more to come,” said Gore.

“The team is working well together and has not lost sight of our goals for this season.

“This is an important weekend for us from a business sense with Houston being a major potential market for Aussie Vineyards and our other Australian sponsors.

“We look forward to achieving some positive outcomes on and off the track this weekend.”

For furthers information, please call:
Brett Murray – BAM Media – (0418) 760066
Communications Manager – Team Australia.

Will Power's seventh place finish at the second round of the Champ Car World Series Race in Houston, Texas was enough to jump him to the top of the 'Rookie of the Year' points table and also sees him lying ninth in the overall standings.
Yesterday was the first ever race on the bumpy street circuit, a converted concrete car park in the centre of Houston and it had the added difficulty factor of being held at night under lights. Without power-steering the drivers battled with their bouncing cars for two hours around the fast circuit, and with no straights to relax on, the sheer physical nature of the race took it's toll on some drivers.
Power had a relitvely trouble free race from 10th on the grid, however during the closing stages of the race the Australian came together with fellow Rookie Charles Zwolsman while on cold tyres, and while he had no damage, he was forced to take a drive-though penalty which bumped him back to 10th place.
Although it was ultimately his team-mates misfortune that helped Power move up the field. Alex Tagliani and Orial Servia came together finsihing Servias race on the spot and Taglianis only five laps later. After passing A.J Allmendiger for 9th place, the two further retirements bumped Will up to 7th place where he eventually crossed the line.

May 13, 2006 – Team Australia's Alex Tagliani was taken to hospital for overnight observation after hitting a wall at turn three during tonight's Houston Grand Prix – the second round of the Champ Car World Series.

Five laps earlier Tagliani had contact with Oriol Servia at turn 1, which resulted in the Spaniard ending up in the tyres and a safety car period.

Five laps later the race was about to go green again when Tagliani hit the wall at turn three after apparent brake failure in his Aussie Vineyards Lola – a result of his earlier incident with Servia.

Tagilani suffered back pains due to the accident and the Champ Car medical staff recommended an overnight stay in a local Houston hospital and an MRI to check for inflammation.

Tagliani's teammate Will Power flew the Team Australia flag in his Aussie Vineyards Lola and finished seventh.

Power was the leading rookie in the race and is the leading rookie in the championship, sitting ninth.

It could have been a much better result for the young Australian if not for a drive through penalty after a coming together with Charles Zwolsman on lap 71.

The race was won by defending series champion Sebastian Bourdais from Paul Tracy and pole sitter Mario Dominguez.

The next round of the championship will be in Monterrey Mexico next weekend.