CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES: MOLSON INDY MONTREAL

August 28, 2004

A.J. Allmendinger

Sebastien Bourdais

Mario Dominguez

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: Well, we were trying to get the pole position, but third is a very good place to start the race from. We are in excellent position for tomorrow. We have a good car. So, you know, I'm not fully satisfied. I'm pretty happy with what we do and the Herdez team has done a great job past few races and we just keep improving. This race is going to be quite good fun to go tomorrow and I think we could DO a fantastic job with the car we have.

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: We qualified fourth in Toronto and fourth in Vancouver. Just the races didn't go -- I crashed with Bruno in the first lap in Toronto. And Vancouver, the race just didn't go as planned. But we've been fast everywhere. We have the speed. We just need to put it together in the race.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: I'm very happy with where we qualified. Obviously when you get that close, and Bourdais just plays with you till last lap, you know -- but anyway. For us right now, any time you can be in the Top-5, you know, that's my goal. Because it's such a tough series and such a tough competition that, you know, I'm just trying to learn as much as possible and I feel like I can be in the top five, that's great for us. So being on the front row is especially fantastic.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: As you said, we've been close all weekend. It's a matter of getting the car better each session and getting myself better. Up until that last lap, I had not put a great lap for myself in yet, and, you know, I was able to do that. I love racing at Montreal. Barber Dodge has been great. Last time we were in Canada, Western Union was on board the car and we were able to podium there in Vancouver. So hopefully that brings us good luck and more of the same.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: Hopefully we all get through turn one, and then I'll hopefully just kind of play with Bourdais for a while and then he'll make a mistake about with three to go, I'll take the lead -- (laughing.) He's here for the championship hunt. More than anything, you can dream about what you're going to do on start, but as soon as the green flag drops it all goes out the window. Hopefully we just get through turn one. And I know we have a great car, so we're going to start and have no mistakes and have a great finish.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, the first one was not really clear. I finished -- inaudible -- short, but I think it's ridiculous, whatever. You know, you're driving the car as far as you can and you don't know if you can use the curb, and all of a sudden the car starts rocketing in the chicane, like, "what?" So, whatever. I think it was a much harder session, a lot of traffic for sure after the red flag and everything, a lot of cover on the racetrack and you have to back off. It was not clear for blocking. It was not very easy to find your way through. And I was very happy that we came through the last lap because I really think we had a very fast car again, and I think we could have done better, like everybody else and just happy. The car is going to start sliding, especially if it rains, which is more than likely, if I'm correct, so we'll see. For sure if it rains tomorrow, it's much better to start on the pole than from the back.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Yeah, I think we had some more probably.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: Why do you gotta toy with us till the last lap?

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, because -- (laughter.)

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: I see the last lap, like, "oh my God, couldn't be."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: All right. I won't say anything.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: Say that again -- just say that again. Three minutes, I heard that part. (Laughter). What was the second part?

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: No, I could probably have got maybe a 10th out of the car, a little bit more, but that was a pretty good lap for myself. Sebastien put in a great lap, so I don't think I could have had a chance at that.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, the thing is when you start from the pole you're supposed to lead the pack. I'm just going to try and have a clear run, but for sure, turn one and two are always kind of messy, and I can only imagine how it's going to be if it rains. I guess it's the safest position, but it's never safe anywhere. So just going to try to make it to the finish.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: No. No, no, no, I was just trying very hard. But, well, I just -- Mario did a mistake at some point and I was going to run into him, so I backed off. And then I lost two laps which was on the back straight, so I lost two laps. Then I tried again, got called again for the shortcutting and then the last two laps, the first one I did a small mistake. And then I really put myself all together to try to do one on the very last lap. That's why I said there was probably some more, but I just really needed to put a lap together on the last run, which is pretty much what happened. I'm very happy with that.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: I think it's just impossible for a guy that has a good car and can go over the curb -- we can use it quite a lot, and the feel on the foot holding or whatever they call it. And so the concrete, there's no line that tells you how far you can go, but all of a sudden you get caught for shortcutting the thing and shooting the curb. So you're like, "What?" And you have no idea how far you can go. So, I hope tomorrow we're going to take this out because during the race, they put it out you'll get called every time for supposedly you shortcut this thing.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: That's fine then. Let's leave that in there. (Laughter).

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Maybe if it rains, it's not going to be a problem because you won't really be trying to use it. If they keep this rule like that, just makes it impossible, 20 cars since this morning 30 cars shortcutting, it's not like we blow the chicane. Actually John came us to, he said the timing lines that they installed on the track doesn't go far enough so the transponder is not going over the line if you take just like -- it's a question of inches. So, it's a very fine line, and from the inside of the car, you have no idea if you are within the limit or not. That's just the way it is.

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: We fixed the right-rear corner and the right-rear wing and some underwing damage. It was a fairly, you know, good amount of work for the guy, so they did great. I give them a lot of credit. Obviously they gave me a fast race car again. Yesterday I was third and today we were third again, so we are looking pretty good.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: There has not been a driver meeting yet.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: As Sebastien said, there's nothing there, so you just kind of take a guess, honestly. Chris Nifold (ph), when we walked around the track on Thursday, kind of showed us about the curb but he just said, as Sebastien said, if you run over too far, you're going to get penalized and none of us really know where that is.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: The thing is, you can go as far as the car doesn't touch the inside curb, and if you do that, then you get called all the time. So you never really know.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: The thing is last year there was not this scoring line that was there to call a shortcut. A shortcut is pretty obvious. Either you make the chicane or you don't. If you don't, it's very vivid and visible, but, I don't know.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Really, every time you run in traffic, you back off. You don't hang around behind someone trying to mess up your tires or whatever. So I have no idea how the car is handling in traffic, but it's usually just -- slide around and that's all it really does. That's why it's very good to start at the front, I guess.

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: I think the Bridgestones are very good. I'm very happy with what they have done. I actually like them. A lot of drivers don't like option tires. I like it. You put a soft set of Bridgestones, it's exciting, you get three or four laps to just go for it, to go faster than with the other tires. They seem to last quite good. So it will all depend. We'll see tomorrow. Obviously in the race, everything changes, but they seem to be very, very good.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: I think I agree. An important key of the race has pretty much been the tires that Bridgestone bought, the tires was actually going faster and more durable. So I think the consistency is not going to be a factor, especially here. It's not as hard on the tires, so I think we are going to look very good tomorrow.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: Yeah, I'd agree with that, yeah.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, I love to test in the rain conditions, in the wet conditions. But race conditions are always a problem when I guess you're running up front like a test because nobody is throwing you any water, but it makes life really difficult for everybody in the pack. I don't know what is going to be the limit about the rain level they are going to get or if we have to wait again like last year. I just hope if it rains, it doesn't rain too bad and we can race. You know, when you are working in the car, you don't really feel it. Just keep on your coat and stay warm.

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: I think he has a rookie championship to try and get, so he has as much as I have to lose. Everybody has his own fight, and nobody wants to have contact on the first when you are up front because you have the opportunity to get the greatest results. So I hope that he's not going to risk everything. It's a long race and everything can change very fast, especially if it rains tomorrow.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: I'm going all out. I'm not lifting at turn one. (Laughter).

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: You don't lift in turn one, great. I'm going to do well --

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: I'm going to be aiming for you, no. (Laughter). I do have something to lose, but, you know, I will challenge for the lead. But, you know, I feel like I'm a pretty smart driver about that stuff, and I'm not going to overdo it because a great result is a great result. And obviously everybody wants to win, but for me to be in the Top-5 or if I have a chance to be on the podium, that's great, too. So if I have an opportunity to challenge for the lead, I'm definitely going to do it, but I'm not going to try to do anything stupid for it.

A.J. ALLMENDINGER: Well, two years, veteran, that's fine. But I do. I respect everybody in the series a ton. Like I said, I'm going to stay behind him, three laps to go, he makes a mistake, I learn everything that I can and I win the race. That's perfect. (Laughter).