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Post Race Selected Quotes - Long Beach

Newman-Haas

Sebastien Bourdais - 1st: "I am very surprised, not really expecting to be in the top three with the way the weekend was going. I got real pumped up before the race. It was a good race for me and my career, starting P4 and finishing P1. The McDonald's crew did an excellent job today. It is good for Newman/Haas Racing, it has been a while since they brought home a victory from Long Beach, and I happy to be able to do that today. The Bridgestone Alternate tires were real fast today, and they helped me get around Paul (Tracy) to hold on to the lead, and take the win. It is a great day, and a great start to the season."

Bruno Junqueira - 3rd: "The day went ok. At the start of the race the PacifiCare car was running real well. I was just running behind PT (Paul Tracy) and trying to save fuel. I got lots of miles out of the car today. When I had a free track at the end of the race, the car was running real well, but it was not as good as it had been running all weekend. It was good enough to get around (Mario) Dominguez at the end of the race and finish third. I am happy with the result today, I think it was a good race for the fans and I look forward to returning to the streets of Long Beach next year."

Forsythe

Paul Tracy - 2nd: "This is great. I think we could have had more, the Indeck car was there. We had a good first stint, but after that, the car did not improve any. I was basically running the same pace throughout the whole race. Sebastien (Bourdais) came up on us hard, so there was not a whole lot I could do. I gave him room and played fair. I tried hard to closed ground before the last pit stops, but he maintained his distance. I was trying to keep a steady pace in order to finish where we were, in second. I think it was a good day, a good race, a great event for the fans, so it has been overall a great weekend."

Mario Dominguez - 5th: "I'm satisfied, but not super happy. We ran well but the brakes weren't working as well as I would like and I used all my Push-to-Pass early in the race so when Bruno (Junqueira) made a run on me at the next-to-last restart there was nothing I could do. Then Justin (Wilson) got by after I made a small mistake. I only got one day of testing in the off-season so I'm still a bit rusty. But the team has been great and we scored some good points. I've got a few test days coming up before Monterrey (Mexico, on May 22nd) so I think we'll be in good shape. I'm really looking forward to putting the Forsythe #7 car up front when we go there."

RuSport

Justin Wilson - 4th: "I'm very proud of the SanDisk/RuSPORT team. The whole crew did a great job all weekend and today, Todd (Malloy, Race Engineer #9) did a great job calling the race and the crew gave me great pit stops. We were just a fraction of a second from 2nd-place out of my last stop. We fell back and battled for 3rd. Bruno (Junqueira) went sliding wide, and I almost had him. Today is a good start, but next time, we plan on getting those Newman-Haas guys!"

A.J. Allmendinger - 8th: "It has been an okay weekend. Today we struggled with the same issues we've had all weekend-no front end grip and poor car balance. The #10 car just never came around. We still delivered both RuSPORT cars in the top-ten, and my teammate Justin Wilson did an excellent job, especially with the last pass on (Mario) Dominguez. We've definitely got a lot of work to do, but we've got the determination to do it."

Rocketsports

Timo Glock - 6th: "It was really tricky for me at the beginning. The start was not too bad but Alex (Tagliani) took me out on the third lap. Then ten laps into the stint the rear tires starting going off and I was losing time to Wilson because I had too much understeer. Our first pitstop was really good but my timing was bad on the out laps because I pushed too hard on the second lap and the front tires weren't up to temperature and I lost two-or-three seconds and then I was behind Tagliani again. At the end the car was really good and I was able to overtake some guys and I was having a really good time at the end. The Rocketsports team did a really good job this weekend."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - 13th: "We started off the race today excellent. I passed Vasser on the start and then got by Allmendinger a couple of laps later and everything was going well. Then I started having some braking issues and I locked up the rear tires and lost four positions and then locked up the fronts and lost three more positions so that is seven positions total. I was a very rough weekend overall and we're looking forward to getting out of Long Beach. The Rocketsports team will be working hard before Monterrey and we should be in better shape there."

HVM

Ronnie Bremer - 7th: "HVM did a great job all weekend; they made my job a bit easier. I led a few laps, I suppose for a rookie that is not too bad for my first race! There were no big dramas out there for me today; I just tried to push as hard as I could. Unfortunately (Timo) Glock passed me when I exited the pits and I was on cold tires while he was hot. The pit stops were great, a bit nerve-racking, as you don't want to make any mistakes, but a lot of fun. I am pleased with the entire weekend and certainly looking forward to Mexico."

Bjorn Wirdheim - 12th: "I definitely learned a lot today during the race. It was an unfortunate that we didn't finish higher. We lost two positions due to the fact that I used all of my push-to-pass half way through the race and didn't have any left for the re-start. I think when it came to our race pace, we were very competitive. My Bridgestone tires were good, especially my hard set in the second stint, I think I had the fifth quickest lap during that stint. I am disappointed not to have finished at least in the top-ten; our starting position did not help. I really enjoyed the work, I am very happy to be in Champ Car, the HVM team did a brilliant job all weekend and I cannot wait for the next race, I now know what to expect."

PKV

Jimmy Vasser - 9th: "I think the biggest thing that the PKV Racing team takes away from this weekend is that we have to come off the truck quicker and qualify better. We had high expectations for our team after pre-season testing, but things didn't work out, so I am obviously disappointed. We brought in a lot of new programs and faces at PKV Racing so that things would get better...and they will get better. It is a team effort and we just have to keep working at it as a team. Fortunately, we have a long break before the next race, so we can sit down and analyze what we need to do and make the changes that are necessary. In the race we tried a different strategy by going off sequence, but we didn't get the yellows when we needed them, so we finished just about were we expected."

Cristiano da Matta - 10th: "It was a difficult weekend for the PKV Racing team and that caught us by surprise. Our pre-season testing went very well and at the last test, with most of the teams there, we were always in the top-five, so we expected better this weekend. But, it is the first race of season and our first race together, so we can't let this one race get us down. We just have to keep working at it. All the ingredients are here it is just a matter of us having some more time to work together. I think based on how the PKV Racing car was coming off the truck we did a very good job in qualifying. I think we qualified better than the car was. In the race we struggled with the same problems we had all weekend, so we tired to do some things with strategy hoping for a yellow, but things just didn't work out for us."

Team Australia

Marcus Marshall - 14th: "I thought today would actually be a little tougher physically than it actually was. I really learnt a lot today - pit stops, cold tires, full fuel loads - all the stuff that I hadn't done before. It will be great to take all that stuff which I now know into the next race. I know where I can improve a lot and will go back now and look at the all the data and look forward to Mexico. The race went pretty well to plan, but went I got strapped into the car part of my drink hose was behind my back and it really started to hurt after a while. I couldn't push on the brake as hard as I would have liked at times and it probably hurt my consistency a little. I could still churn out the laps, but when we were under safety car I really noticed the pain. Overall I am pretty happy with the day and it was just a pity that I ended up with the leaders right at the end of the race and went down a lap. After 80 laps or so - to still be on the lead lap on my debut I am quite happy with. All in all, it was a great to get our first race under our belt for Team Australia and all the guys at Aussie Vineyards."

Alex Tagliani - 15th: "It would have been fantastic to end up with a top ten result. Things didn't work out for us at the finish when the gearbox broke while I was running ninth with a couple of laps to go. I got a good start and was running sixth early, but our fuel mileage wasn't as good as we would have liked and we lost a couple of spots on the last round of pit stops. But overall I am very enthusiastic about our start to the season. The team has worked very hard and our pit stops were great in the race. It was a tough result for the whole team, but I knew I had some problems with the box during the race and was having trouble with the down shifts. Unfortunately, it didn't get me to the finish"

Jensen

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Conquest

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Dale Coyne

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