"Let Tracey Pass" Carpentier to crew "F### You"

[Quebecracing]

PC has been better than PT recently? I don't see that. He was in Montreal, but in Dever he qualified where he should have while PT would have taken pole without the spin. Before his crash PC was going VERY slow. We're not talking a bit slower. He must have had a problem or something, there is no reason why he should have been 2 seconds off the pace. Tracy immediately proceeded to put in the fastest laps of the race. If PC was even .5 a lap slower on merrit I would agree with you (.5secs a lap is a lot).

You have a point with your first comment. The team is much better off without the Raynard. The disadvantage for PC was that he had never even tested the Lola before 1 month to the season start (only once PT had finalized his own contract). If both drivers were to be equal this year, he should have been testing much sooner. It was also very obvious after the first race which driver was going to be favored by Micklewright ("We finally have a winning driver").

I have an issue with your second comment (sounds Taglianish to me: "I would have had the pole if..."). The fact is he did not have the pole and he would have to race for positions. If Pat was 2 seconds slower, even more more so. It should have been an easy pass and no body would be talking about it today. True, that he picked up the fastest lap afterwards, but not for most of the prior laps. PC was faster for all laps before the marbles incident. In the end, PC gained one position and Players Forsythe looked like fools.
I remember JV passing MS at the very last race of the 1997 F1 season. That was true Championship like in my mind. It is what autoracing should be. They do it with their own abilities, no need for Ferrarish and Playerish manners.

Enjoy!

[sgjb]

On the Team Players site Patrick's interview after the race showed his dissapointed. He refers to Neil Mickelright as "Mickelright". He mentions that he felt that Paul wasn't any faster but that he picked up some marbles a bit earlier. This is why he was a touch slower for those few laps. Earlier in the race Paul couldn't keep up to PC. My thought is if Paul was faster from the start the orders were maybe okay. But he wasn't so he didn't deserve to be let through because Pat made a slight mistake. Sad for PC as he has worked very hard for this team only to be kicked to the curb!

[evo]

I have a strange feeling Patrick might not be driving for them next year.

[sgjb]

I agree with you evo, I think something may happen between now and next year. I would hate to see his bright personality leave the series though!

[macdaddy]

I agree in that I feel bad for Carpentier, he's been with that team for a long time and has worked very hard. Imagine the outcry had the pass been for the victory!

But keep in mind that Forsythe is only part-owner of that club. Players owns the rest. And they're pulling out all the stops to win the championship this year. Bob Bexom is obviously not interested in next year. And I'm sure that they would've told Tracy to pull over, had the shoe been on the other foot this season. (Which I thought was quite possible at the beginning of the year).

Now, I'm not condoning "team orders", but I understand them. And I don't blame Neil Micklewright. At the end of the day, he just picked up his paycheque and went home.

Just like Carpentier did.

Certainly, however, they could have been more tactful (less blatant) in the way they did things.

One little piece of trivia to which I've never known the answer is, how much of that team does Players own?

[sgjb]

macdaddy I believe the ownership is 50/50. I have read it a few times previously. This article from itv-f1's website seems to think so too.

http://www.itv-f1.com/themole/mole_story/12185