MEXICO CITY - Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais capped his third straight Champ Car season championship with a victory in the season finale. Bourdais edged Justin Wilson by 3.528 seconds after passing the British driver in the final lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

France's Sebastien Bourdais of the Newman Haas Racing team is showered in champagne after winning the Champ Car World Series race at the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack in Mexico City, Mexico on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006. [AP]

Wilson, who started from the pole on the 2.786-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez course, had limited use of his right hand after breaking a bone in his wrist during qualifying runs last month in Australia.

Will Power finished third, and Bruno Junqueira was fourth.

Bourdais and Wilson traded the lead six times. On the last lap, Bourdais passed Wilson on the inside.

"It was a great battle with Justin," Bourdais said. "I thought Justin would open the door for me at some point, and when I saw the chance, I took advantage of it."

Wilson said it was a tough fight and that worn tires cost him.

"In the last lap that cost me a bit," Wilson said.

Bourdais clinched the series title last month after A.J. Allmendinger hit the wall during the Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Allmendinger was not in Mexico City, having signed a multiyear deal last month to drive in the NASCAR stock-car series.