Papis: What was he thinking?

[Jay]

Was Max on drugs? No seriously.... (If you haven't seen Cleveland yet, watch it before responding...)

At least Lemarie kept to himself and didn't get in everyone's way. Max is slower than Lemarie and was in everyone's way tonight...he held up many guys and definately had an impact on the race as a lapped car.

I'm beginning to think PK Racing made a mistake in sacking Lemarie for Papis... I'm sure some of the drivers feel that way after today's race anyway....

[x_dt]

The following question arises: How much of the poor performance of PK Racing this year is down to the team and how much is down to the driver?

For comparison:
Lemarié's first 5 grid positions: 14th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 10th.
Papis's first 2 grid positions this year: 15th, 18th

I have to agree that (in 2003) Papis has been slower than Lemarié. How would PK be doing if they had a decent (and not off-form) driver in that car?

[enemy-ace]

Papis has been rather poor, I have to say I am surprised.
Methinks they need to look at somebody new to engineer that car.
As for Papis's tactics in that race. I thought he was rather unsporting and unprofessional. I thought Papis was better than that. I would like to hear his take on the race before passing judgement. From the outside looking in though he appeared to be totally out of line with his tactics.

[Liz]

I don't understand why it took so long for the officials to give him a warning -- EVERYONE was on the radio screaming about his decision to be a mobile chicane! And if Chris Pook had any reason to go off into a tantrum at Tracy during qualifying, he should have gone onto the track and made Max park his car for his behaviour during the race.

For someone whose attitude has been "They need me more than I need them," and who has crowned himself King of CART, he is not giving me much evidence that either of these positions have merit. Surely they could put Joel Camathias in that car and get better results than they are getting from Max!

[Jordi]

I think we're beginning to see Lemarié was not that bad. Though the best choice would be Herta.

[BootsOntheSide]

The PK car just seems to be hopelessly slow whoever's driving it. The advantage of having an experienced driver should be that a) he doesn't wreck the car and force a small new team into repairs or b) he doesn't make a nuisance of himself among others. In just 2 races, Papis has committed both those sins. Herta could do nothign with the car at Laguna, that oughta say it all.

Haven't seen the incident in question, but it sounds like a clear case of blocking the eladers for no apparent reason. Experienced drivers shouldn't be getting caught up in this kind of thing.

Also, what happened in the contact with fernandez? Was Adrian at fault for that?

[Jay]

I think Adrian turned in without being quite aware of where Bourdais was. That's a tough corner, in that there are often two or even three cars side by side, and it's difficult to know where everyone is. So, I think it was an honest mistake by Adrian.

BEsides that, I thought Adrian was very racy last night. Perhaps his win gave him more confidence. Great to see!

[Liz]

Racing incident, I thought. Fortunately it didn't have an effect on the race itself.

Since Herta the Deserta couldn't even win at Laguna Seca this year, that indicates this car has a problem. But a really good driver can overcome some of that -- look at what Mark Webber is doing with that slug of a Jaguar in F1.

Papis needs to go back to sports cars and stay there.

[evo]

Originally posted by Jordi
I think we're beginning to see Lemarié was not that bad. Though the best choice would be Herta.

I think Bryan's probably pretty glad that he isn't driving the PK Racing machine, considering where he finished today.

[Snrub]

Papis was being a total ass. His fastest lap was in the 1:05s and people couldn't get by who were putting in sub-1:00 laps before catching him.

I'm with Liz, I don't get why he wasn't penalized. In F1, you pass 3 stations waving a blue flag and the next one you see will be black. CART should be doing the same. In the case of Papis it was chronic so there should have been zero tolerance against him after the first incident. On top of that, it's not like Papis was directly racing anyone, he was all by himself! He should have been given a black flag and if it happened again, his night should have been over.

However, I think Papis raised another serious issue about CART. Why could no one pass Papis? This track is suppose to be the easiest to pass on COMPETITIVELY and the leaders couldn't pass a guy _seconds_ a lap slower! It's wierd because there was competitive on track passing further back in the field.

[Jay]

As easy as it is to pass on this track, there are still really only 3 good spots. Turn 1, turn 3, and the final chicane (most difficult). The other corners are just too quick to get by, with one racing line. Unless the other person is feeling generous, it's very difficult to get by elsewhere. Most of the backmarkers would get out of the way, and let the others by - Max didn't. Thus, each person that lapped Max had to fight with him for the position, and wasn't able to get by until they got to one of the spots I listed above.

If you look at the other battles, passing was easy. Nobody was stuck behind a slower car for very long before making the pass.

[macdaddy]

Papis confirms that the PK car is terrible.
And Papis just made himself look even more terrible.
Add that to the fact that he made himself look foolish with his "CART needs more than I do" comments of months previous...

Signed,
A Former Fan

[Lee Janotta]

Actually, the nearly spec cars are a reason it's hard to pass. I can't remember if it was the '89 or '90 race, but there were dozens of passes among the top 5, all through the race, at every conceivable place on the track, and then some. Some of it's the tires, some of the it's the drivers (PT's one of the last guys around who will fight for every single inch of track), a lot of it's the tires and the aero (front wing dependancy).

It's certainly better now, without the traction control, than last year.

Honestly, I blame the Lola's front wing for much of the dearth of passing. That thing makes insane amounts of downforce, and you'll lose most of it as soon as you're in another car's wake.

[gttouring]

yup aero effects are terrible, but Papis is way better than his performances in the PK slug he got.
Herta would've been better but I'd rather have Herta win as he did in Kansas than ave him suck eggs in CART like PAPIS,
too bad no one could pass him- Vasser had a reynard adn couldn't do it ...

[Omega99]

Frustrating, that's for sure! I personally kind of like Papis but his slow perormances have not been anything to get excited about, and his consistent blocking at Cleveland should have been penalized. Smarten up Max!

Perhaps his best years are behind him...

[rodrigomarban]

Certainly, he should have been penalized . Mario Dom�*nguez was penalized for the same in Germany (except that he was racing for position).

Another one that wasn't good yesterday was Adrian, he nearly ruined Bourdais' race, not to mention Jourdain, who ruined his own race with that spin (this time without the help of Paul)