Bourdais wins in Mexico

But a slick second stop put him back in front for the final stint, and he kept his five second cushion to the flag.

"I really wanted to win at this track this year because we were so close last year," said Bourdais. "The car was great all weekend, I really couldn't have asked for more. It was challenging with all the rule changes, but we did our best. It was the right fit here at this track, and I really love this track. It was a good feeling to win in front such a big crowd."

Bourdais now leads the championship, with Long Beach winner and reigning champion Paul Tracy only able to come home seventh. "It is nice to be the Championship leader at this time," added Bourdais. "However, it is still way too early. The main goal is to stay in the top five and keep consistency throughout the season. It is definitely a great start getting on the podium at the first race, and a win here. It is even better having a 1-2 finish here for Newman/Haas."

Junqueira held on to second after a fairly uneventful race, while third went to Mario Dominguez, who had the opposite. The local hero spun and stalled at the end of lap 1, but came through from last thanks to some aggressive driving, and an out-of-sequence pit strategy.

Fourth place went to Patrick Carpentier who also went for an out-of-sequence strategy, and led a number of laps. Fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani, also a race leader, took fifth, while top rookie was Justin Wilson in sixth. The Brit ran in third in the early stages, but slipped back as the race wore on. "

"We were very slow in the first stint, the rear tyres went away," said Wilson. "The car was bouncing and sliding all over the place. It was a real hassle. I guess Paul (Tracy) had a similar problem because he couldn't get by me. But a few others drove past like I was standing still...which I was!

"In the end I nearly spun off. I was just trying everything possible and came out of the last corner and lost the back end. Paul came up the outside, then heading into the next corner I half lost it and he got by and a few others, I think. Basically it was a disaster in the first part of the race. I made a few overtaking manoeuvres trying to get back up the order, but I was too bad during the first stint to really do anything in the race."

Tracy finished seventh, despite a last corner clash with Jimmy Vasser, which put the American out of the race.

The next round of the Champ Car World Series, the only oval of the 2004 championship, takes place at Milwaukee under the lights on Saturday June 5.