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Title race enters key phase

With just two rounds remaining, the battle for the Champ Car World Series title between Paul Tracy and Bruno Junqueira enters a critical phase at Surfers Paradise in Australia this weekend

Tracy takes a 29-point lead into this weekend's event, meaning that Junqueira needs to score well to ensure the title goes down to the wire at Fontana next month. But Player's/Forsythe ace Tracy is in upbeat mood of his own chances Down Under.

"I'd definitely take another podium this year, or even better, a race win like I had at Surfers Paradise in 1995, because that would bring us another step closer to the championship," said Tracy. "The approach I've had the last couple of races has been to just focus all of my attention on the race weekend coming up. I'm not even thinking about the championship, because if you go out and give it everything you've got, and your crew consistently gives you a great car, chances are everything else will take care of itself.

"All season long, one of the keys to PF Racing's success has been to be competitive right out of the chute and do really well in qualifying. The six times that we've won a spot on the front row, we've finished on the podium in five of the races. That's a formula that we're going to try to follow in Australia."

Junqueira knows he has his work cut out to catch his rival, but believes he has a shot of winning the race this weekend.

"It is a very physical track when it is hot in Australia but I think the PacifiCare car will be really fast there and we can have a shot at winning the race," he said. "I want to win the championship very bad and I know I need to win the race and have Paul not score many points to have a chance."

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