Drivers championship after Monterrey

[x_dt]

1 Tracy 43
2 Jourdain 32
3 Junqueira 24
4 Moreno 18
5 Tagliani 14
6= Fernández 12
6= Haberfeld 12 (rookie points leader)
8 Carpentier 10
9 Vasser 8
10= Manning 6
10= Monteiro 6
10= Camathias 6
10= Lemarié 6
14 Bourdais 5
15 Yoong 4
16= Hunter-Reay 1
16= Servia 1

Now can PT win that long overdue title he so richly deserves - surely he is now the favourite (though the Newman-Haas drivers will continue to put up a fight).

[macdaddy]

The poll asks can he win.
Maybe it should be will he win?

Yes.
Or yes.

[Crash Test]

He will win if he can keep his car to himself... he would have won half a dozen of those suckers by now if he could do that... heck, his first one should have come in 1993...

[PenelopePitstop]

Or should it be how quickly will he win ....... I don't think so but he could win the title, but so could Manning

[BootsOntheSide]

I think it'll be Bourdais once he keeps the car away from the walls, but Tracy will be one of the strong contenders. Junquiera has disappointed so far, as has Pat. Servia's pace looks promising but I don't think he's qutie good enough, while Fernandez is a reasonable outsdie shot, Jourdain likewise. But, frankly, someone like Jourdain winning the title wouldn't be good for the series.

[Snrub]

Tracy must be consistantly on the podium. It's his only chance against Bourdais, who IMO is going to win atleast 6 races. PT's got a decent lead now, but he can only have maybe 1 DNF the whole year.

[Flatspot]

Tracy has a distinct advantage in experience. Although Bordais was showing brilliantly, he must consider the cliche' "To finish first, you must first finish". Not Paul's strong suit either. This champioship is certainly still wide open.

[esorniloc]

Clearly its looking good for Paul, no-one has won the first two races since Rick Mears in 1982 (he was champ that year).

If he continues like this, I guess it could get boring!

[Lee Janotta]

Tracy's really got a great shot this year, but it's at least partly due to the huge talent hemmorhage that's been going on constantly since Jacques left.

Unless Bourdais can get to the end of the races, or Bruno smashes Haberfeld's knees with a baseball bat so he can get a clean track, this season could be a cakewalk for PT.

[Peter S]

Dont forget PT has the pace of Bourdais as well. Tracy could have easily been on pole and topped every session he was in. I think knowledge of circuits will also be a key. Places like Long Beach will be hard for Bourdais where he literally on full street circuits and the way he drives will mean that he could hit the barrier at any time. The way Sabastien was hitting those kerbs i am not surprised he did damage and had to retire again. Also another advantage to Tracy will be the ovals. We all know how much he loves Milwaukee.

Also remember this is the first time Tracy has been a total number 1 driver in his team. When he had toss pot Franchitti as his team mate it was clear he wasnt Green and Andrettis faviroute.

[evo]

Why would Player's favour Tracy over Patrick Carpentier who has been there for a while and was brought back to the team instead of Tagliani? I don't think there will be any favouritism...

[Tailwind]

Tracy has a good shot if he can finish the races. Bourdais is going to give him a good run once he figures out how to keep the car off the walls. I think it will take him a couple more races and then it will click for him. Then he will be a force that can't be ignored. Jourdain is showing well. I don't think he will win the championship, but I think he will be high in the points and I think we will see at least one win from him this year.

[rookie]

i think its going to be a great battle for the championship. If Bourdais can figure out the street circuits this could be one of the best seasons CART has ever had