2006 CCWS Driver Rankings
Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 2:19 pm
And I thought composing the IRL rankings was hard.....
As with the rival series, here are the preseason driver rankings for the 2006 Champ Car World Series, taking into acct. wins, pole positions, races finished, laps led, laps completed, the final 2005 pts. table., where drivers are headed to in 2006, etc.....
Sebastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing. Since Long Beach 2004, Bourdais has essentially held onto the Vanderbilt Cup with a Ferrari-like stranglehold, and the stats prove it. 14 wins and 18 poles in three years, 2003 ROY and 2-time series champion, and he's succeeded even while dealing with the rivalry btwn. him and Paul Tracy. This will be an important year for SeaBass; if he wins the title this year, he will join the late Ted Horn as the only 3-time winners in AOWR.
Justin Wilson, RuSport Racing. For the former F1 driver, 2005 was his best year. Winning twice(Toronto and Mexico City), he outperformed teammate A.J. Allmendinger, outperformed 2003 series champion Paul Tracy and has put RuSport on the map as a serious contender to challenge Newman-Haas in 2006. If both he and Allmendinger step up, both NHR and Forsythe could find the championship fight a very tough going.
Oriol Servia, PKV Racing. For the Catalonian, he made a career decision, going from a comfortable ride w/Dale Coyne Racing to a ride w/Newman-Haas at the Milwaukee Mile. He gave them a podium, and the rest was history. Capturing a win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Servia finished 2nd in the points and now finds himself w/a top-team and now is a bona-fide championship contender for the Vanderbilt Cup.
4th: Paul Tracy, Forsythe Championship Racing. It wasn't a great year for the Canadian; granted, he won twice(Milwaukee and Cleveland), but.....as he himself admitted in Denver, "I threw away the championship to Sebastien." Several DNF's in the second half of the season ruined what appeared to be a great year, and his on-going rivalry w/Bourdais didn't help things, especially when they touched at Las Vegas. The question surrounding PT is whether he'll return to his championship form of 2003, or will 2006 look like the past 2 yrs.?
5th: Bruno Junquiera, Newman-Haas Racing. On the evening of 22 May, 2005, Junky was on top of the world. He was leading the points after winning at Monterrey, and things couldn't be better. One week later, his season was in shambles, injured during a crash at the Indy 500 and his season was done. It will be interesting to see whether he comes back to form...my guess, he will.
6th: A.J Allmendinger, RuSport Racing. While the team's built around Flattop, he definitely didn't have the better year; three cons. DNF's at Toronto, Edmonton and San Jose ruined what looked like a great season. But the Los Gatos, Ca. native scored several podiums, and proved that he can rebound from the worst of times.
7th: Alex Tagliani, Team Australia. For the French-Canadian, this was an interesting year. He did score podiums(Monterrey, Toronto) and was competitive all year, giving the former Walker Racing stable a firm foothold on 2006. Knowing that he won't have to switch teams like he did in 2005, going from then-Rocketsports to Team Oz, should give him a confidence boost for the season.
8th: Ronnie Bremer, CTE-HVM Racing. Funding woes cut his season by a few races; but he adapted, going from HVM after Cleveland to Dale Coyne Racing for Edmonton, giving them a couple of solid finishes in the latter half of the year. While he has a seat for 2006 to start, it'll be interesting to see whether sponsorship/funding woes put him back on the shelf, or whether he can make it through the season.
9th: Mario Dominguez, Forsythe Championship Racing. When the 2005 season began, Dominguez had just signed w/FCR and was actually getting to know his team during that weekend. But he adapted, and gave some great finishes to the team during the year. At least this year, he won't have to worry about that.
10th: Andrew Ranger, MiJack-Conquest Racing(2005). Early in the season, Ranger finished 2nd at Monterrey(the youngest CCWS driver to finish on the podium in series history), and then the season went downhill....fast. The question now is going to be.......will he drive for MJCR, Dale Coyne, or.....will he sit on the sidelines come Long Beach in 2 weeks?
As with the rival series, here are the preseason driver rankings for the 2006 Champ Car World Series, taking into acct. wins, pole positions, races finished, laps led, laps completed, the final 2005 pts. table., where drivers are headed to in 2006, etc.....
Sebastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing. Since Long Beach 2004, Bourdais has essentially held onto the Vanderbilt Cup with a Ferrari-like stranglehold, and the stats prove it. 14 wins and 18 poles in three years, 2003 ROY and 2-time series champion, and he's succeeded even while dealing with the rivalry btwn. him and Paul Tracy. This will be an important year for SeaBass; if he wins the title this year, he will join the late Ted Horn as the only 3-time winners in AOWR.
Justin Wilson, RuSport Racing. For the former F1 driver, 2005 was his best year. Winning twice(Toronto and Mexico City), he outperformed teammate A.J. Allmendinger, outperformed 2003 series champion Paul Tracy and has put RuSport on the map as a serious contender to challenge Newman-Haas in 2006. If both he and Allmendinger step up, both NHR and Forsythe could find the championship fight a very tough going.
Oriol Servia, PKV Racing. For the Catalonian, he made a career decision, going from a comfortable ride w/Dale Coyne Racing to a ride w/Newman-Haas at the Milwaukee Mile. He gave them a podium, and the rest was history. Capturing a win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Servia finished 2nd in the points and now finds himself w/a top-team and now is a bona-fide championship contender for the Vanderbilt Cup.
4th: Paul Tracy, Forsythe Championship Racing. It wasn't a great year for the Canadian; granted, he won twice(Milwaukee and Cleveland), but.....as he himself admitted in Denver, "I threw away the championship to Sebastien." Several DNF's in the second half of the season ruined what appeared to be a great year, and his on-going rivalry w/Bourdais didn't help things, especially when they touched at Las Vegas. The question surrounding PT is whether he'll return to his championship form of 2003, or will 2006 look like the past 2 yrs.?
5th: Bruno Junquiera, Newman-Haas Racing. On the evening of 22 May, 2005, Junky was on top of the world. He was leading the points after winning at Monterrey, and things couldn't be better. One week later, his season was in shambles, injured during a crash at the Indy 500 and his season was done. It will be interesting to see whether he comes back to form...my guess, he will.
6th: A.J Allmendinger, RuSport Racing. While the team's built around Flattop, he definitely didn't have the better year; three cons. DNF's at Toronto, Edmonton and San Jose ruined what looked like a great season. But the Los Gatos, Ca. native scored several podiums, and proved that he can rebound from the worst of times.
7th: Alex Tagliani, Team Australia. For the French-Canadian, this was an interesting year. He did score podiums(Monterrey, Toronto) and was competitive all year, giving the former Walker Racing stable a firm foothold on 2006. Knowing that he won't have to switch teams like he did in 2005, going from then-Rocketsports to Team Oz, should give him a confidence boost for the season.
8th: Ronnie Bremer, CTE-HVM Racing. Funding woes cut his season by a few races; but he adapted, going from HVM after Cleveland to Dale Coyne Racing for Edmonton, giving them a couple of solid finishes in the latter half of the year. While he has a seat for 2006 to start, it'll be interesting to see whether sponsorship/funding woes put him back on the shelf, or whether he can make it through the season.
9th: Mario Dominguez, Forsythe Championship Racing. When the 2005 season began, Dominguez had just signed w/FCR and was actually getting to know his team during that weekend. But he adapted, and gave some great finishes to the team during the year. At least this year, he won't have to worry about that.
10th: Andrew Ranger, MiJack-Conquest Racing(2005). Early in the season, Ranger finished 2nd at Monterrey(the youngest CCWS driver to finish on the podium in series history), and then the season went downhill....fast. The question now is going to be.......will he drive for MJCR, Dale Coyne, or.....will he sit on the sidelines come Long Beach in 2 weeks?