Checkered flag goes to Tagliani

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Lucky at last, Alex Tagliani finally finished first.

Tagliani turned a bad weekend into the best day of his career with a gamble that paid off with the checkered flag at the Grand Prix of Road America on Sunday.

Tagliani, who crashed in practice Friday and didn’t get to race in the first round of qualifying, passed Rodolfo Lavin four laps from the finish to secure his first career victory in 85 races.

“This race is for all the guys right here,” Tagliani said, pointing to his crew celebrating two-year-old Rocketsports Racing’s first trip to the winner’s circle. “I made them work very hard.”

Tagliani started in the 13th spot at Elkhart Lake, an unfamiliar position but one which allowed him to chance an early green-lag pit stop with four other drivers, including Justin Wilson. The strategy was rewarded when a yellow flag on the 14th lap bunched up the field and the other 13 drivers needed to pit three more times on green instead of two.

“Maybe today I was lucky the way the yellow turned out in the race,” Tagliani said. “But many races this year we were unlucky. … It takes good strategy, a fast car and a little bit of luck to be able to win a race in this series and I think today all the ingredients were there.”

Tagliani, who led here in 2000 with six laps to go when he was done in by a gearbox problem, also had gearbox troubles Saturday.

“The only problem-free day was Sunday and that was the day that counted,” he said.

Lavin’s second-place finish also was the best of his career.

“I’ve been working for this many, many years,” said the 27-year-old driver from San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Season points leader and pole-sitter Sebastien Bourdais finished third after an eventful day that included five yellow flags that resulted in the planned 52-lap race going just 48 because of an hour, 45-minute time limit. Tagliani’s winning speed was 110.903 mph. Lavin finished 1.855 seconds back.

Bourdais had won his three previous races when he started on the pole this season, at Monterrey, Mexico, Portland, Ore., and Toronto.

Bourdais was upset that he had to slow down while the pace car got out of his way during the restart on the 14th lap, allowing Paul Tracy to pass him and his Newman/Haas teammate Bruno Junqueira.

“And he touched me, and he bent my front suspension and my car was very difficult after that to drive,” Bourdais said.

Junqueira called the restart a nightmare.

“I think there was a mistake made about the acceleration point on the restart and it changed the race,” he said. “Coming around the corner for the restart, Sebastien braked hard and I had to brake hard to avoid hitting him and went into the grass. Then Paul was four car lengths ahead of me instead of in third.

“We felt Tracy jumped the restart and should have been penalized.”

Before the day was over, he would be, but for another infraction.

Three laps from the end, Junqueira hit the brakes hard on a downhill stretch and Tracy rammed into his car, receiving a black flag from Champ Car officials who ruled it was avoidable contact.

Bourdais increased his season lead to 47 points over Junqueira (213-166), with Tagliani (153) moving past Tracy (152) into third place.

Tagliani, a 31-year-old Canadian, had finished second three times in his career, including at Elkhart Lake in 2002.