2007 Exhibition Place, Toronto - Exhibition Place, Toronto

The Champ Car World Series (CCWS), formed in 2004, was the successor to the Championship Auto Racing Teams, commonly called CART. The Champ Car World Series competed with the Indy Racing League for the title of the top-level open-wheel championship in North America.

There were some notable Champ Car World Series changes for this season:

Standing starts were used at some venues.
Rather than race lengths being determined by laps, the events were timed contests.
The white flag would no longer be used; the drivers would be informed when they were starting the last lap.
Points would no longer be awarded for leading a lap.
Ford and Bridgestone reduced their involvement in the series.
The series also lost race dates in Denver, China and Arizona.
For the first time since 2003, the series returned to Europe for weekends at Zolder, Belgium and TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands.

The 2007 Champ Car World Series schedule consisted of fourteen events. Unlike the Indy Racing League, none of the contests were held on ovals.

April 8 - Streets of Las Vegas – Streets of Las Vegas
April 15 - Streets of Long Beach – Streets of Long Beach
April 22 - JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park – Houston, Texas
June 10 - Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
June 24 - Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport – Cleveland, Ohio
July 1 - Circuit Mont-Tremblant – Circuit Mont-Tremblant
July 8 - Exhibition Place – Toronto, Ontario
July 22 - Edmonton City Centre Airport – Edmonton, Alberta
July 29 - Streets of San Jose – San Jose, California
August 12 - Road America – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
August 26 - Circuit Zolder – Heusden-Zolder, Belgium
September 2 - TT Circuit Assen – Assen, Netherlands
October 21 - Surfers Paradise Street Circuit – Surfers Paradise, Australia
November 11 - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez - Mexico City, Mexico

The series would debut a new car for the 2007 season, a Panoz DP01. The Panoz DP01, manufactured by Elan Motorsport Technologies, was designed to be safer and provide closer racing. The car uses a carbon fiber monocoque fitted with a seven-speed semi-automatic sequential with a paddle shift and weighs about 1,500 pounds. The Panoz is powered by a Cosworth XFE. The Cosworth XFE is a 2.65-liter turbocharged V8 that uses methanol.

Round seven of the 2007 Champ Car World Series, titled the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, was held at Toronto's Exhibition Place. The layout was an eleven-turn 1.786-mile temporary street circuit.

The race was made difficult by changing weather conditions. Nine of the seventeen starters crashed during the contest.

Australia's Will Power won the 2007 Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto. Power won earlier in the season at Las Vegas. In the previous round, there was controversy surrounding the issue of blocking. During the qualifying session, he was penalized for blocking Bruno Junqueira and started seven. The race was held in wet conditions and unlike his fellow competitors, Power avoided trouble.

Finishing in the runner-up position was Neel Jani. Jani drove the No. 21 PKV Racing prepared Panoz DP01. Before Toronto, his best result was a third place at the Grand Prix of Cleveland. Jani was ninth fastest in the qualifying session. In the race, he pitted early for rain tires which moved him into contention. Like Power, Jani avoided most of the on-track incidents and finished second by a margin of 2.972-seconds.

Justin Wilson had an eventful race. Wilson drove the No. 9 CDW-sponsored Panoz DP01 and collected his first podium result of the season at the Grand Prix of Portland. He started the race in Toronto on the outside of the front row – missing the pole by 0.011-seconds. On lap-20, Wilson spun after contact with Sebastien Bourdais. His second incident was on lap 70 with Ryan Dalziel, which gave Wilson the final spot on the podium.

Will Power's teammate at Team Australia was Simon Pagenaud. Pagenaud drove the No. 15 Aussie Vineyards Panoz DP01. He won last year's Champ Car Atlantic title, which included a $2-million prize fund applied to his CCWS season. Pagenaud entered round seven, sixth in the title chase – his best result being a fourth at Mont-Tremblant. Despite contact on the opening lap of Toronto, he finished fourth.

Coming home in the fifth position at the Grand Prix of Toronto was Bruno Junqueira. Junqueira was piloting the No. 19 Panoz DP01 for Dale Coyne Racing. Junqueira's resume included the 1997 Formula Three Sudamericana and International Formula 3000 championships. He joined CART in 2001 and won a race every year until 2006. After qualifying fifth, he avoided many on-track incidents to finish in the same position.

It was not a good weekend for the defending Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais entered the event in Toronto tied with rookie Robert Doornbos at the top of the standings. He would capture his third pole of the year at round seven, driving the No. 1 Newman Haas Lanigan Racing Panoz DP01. Bourdais would lead a lap and finish ninth. The result would drop him to third in the title chase.

Paul Tracy could not deliver a repeat of his 1993 or 2003 victories in Toronto. However, Tracy was successful earlier in the season, grabbing a win at the Grand Prix of Cleveland. He put the No. 3 Forsythe Racing Panoz DP01 tenth on the grid at Toronto. On the opening lap, Simon Pagenaud lost his front wing. Tracy collected the wing, which interfered with his steering, and caused him to crash and retire from the event.

In addition to a spec chassis, competitors in the 2007 CCWS used the same engine, the Cosworth XFE. Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company that has developed many successful engines, including the DFV, which collected 176 Formula One victories. The XFE is a 2.65-liter V8 turbocharged engine. The motor is equipped with four camshafts and produces approximately 800 horsepower.

FIN.	START	DRIVER	CAR	SPONSOR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	7	Will Power	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Aussie Vineyards	73	-
2	9	Neel Jani	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Red Bull/Gulfstream	73	-
3	2	Justin Wilson	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	CDW	73	-
4	4	Simon Pagenaud	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Aussie Vineyards	73	-
5	5	Bruno Junqueira	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Sonny's Bar-B-Q	73	-
6	12	Robert Doornbos	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	OzJet/Muermans	72	-
7	11	Ryan Dalziel	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Toronto Sun	72	-
8	6	Alex Tagliani	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Wal-Mart/Tide	71	-
9	1	Sébastien Bourdais	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	McDonald's	67	Accident
10	3	Oriol Servià	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Indeck	56	Accident
11	15	Graham Rahal	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	MEDI \| ZONE	52	Accident
12	13	Dan Clarke	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Ticketmaster/Synapse Power	43	Accident
13	16	Jan Heylen	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Champ Car Grand Prix of Belgium	30	Accident
14	8	Paul Tracy	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Indeck	20	Accident
15	12	Tristan Gommendy	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Pay By Touch/Megaspiera	13	Accident
16	14	Katherine Legge	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Dale Coyne Racing	3	Accident
17	10	Alex Figge	Panoz DP01 / Cosworth XFE	Toronto Sun	1	Accident

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