The 2006 Champ Car Season Review

Believe it or not, Sebastien Bourdais does have opposition in Champ Car. The problem is, that opposition didn't materialise every week in 2006, so nobody could threaten him in the title race.

The Frenchman sealed his third consecutive title at the penultimate round of the season, but few would have bet against him after he opened the year with four consecutive victories.

He added another three to that tally during the remainder of the season, and became the first driver in more than 50 years to win three consecutive Champ Car titles.

But after that supreme start to the season, it's hard to judge whether his results dipped at times because his championship position wasn't under threat, or because his rivals just took time to get into their stride.

Despite what the results say, in several races it was far from straightforward for Bourdais. Often there was someone who could challenge him at each race, but unfortunately there wasn't one particular driver that could offer a constant threat throughout the year. So just what happened to the drivers that could have battled him for the title?

The biggest threat to Bourdais came from the man who brought his winning streak to a spectacular halt with a spell of his own, as AJ Allmendinger thrived during the middle of the season.

The American switched from RuSPORT to Forsythe after four races, and subsequently went on to win in his first three starts for his new team.

Allmendinger would take another two wins later in the year, but by the end of the season he had already left his second team of the year, and this time he'd also left the series.

AJ Allmendinger (Forsythe) leads at Road America © LAT

After his management was unable to reach a deal with Forsythe for next season it was announced that Allmendinger was heading to NASCAR for 2007, and team boss Gerry Forsythe wasted no time in showing Champ Car's only American driver the door prior to the season finale at Mexico City.

It meant that Allmendinger left Forsythe with some impressive statistics though, as he scored five wins in just nine starts for the team.

By missing the season finale, Allmendinger lost out on second place in the standings to his teammate from the first four races of the year.

Much was expected of Justin Wilson for 2006. The Brit had settled in well at RuSPORT during 2005 and established himself as a race winner during his second season, so the next step was to mount a championship challenge.

The results were good early in the year, although whenever Wilson was on form Bourdais seemed to have that little bit extra, so the Brit had to make do with a string of second places early in the season.

RuSPORT seemed to have handled Allmendinger's departure well by drafting in former champion Cristiano da Matta from Dale Coyne Racing. Wilson took his only win of the year at Edmonton, and the pair both made the podium next time out at San Jose.

However, da Matta's horrific collision with a deer in testing at Road America in August had a big impact on the team. While the Brazilian thankfully recovered well in the following months, Wilson had to battle on without a teammate for the next three races.

By the time Ryan Briscoe was drafted in for the final two rounds of the year, Wilson was clinging to the smallest of title hopes, and when he injured his wrist in practice he was forced to miss the penultimate round of the season.

The year didn't end on a complete low for the Brit though, as he showed tremendous character battle with Bourdais in Mexico despite his injuries. The Frenchman got the last laugh though, as he snatched the victory on the very last lap of the year.

Another man that would have been expected to mount a serious challenge for the title was 2003 champion Paul Tracy, but he had a season to forget, as he explained throughout the year in his exclusive column for autosport.com.

Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy clash at San Jose © LAT

Little did Tracy know that the first corner of the season would sum up his entire year. The Canadian was tagged by teammate Mario Dominguez as the Mexican triggered a multi-car crash, and things wouldn't get much better for Tracy after that.

As the frustration grew for Tracy, things didn't get any better, and he was even involved in two altercations outside of the cockpit.

In the first incident, he was placed on probation for punching Alex Tagliani in a scuffle that occurred after the pair had collided in San Jose.

"I told him three times not to hold on to me, but he did so I felt we'd got to a point where I had to punch him," Tracy said at the time. "Never hit a guy who still has his helmet on though, my hand's a bit sore right now."

Tracy then had his probation extended when he collided with Bourdais on the last lap in Denver just a couple of weeks later.

Bourdais then ran across a live track to remonstrate with his rival, although it was less brutal than the Tagliani bout.

Then to top Tracy's season off, he injured his hand prior to the season finale and had to miss the Mexico City race. The stories regarding how the injury occurred are varied, but it summed up what a disaster 2006 was for the Forsythe driver.

The man who ended up fourth in the standings was definitely one of the most improved drivers of the year, and he was driving for a team that showed impressive progress as well.

CTE Racing HVM made remarkable steps forward during 2006. You would have got very long odds on Nelson Philippe ever winning a race when the Frenchman joined the series as a teenage rookie in 2004, but his development over this season was impressive, and it had to be to keep his new teammate at bay.

Little was expected of British driver Dan Clarke when his move from British F3 was confirmed, but he proved right away that he had strong pace. The unforgiving nature of Champ Car's street circuits didn't always suit him though, and he really shone on the more open road courses.

Will Power © LAT

While his doubters said that Clarke couldn't handle street racing, his maiden Champ Car podium on the streets of Denver, and there could have been more success were it not for a last lap collision while battling Mario Dominguez for second at Cleveland earlier in the year.

But while Clarke's performances often grabbed more headlines, the more constrained approach of Will Power paid dividends in the Rookie of the year battle. While Clarke battled near the front on some weeks and crashed on others, Power was more consistent, but usually less spectacular.

That all changed at his home race, where he qualified on pole at Surfers Paradise. It was the first time the Aussie was on a track where he had previous experience, and he could have won the race were it not for a clash with Paul Tracy in the pits and an incident with a rather erratic Sebastien Bourdais who was on his way to the title.

Bourdais made up for the below-par performance that clinched him the title with his hard-fought win in Mexico, where he fired a warning shot for the beginning of Champ Car's new era next year.