Marques 'n' Montoya

[Minardi fan]

Now, I may not be a CART regular, but I have to say I was disgusted at Montoya and the race officials. Why the hell was Marques made to move over from a lovely 5th place?

The guy got there, fair and square, through a better pit strategy. To be made to move over was so unfair.

The commentators (I think the broadcast is the ESPN one?) agredd on this - they saw the blocking flag as completely unjustified.

And as for Montoya shaking his fist at Tarso...

I, for one, already have an intense disliking for the man. Especially when he gets mad for no reason at an ex-driver of a certain Italian F1 team...

AND I HOPE BUTTON KEEPS HIS SEAT.

HA!

[Crash Test]

I kniow you are a fan of all things slow on a race track but i feel Montoya had every right to carry on. Road rage. Whats wrong with that? If a 98 year old granny is driving down the center of the freeway, i think you'd be ****ed off. OK, Marques aint a 98 year woman, but Montoya was the fastest man on the track, and was being severly delayed.

Then again, Marques had every right to be there, good on him, kudos, thanks for coming..

[KC]

I watched the race last night and feel that TCGR and Montoya intimidated the officials into forcing Marques to get out of the way. It is wrong and had I been Marques I would have likely stoppped on the track and got out of the car and walked off disgusted. The guy has every right to be on the track and defend his position vigorously. He did not break the blocking rule imposed by CART. He ran the racing line. If Montoya is unable to get around him, whose fault is it? Marques' car was slower in the corner but faster on the straight. Do you think if Montoya had had some problem and was defending fifth from Marques he would have been required to move over? No. The commentators would have been eager to note how great he was driving in defending his position. After all, isn't this supposed to be a level playing field? Isn't it more about the race than if Montoya can win?

I did notice that daMatta did not get the benefit of having Marques black flagged so he could pass, he managed to do it on his own. Are we beginning to see Montoya being favored in CART? Or is it just TCGR?

[marcus]

I know for a fact I aint getting out of anyones way if its for a position..let the colombian guy run into me for all i care..he aint gettin by without a fight...just a shame to see Marques have whatever problem he had with the engine as he was doin a fine job.

wave the flag at me for no reason and ya had better go and hide when im finished on the track..cause im after ya.

****** to Cart on this matter..who are they trying to be F1 for gods sake.

[Robin Plummer]

I totally agree it was Disgusting. It would appear that Gannasi being the champs for 4 years have a higher say than anyone else. Maybe Rahal should fight for Tarso's corner?

[AndrettiRULES]

When the incident was first going on I was unaware that he was running in 5th and I thought the flag was justified. But as someone stated above, the announcers later came on to say that Marques was running in 5th and really the flag was unjustified. When I realized this I couldn't believe they were giving him a black flag! That just isn't correct IMO. And as Liz stated, he wasn't making attempts at blocking, he was merely running the racing line. He was definitely slower in the corners but must have had some diff. gearing for the straights because he was pulling away even when Montoya was using the overtake button!

There were a few times when people could say Marques chopped Montoya's nose off, but IMO he did not. Montoya was no where near making a pass on him and he was only trying desperate out-braking maneuvers at that point.

AR

[Jay]

That was disgusting.

Tarso had every right to make his car as wide as possible for Montoya.

From what I have seen of Montoya both in and out of his car, I must say he is a real prat!

I think he may get a little surprise when he goes to Williams next year and all of the sudden his needs are not #1 priority for the series.

I would personally take joy in seeing him fail miserably in F1 the same way Zanardi did.

On that note, I have also seen him driver through the wet on Friday in Toronto, and he did push harder than any of the other drivers. He had to 'catch' the rear end of his car on almost every corner. So I do give him credit for being a good driver, but a horible person.

[ma]

Actually, both the officials & the Ganassi crew thought Marques was being lapped - they were obviously wrong, but didn't know till later.

[KC]

Even if TCGR thought Marques was a lap down, Timing and Scoring knew where he was and made the call to black flag him after they asked. There is no excuse for this.

[Liz]

Totally agree. Marques and his team should make the strongest possible protest in every newspaper that will listen - and to everyone on Pit Road they should say, "Today it's me, tomorrow it will be you. What are you going to do about this?"

OTOH, I bet Mikey is whining to the Timing people, "But why didn't you let MEEEEEEE get by?"

P.S. I would Love to be there the first time Montoya sasses Sir Frank.

[AndrettiRULES]

FYI Liz, Michael was in front of Marques the entire incident ....but if you're referring to the last green flag when Jourdain Jr. was in front, Michael even stated himself that he screwed up. He tried getting a really good run on MJ Jr. and almost lost it coming off of 4. But in that case, MJ jr. was a lap down, but that doesn't matter cuz Andretti got around him on the next lap through 3&4

AR

[Minardi fan]

I too am now a champion for Jenson and, if Montoya gets the Williams seat, I wish to see him FAIL FAIL FAIL.

You horrible, egocentric man.

[Crash Test]

All personal things aside, i don't mind Montoya winning this year. He is the underdog, he is in the Toyota, and he has mad them a winner. Also the way he stuck it up the IRL boys...well that's gotta be a good thing.