Carpentier Out At Forsythe?

[TedN]

I hope THIS RUMOUR is wrong!

Ted

[gomick]

cant read the rumour - help me out, why

[Jordi]

The rumor says he'd be replaced by Rodolfo Lavin and Corona... and it does not say anything about PC going anywhere else. What do you think, guys?

[Bizzo5000]

It's gotta be bull. Didn't he just sign a deal before last year?

[sgjb]

This seems highly unlikely especially when Patrick is already committed in events during the Long Beach media and fan event. There definately was tension though last year as Patrick felt left out during the Paul show at Forsythe. He also did have a two year contract I think? In this crazy world of racing you never really know what will be happening though!

I can still see Lavin and his money coming in as a third car though. I am sure Forsythe will need 3 cars to help the car count.

[sgjb]

The rumor is posted on Patrick's website, but I am not sure if he has any control or oversees the news portion of it at all.

If it isn't true it would be a little tacky and downright stupid that the people operating his website would put that on their.

[gomick]

lavin and corona - surely forsythe would rather pay his own money and run patrick in an unsponsored car.....

[suzmac]

Originally posted by TedN
I hope THIS RUMOUR is wrong!

Ted

ME TOO!!

[enemy-ace]

Anonymous former employee with current Forsythe dealings?
Somehow this just doesn't sound credible to me.

[Tim Northcutt]

Haven't we been hearing that Forsythe would possibly run a third car???

Thus the Lavin & Corona deal would be that third car....

With him listed for the media event schedule on Monday, I can't believe that Forsythe and Carpentier have parted ways...

That's gotta be bogus....

[GBoehm]

NO way PC lost his ride.... He has already got a contract for this year.... and i really dont think Forsythe would go for Lavin.... but hey I could be wrong.

[GBoehm]

Oh.... I apologize for any spelling or grammer mistakes in advance.....thanks...

Greg

[racinthestreets]

I think it might be a third car with Lavin. Patrick has some sponsorship from P & G is what I read in other threads. This is what is going to be interesting come next week, maybe not so much how many teams, but how many cars per team. Some single car teams are going to be two car teams, two care teams are going to be three, etc....

[Flatspot]

The only thing that makes good sense to me in this rumour doesn't really apply to Carpentier. It applies to why we haven't heard anything out of the Walker stable if there is any truth to the Lavin to Forsythe part of the rumour.

With apologies to all the Carpentier fans IMO it would be as bad or worse to lose Walker. My hope is that this is all BS.

[MLM]

Originally posted by suzmac
ME TOO!!

Me three!
If it's true, that would be, IMHO, STUPID!

[Speedfrog]

I heard an interview with Patrick a couple days ago and nothing about this thing.

I tried to talk to Pat but he's not available at this time.

I'm a little bit shock by this rumor!!??

In my opinion Lavin is one of the less talented Champ Car drivers....but the money can buy anything.

I think Lavin is the son of the Corona beer big boss.

[Mags]

If he is, it's going to cost them a pretty penney. He's fully signed until the end of 2004. And PT said he's brought a new personal sponsor on board. But, perhaps one of the new owners of Champ Cars has made a deal to swap him to another, less funded team with Patricks' blessing, who knows? As long as he stays with the series, I'm happy.

[sgjb]

Mags,

It is cheaper to pay someone to sit then it is to run them a car if they don't have sponsorship.

Do they have clauses that say they must be provided a drive no matter what.

[Mags]

Originally posted by sgjb
Mags,

It is cheaper to pay someone to sit then it is to run them a car if they don't have sponsorship.

Do they have clauses that say they must be provided a drive no matter what.

Trust me, the money Patrick is making, it isn't "cheaper" to sit him out. He isn't making $8.00 an hour you know. He has LOTS of sponsorship, and he just signed with MCI I believe.

[sgjb]

Thats obvious Mags 8 per hour! I believe from readings he is just over 1 million per year.

But I understood the sponsors he has are personal ones meaning not ones that flow money to the team. Correct me if I am wrong. This is not an uncommon practise.

So if the money doesn't go to the team sitting Patrick out will save Forsythe whatever the cost of running a car is anywhere from 3-5 million I presume if he has no further sponsorship.

I am a Patrick fan and would be terribly dissapointed if he was gone. It may even slow my enthusiasm for the new OWRS plan. Patrick is truely on of the most charismatic people in the series. I really can't see this rumor being true though.

[Flatspot]

Originally posted by Mags
But, perhaps one of the new owners of Champ Cars has made a deal to swap him to another, less funded team with Patricks' blessing, who knows?

That is an interesting statement. The thought had crossed my mind earlier about the possibility of Lavin being swapped by Walker to Forsythe for Carpentier (possibly with vehicle). Then I thought "No, that's stuff is baseball." Was Walker's deal with Lavin for just last season?

With all the tricks and turns Champcar has been taking lately, I suppose its not out of the question.

[Tenoch]

Maybe Patrick Is going to get sent to another team like Alex Tagliani did last year,although he was still under contract with Forsythe, he was running for Rocketsports.

[Snrub]

Ouch that one hurts, hope it is wrong! Be realistic though, what if Forsythe isn't able to get enough sponsorship? It's conceivable that Lavin's ride being paid for would be enough to get him on the team. One thing to consider, Forsythe sponsored Herta not so long ago out of pocket.

I think all three Canadian drivers are big head cases. PT I don't think I need to explain. Tag's first season showed flashes of brilliance. After that he was pretty mediocre until 2003 when with the right coaching was able to prove he has it on a consistent basis. Pat has had these dominating performances then other times he's way off the pace. Why was he smoked so badly by Tracy in 2003? Makes no sense. In 2002 he proved he could take a run at the championship. If he had Ganassi's engineering and package in 2002 he would have smoked Bruno and made life tougher for CDM. In general there have been far too many times when Moore, Tag, PT have been too much faster than Pat. Nothing else but the headcase arguement explains it.

As for Walker, I know we've been though a lot in the last year or so, but they don't appear like they're happening for 2004. The vibe from them has not been good.

[Speedfrog]

I asked to someone of Forsythe Racing Team, and he said: 'It's just a rumor!'

He also tells me that the 3rd car will be a payed car.

May be Lavin can bring Corona money on that seat?

[sgjb]

Snrub,

Your way out of line. It was obvious that the team was built around Paul last year leaving Pat to sniff for scraps. He had to adjust to a new car, new engineer and basically new team as they all shifted to Paul's car. Pat was not the number one driver it was obvious by his many comments. It was Pauls championship to win not Pats.

As for the headcase comments it only shows your ignorance. I agree some of the others are faster on a consistent basis this is true. My belief why this happens is because they are just better drivers than Patrick. He is not the best out there period. As for the reason you provide him being a headcase, I don't know why I even responded as it is so sad you would say it.

I have met many drivers and have had friends race in Cart, there isn't a driver that doesn't have somewhat of an ego. If you didn't you probably wouldn't succeed. But they are not headcases.