Tuesday is D-day for Carpentier...

[craigmanning]

...in an interview with cart.com during qualifying today Pat was asked about how he felt about this upcoming decision day. For those of you who missed it his reply was that he had done his best and had no regrets. My immediate feeling was that he already knows and my guess is he's gone, although I hope I'm dead wrong. Player's arn't good at keeping secrets. Someone was overheard telling Pat's wife at Laguna last year that Tagliani already had the seat for this year. This was three or four months before the alleged 'shootout' with Emp and Bentham.

I'd like to know if anyone has any strong feelings on this, do you think Pat will be with Players for 2001?...

[Liz]

Much as like him, I doubt very much if they'll keep him on. There are just too many guys waiting for seats who can run with the wolves - and I think Patrick's latest results show that he's getting like Christian - frazzled into making stupid and dangerous mistakes by his desire to do more than he can do.

I'd guess Lee Bentham or one of the current Ilghts championship contenders will have the seat next year - always remembering that Forsythe stays with Canadians.

[wallbanger]

I beg to differ. Given that Players remains a 2-car team for 2001 Pat's in one of their seats.
a) PC's a French-Canadian...the preferred ethnicity for a Players driver. He's well-liked in his home territory and has a great "public relations" manner.
b) Though not a winner, Pat's fast and has been running with CART's top-10.
c) There would be no added cost and aggravation to the team involved with testing and grooming a newbie.
d)Pat hasn't fallen off his bike or down the stairs for more than 3 months now!

[jb]

you got it, wallbanger, and a little humor very appreciated this morning

[Jay]

I hope that Pat is done.

Although he was good in Atlantics, the same can't be said for Cart. Greg Moore was always miles ahead of him and although Alex Tagliani makes a lot of rookie mistakes, he still routinely outpaces Pat on the time sheets.

I realize that Player's ciggarete's prime market is Quebec (Saying they smoke a lot is an understatement), but if they care at all about performance they will sack him.


I would really like to see Andrew Bordin take the seat. He has been doing well in Atlantics for a few years now. I don't know if he'd be a star, but he would surely do better than Pat has.

[Liz]

I don't think Patrick advanced his cause very far today. Oopsy.

[craigmanning]

...so Tuesday has come and gone and no announcement...hmmm...check out http://www.carpentier.com for a very interesting article by a Montreal journalist who tells of how furious Pat was when he left Chicago. The speculation is that he's upset with his status on the team. I guess the conclusion could be drawn that someone senior on the team said something upsetting to him after his 'oopsy'...

[Liz]

Apparently he's got 3 more races to "prove" he belongs at the top of the ticket. Talk about damning with faint praise: They say he's having the best season he's had in his career, and P.S. you've got three more races to improve or you're fired?