BOURDAIS HAS THE FINAL SAY FRENCHMAN HOLDS OFF TRACY TO TAKE CHAMP CAR VICTORY.

Byline: A.J. Perez Staff Writer

Sebastien Bourdais fought a two-front battle Sunday at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The 26-year-old Frenchman was victorious on the first, holding off four-time race champ Paul Tracy to win one of the most action-packed races the 1.97-mile temporary street course has seen in years.

Time will tell whether a tirade he unleashed a few minutes later would impact the battle for the direction of the race itself.

``It's been a long-term relationship,'' said an emotional Bourdais, the defending series champion, with eyes watering and voice stern. ``We want to be back here. The fans want us back here. ... It would (stink) to have the IRL here.''

This was the last year of a five-year deal between Champ Car and the Grand Prix Association and the series, in turn, performed like a major leaguer in a contract year. The 75,000 estimated to be in attendance - a figure that matched 2004's attendance numbers - were treated to a race that had as many on-track passes for the lead (three) as the prior three races combined.

That last pass was made on Lap 36 when Bourdais led his Ford-Cosworth-powered Lola past Tracy on the inside of Turn 1, the same place where Tracy passed both Bourdais and his Newman/Haas teammate and Sunday's third-place finisher Bruno Junqueira for last year's only pass.

``The McDonald's crew was pretty surprised that I had that shot on (Tracy),'' Bourdais said. ``I was, too. I came on the radio and said, 'How about that?' ''

Tracy said: ``As you can imagine, my reaction was the opposite.''

Bourdais pushed his lead to 5.096 seconds by Lap 54 of the 81-lap race. Both drivers made their second and final pit stop on Lap 61 and Bourdais kept his hefty lead on the exit.

It was clear that Tracy's only chance for a fifth win here and his third in a row would be if a yellow flag came out.

He got his wish on Lap 72 when rookie Andrew Ranger spun out on Turn 6 after making contract with Bjorn Wirdheim. Rookie Marcus Marshall, who was running a lap down, stood between Bourdais and Tracy.

In what some termed a rookie mistake, Marshall didn't wave Tracy by or head into the pits as the cars paraded around under the caution. A spokesman for Marshall's team, Team Australia, said Marshall was told by his crew to pull into the pits to let Tracy pass, but he stayed out on the track.

That was until he abruptly pulled into the pits when the green flag was waved on Lap 76, a move that cut Tracy off from mounting a run at Bourdais.

``That pretty much decided the race,'' Tracy said. ``It was really the only legitimate shot I had to get by Sebastien again, but it would have been hard.''

Bourdais finished the race with a time of 1 hour, 46 minutes, 29.768 seconds, an average of 89.111 mph, a mark that was 4.138 seconds better than that of Tracy.

That was nearly as much time as he lost when he mistakenly hit the pit lane speed limiter button - which slows the car to 60 mph - on Lap 3. The error allowed Junqueira to take the lead.

Tracy, the race's pole-sitter, took the lead back on Lap 11 on a restart following the first of four yellow flags on the day. Three of those cautions were caused by rookies and the other was by 18-year-old second-year driver Nelson Philippe.

None of the drivers were injured and Ranger's car was the only one not to finish the race because of contact.

Those four yellow flags were the only blemishes on an otherwise exciting race, which drew a massive walk-up crowd to boost the numbers to about 170,000 for the three-day weekend.

Jim Michaelian, the president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, was pleased to see the cloud of uncertainty regarding 2006 and beyond didn't keep this year's race from matching last year's take.

``That verifies the opinion that while there is a hard-core group of fans here that have an opinion on Champ Car vs. the IRL, the vast majority of people that come to this event are intrigued by the activities as well,'' Michaelian said. ``As a result of that most aren't involved in the controversy of where we are going.''

The fight to determine whether Champ Car - which along with its forerunner, CART, has raced here since 1984 - or the IRL will be brought here next year starts in earnest today. Michaelian, along with executives at the Grand Prix Association's parent company, Dover Motorsports, likely will have a decision within 60 days.

A.J. Perez, [phone]

aj.perez(at)presstelegram.com

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Photo:

Sebastien Bourdais of France celebrates his victory at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Matt Sayles/Associated Press

Box:

GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH