IG JUPPS Österreich » ween 2004 and 2007. Champ Car and Indy Raci

TORONTO -- A dramatic weekend that featured a postponed race, plenty of rain and enough collisions to fill a junkyard was won by a pair of unassuming drivers who held their nerve as others cracked. Sebastien Bourdais and Mike Conway entered the Honda Indy Toronto overlooked in favour of a championship duel and the return of a hometown driver. They shouldnt have been. Bourdais, who hadnt won a race in six years but previously conquered the 11-turn, 2.81-kilometre track at Exhibition Place in 2004, led all but seven laps in the morning race Sunday to win from pole. He was initially angered when he thought the Saturday race was cancelled by a slippery race track. The race was merely postponed, and Bourdais returned to his car Sunday waiting for his luck to run out. It never did. "Ive got a big smile across my face and I cant seem to get rid of it. Its just really cool," said Bourdais. "The whole race I couldnt stop thinking. I was very stressed out. It felt too easy, it felt like it was too much under control and it felt like it was way going to go wrong at some point. I dont know, it didnt. I was surprised about that because thats what happened all season long so far." Conway, who only competes on road and street courses but won at Long Beach in April, didnt have the pace of his rivals. That showed in the opening race with a 15th-place finish. But Conway saw something no one else did in the second race of the doubleheader. Rain fell once again and caused multiple collisions. Yet, unlike Saturday, the weather eventually showed some mercy and Conway spotted a drying track before almost anyone else. Usually a team tells a driver when to make a tire change. Conway told Ed Carpenter Racing, however, he was coming in on Lap 43 of the 80-minute race. "I knew I had to make a call at that moment because my wet tires were kind of going off and we were only going to go slower, and I knew the slicks would be for sure quicker," said Conway. "So yeah, worked out, worked out really well." The afternoon race had been a fight for the lead between Penske teammates and championship contenders Helio Castroneves and Will Power. But both went to the pits for new tires, allowing Conway and several others to the front of the pack for the first time. Conway took the lead on Lap 51, while Castroneves dropped off the pace. Conway benefited from yet another delay when another collision collected several cars and triggered a red flag. As he waited for the race to resume with less than five minutes remaining, Conway tried not to get too excited. "For sure I sat there in pitlane, I was like, could be another win in the cards," he said. "But I couldnt tell anyone that. For sure you think it but youve got to put it in the back of your mind." For Bourdais, the victory was vindication. The 35-year-old Frenchman finished over three seconds ahead of Castroneves, while Tony Kanaan finished third. Bourdais wont challenge for the IndyCar championship this year, he finished the afternoon race ninth, but the comfortable win was reminiscent of his four Champ Car titles between 2004 and 2007. Champ Car and Indy Racing League merged in 2008 to form IndyCar. Bourdais took a hiatus from open-wheel racing until his return in 2011, but hes yet to find himself in the title race. He didnt seem to care after winning his first race since November 2007 in Mexico City. "To be back on the top step in the way weve done it today, pretty much like the good old days. Its very special," said Bourdais. Last year Bourdais finished second and third, respectively, at Toronto. But his weekend was marred by an embarrassing moment when he accidentally dropped his second-place trophy and smashed it. This year Bourdais held onto his trophy with both hands. James Hinchcliffe never had a chance of winning -- or dropping -- a trophy. The Oakville, Ont., native was eighth in the opening race, matching his career best in Toronto through four years in IndyCar. But he slid into a tire barrier in the afternoon race and had to settle for 18th. It all amounted to more frustration for Hinchcliffe, the lone Canadian left in IndyCar. "Its one of those things, were sitting up here, talking, saying, what do we have to do to catch a break, here or anywhere this season ...," said Hinchcliffe. "The guys gave me a solid car, Im just sorry we couldnt turn it into a result." The biggest winner of the weekend who didnt take a checkered flag was Kanaan. The Brazilian finished third in the first race and second in the afternoon. Castroneves appeared to be set for a breakthrough when he finished second in the morning while Power was ninth. Castroneves entered the weekend nine points ahead of his Penske teammate, and he started the afternoon from the pole expecting to pad that advantage as the 39-year-old chases his first series title. But IndyCar leaves Toronto with the championship still up for grabs with four races remaining. Power, also hoping to win his first title, is just 13 points back after overtaking Castroneves en route to a second-place finish. Castroneves dropped off the pace and finished 12th. "I was very determined," said Power. "Starting on the front row together, so I thought Ive got to beat him otherwise this points lead is going to get too big. Ive got to finish ahead of him. Worked very hard on that." He still has work to do. Sam Mills Jersey . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin. Rickey Jackson Jersey . Its the games against the leagues struggling franchises that have proved to be an issue. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Eli...aints-Jersey/.J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them. Willie Roaf Jersey . Ricciardo made it only halfway around the Jerez track before his RB10 rolled to a stop and began spouting smoke from the back. After team mechanics tended to the car, Ricciardo went back out for a mere two trips around the circuit before calling it quits. Morten Andersen Jersey . Mike Vecchione tied it at 2 with 4:01 left in the first, Saskatoon native Eli Lichtenwald gave the Dutchman the lead 57 seconds later, and Daniel Ciampini capped the spree with 2:57 to go.WINNIPEG -- Canadian Olympian Brittany Schussler has retired from competitive long-track speedskating. The 29-year-old from Winnipeg has competed internationally for 13 seasons and this past year was named Speed Skating Canadas top female long-track skater. "Competing with Canada written on my skin suit has been the biggest honour I could ever ask for, and something that I have never taken for granted," Schussler said on her website. "I could not be more proud to be Canadian, and that was never more true than at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. The energy and support of the crowd that I felt in my first Olympic race, the 1,000 metres, is perhaps my favourite moment of my entire career." Schussler represented Canada at three Olympic Games. In Vancouver in 2010, she took fifth place in the team pursuit event, 25th in the 1,000 metres and 35th in the 1,500. In Sochi in 2014, she was fifth in the pursuit, 19th in the 3,000 metres, 26th in the 1,500 and 30th in the 1,000. She was aalso an alternate for the 500-metre and pursuit events at the 2006 Turin Games.dddddddddddd Schussler was part of team pursuit squads that won gold at the 2009 and 2011 world single distance long-track championships and silver in 2008 and 2012. She was also part of nine pursuit World Cup gold medals, to go with five silver and a bronze. Individually, she won one World Cup silver and five bronze medals in the 1,500, along with a bronze in the 3,000. Her final medal was a bronze in the 1,500 last November in Astana, Kazakhstan. Schussler is part of the Canadian trio that set the womens pursuit record time of two minutes 55.79 seconds at Calgarys Olympic Oval on Dec. 6, 2009. "The devotion and passion she brought to the sport helped to promote speed skating and values promoted by our sport not only on the ice, but also outside the rink," Speed Skating Canada president Jim Allison said in a release. "Congratulations Brittany and good luck for your next steps." ' ' '