Bourdais recovers by ruling Long Beach Grand Prix

Felipe Massa Wins Bahrain Grand Prix

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Forget about that first-race misery. Sebastien Bourdais is back.

The Frenchman dominated Sunday on the way to his third straight victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, just a week after crashing in qualifying and in the race at the season opener in Las Vegas.

"I guess everything that could happen to us in Vegas happened but, this week, the McDonald's car showed what we could do," said Bourdais, who collected his thoughts and regained his confidence by taking the time to drive his family from Las Vegas to Long Beach in a motorhome.

"That race was like a bad dream. This is a whole lot nicer."

Bourdais, who has won 24 of 61 starts and three straight season titles in the Champ Car World Series, was certainly the class of the field last week. He started from the pole and raced away to a nearly 25-second lead -- about a third of a lap on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn downtown street circuit.

That lead evaporated when rookie Simon Pagenaud slid into a tire barrier on lap 53 of the 78-lap event, bringing out one of three full-course caution flags.

After pit stops by the leaders, Bourdais found himself trailing French rookie Tristan Gommendy, who was on a different pit strategy and had pitted last on lap 39. With surprising runner-up Oriol Servia conserving fuel and not pushing the leaders, Bourdais chose to be patient and wait for Gommendy to make his final stop.

Bourdais regained the lead on lap 68 and stayed out front the rest of the way, easily holding off Servia on a restart on lap 77 after the last caution period.

It's the longest winning streak at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. won a record four in a row from 1988 through 1991.

Servia, the 2005 series runner-up as Bourdais' teammate, started the weekend without a ride but took over for Paul Tracy after the 2003 series champion injured his back in a crash during Saturday's practice.

"I did a great job, but nothing compared to what the team did," Servia said of his Forsythe Championship Racing crew. "I had to adjust to the car, but I'm a race car driver. The team had to adjust to me and they gave me a fabulous car and great pit stops."

Will Power, who won his first Champ Car race in Las Vegas and started from the outside of the front row Sunday, passed Alex Tagliani on the last lap to grab third. Justin Wilson, last year's series runner-up, also got past Tagliani on the final lap to take fourth.

FORMULA ONE: Massa wins Bahrain Grand Prix

SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Felipe Massa of Ferrari won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished second, becoming the first driver to start his Formula One career with three straight top-three finishes.

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was third, and Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber was fourth.

Hamilton, Formula One's first black driver, finished third at the Australian GP and second at the Malaysian GP. The previous best start to an F1 career was Peter Arundell with two podiums in two starts in 1964.

"I think it is a fantastic achievement, another to add to my career," Hamilton said. "I am extremely proud."

The next challenge for the 22-year-old rookie is to become one of the few F1 drivers to win a race in his first season. The last driver to do so was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001.

Massa won in 1 hour, 33 minutes, 27.515 seconds. Hamilton was 2.360 seconds behind.

Two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth, creating a three-way tie in the drivers' standings. Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen each have 22 points, but Alonso and Raikkonen have already won this season. Massa is next with 17 points.

Last modified: April 16. 2007 12:00AM LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Forget about that first-race misery. Sebastien Bourdais is back.

The Frenchman dominated Sunday on the way to his third straight victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long B . . .

Source: [url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/SPORTS/704160465/1006]Sarasota Herald-Tribune[/url]