Bridgestone Champ Car race preview — Australia

Race Details: Timed event – 1 hour, 45 minutes. Track distance is 2.795 miles (4.498 kilometers).
Television Broadcast: Live – Saturday, October 20, at 11:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN Classic. Repeat – Sunday, October 21 at 6 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.
Bridgestone Potenza Tires Supplied:
* Primary (black-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 554, each car gets seven sets.
* Alternate (red-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 166, each car gets two sets.
* Wet-condition (rain) tires: 340 with tread pattern, each car gets four sets.
* In a normal dry-condition race, each car must use at least one set of primary and one set of alternate Potenzas. The primary and alternate tires' construction is identical, but the alternates possess a tread compound with better grip ("softer"), making them faster but possibly not quite as durable. The alternate tires are easily identified by their bright red sidewalls.
* Bridgestone Motorsport is bringing its medium-grip primary street-course Potenza specification to Australia, along with a higher-grip street-course alternate spec. The wet-condition tire is the softer rain tire, referred to as the "street course rain." The dry-condition specifications are identical to those used at Surfers Paradise in 2006. This is the only 2007 race application for the primary spec, while the alternate spec for Surfers Paradise previously served as the primary race tire at Las Vegas, Long Beach, Houston, Toronto and San Jose.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Bridgestone Motorsport: "Returning to the Australian Gold Coast is always a delight for Champ Car teams, drivers, suppliers and sponsors alike. We're annually treated to a great time and great crowds. It's incredible to think that no driver has won more than once Down Under; we'll have to see if that streak continues. The race is often full of surprises, but there should be none concerning the Bridgestone tires. We're returning with the same primary and alternate tire specifications that were used here a year ago, when they performed quite well on the fast and technical street course. We expect nothing less from the Potenzas this time around. Will one of the five previous Surfers champions in the field finally give us a repeat or are we destined for another first-time winner? We can't wait to find out."