Tracy stripped of pole-time for blocking: Junquiera gets pole!

[Jay]

From cart.com:

VANCOUVER (July 25, 2003) – The Player’s/Forsythe CART Champ Car entry driven by Paul Tracy (#3 Player’s/Forsythe Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was penalized by CART Stewards upon the end of Friday’s first-day qualifying for the Molson Indy Vancouver and has had his best lap of today’s session taken off the time sheets.
CART Champ Car officials penalized Tracy following violations of Rule 5.4.8 of the Champ Car Rule Book which states, “During qualifying sessions, drivers not running at full qualifying pace should be aware of overtaking drivers, and should give way to all overtaking drivers.”

The loss of Tracy’s fastest lap will demote the #3 car to second in the first-day qualifying results with a fast lap of 61.862 seconds (103.644 mph) and will give the first-day pole to Bruno Junqueira (#1 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), who led qualifying with a best lap of 61.845 seconds (103.672 mph). Junqueira will also receive the championship point for leading the session, giving him 125 and narrowing his deficit to 14 points behind Tracy in the 2003 Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford standings.

I'm sure much of the paddock is letting out one huge "ing finally!" about this.... Having not seen any of the quali session I have no idea, but I know a lot of drivers felt this was long overdue.

How will this affect Paul? I know not too long ago it would have set him off, and the weekend would probably be a waste...but this year?

[James Wilkenson]

Originally posted by Jay


How will this affect Paul? I know not too long ago it would have set him off, and the weekend would probably be a waste...but this year?

good questions

but a better question is how long till Indystool comes along and questions why PT was stripped of a point on the same day CART stock reached a record low? coincidence? I'm sure he thinks not!

[Omega99]

Well, as much as I like PT, he probably deserved it, and if not now then before. He's still #2 on the list, but of course loosing that point and the guaranteed spot on the front row might make him overlook the great position he is in. He's fast, with one more day of qualifying. He'll probably still get pole. And it's kind of nice to see Junqueira be on the top of the charts. It was long overdue, but it might have been better if it hadn't happened this way. The real question is not will PT whine (because he will) but will Junky still find something to complain about!

[Liz]

Tagliani was not too impressed with the lack of sportsmanship shown on the track during the afternoon session. "I know we have a podium car and we can be faster. I am just disappointed we didn't get the opportunity to get a fast lap with Tracy blocking me, and there's data and witnesses to prove this," claimed Tagliani. "He wouldn't let me get by. If he thinks he's got the pole, he'll do whatever it takes to preserve it. It's the hardest thing for a driver who knows they've got the fastest time so far, to move over and let someone else challenge him and possibly take that away. That's no way to compete," explained Tagliani.

When asked if he would move over for someone on a flyer, Tagliani said, "Absolutely, I do it all the time and understand the competition. I wouldn't back down from or mess up the challenge of qualifying."

From Alex Tagliani's post-qualifying PR release.

[Peter S]

This is all sour grapes. All because tracy is the class of the field. Everyone should shut up and try and improve there package rather looking for excuses why PT is the quickest driver on the track. Tracy has been blocked enough times this year in qualifying. If any of the teams had any sense they would let the talking be done of track. It is only the losers who tend to complain to the stewerds, which means they must have already admitted defeat.

Hopefully PT will stick it up them all for the rest of the weekend and drive away from the field tommorow showing them all his "crack of his arse" once again. GO PT!

[gttouring]

PT is notably quick in Vancouver evrytime, so this is a bad move really, unless the fight with pooky and tracy was in essence the argument over this setup, and this is to spice it up.
CART stock at an all time low, good some one buy the lot and run it proper
BERNIE is right, Dictatorship works in F1 i think it ay work in CART- of course not bernie's style

[JohnSSC]

On Speed Channel last night Tommy Kendall noted that in his opinion there has been blocking by PT.

As he has raced at a fairly high level and attends all of the CART races I tend to believe that his assessment is accurate.

[Radioshoes]

Originally posted by Peter S
This is all sour grapes. All because tracy is the class of the field. Everyone should shut up and try and improve there package rather looking for excuses why PT is the quickest driver on the track. Tracy has been blocked enough times this year in qualifying. If any of the teams had any sense they would let the talking be done of track. It is only the losers who tend to complain to the stewerds, which means they must have already admitted defeat.

I tend to agree with this. The problem that I see with this call is that it sets a dangerous precedent. It's a slippery slope. So at the next race if enough drivers complain will Kneifel penalize someone else? It seems to me that Tracy was singled out as an example. It had less to do with what he did on track and more to do with accumulated complaints from drivers who wish they were in Tracy's position. Tracy is easy to pick on because of his past.

I can't say if Tracy blocked or not, I wouldn't put it past him but it's a part of quallies that has been there since the rubber hit the road. If they think that penalizing a driver for blocking is going to improve quallies they may as well go to a F1 qually format because that's the only way it will ever be "fair".

It doesn't surprise me in the least that Tagliani was one of the more vocal drivers against Tracy. How many times have we heard him say, "I would have won the race/been on the podium/been on pole except for (insert your favourite driver's name or car problem here)." And for him to say that he wouldn't block another driver, I think he had better review some of the videos. I'm quite sure every driver out there has blocked someone at some point. He's quick I'll give him that but he needs an attitude adjustment, imho.

I like Tracy but he's not my favourite driver. I just hope the penalty was deserved, that he actually earned it and it was not simply because Kneifel thought he better look like he's doing something to earn his paycheck.

Cheers

[Jay]

I think we need to go to 1 lap quali, F1-style.

[Lee Janotta]

Wow Jay, we finally agree on a possible rule change.

[MLM]

I may agree with the 1-lap qualifying. The Boys are pushing the envelope, so to speak. Maybe they need to be separated for a while.
Works with 1st graders.

[Jay]

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
Wow Jay, we finally agree on a possible rule change.

Yeah...it was only a matter of time .

[evo]

I think they should not do anything F1 style. CART is not F1. But doing the oval track qualifying setup on the street courses would be a nice idea... (2 laps plus a warm up and cool down)

[James Wilkenson]

Originally posted by evo
I think they should not do anything F1 style. CART is not F1. But doing the oval track qualifying setup on the street courses would be a nice idea... (2 laps plus a warm up and cool down)

I say take it one step further....Put all the drivers in thier cars and do a random drawing.....Lottery style....when your name comes up slap on the starter and head on out....sure the last driver has the advantage of a rubbered track, but he also had to sit there waiting for his name to be called for an hour or so......pressure

[Dov]

Originally posted by evo
I think they should not do anything F1 style. CART is not F1. But doing the oval track qualifying setup on the street courses would be a nice idea... (2 laps plus a warm up and cool down)

Evo, it's still the same thing....the difference is in F1 they only have 1 flying lap, but 2 would be better. If CART does go through with this idea for quals, won't the teams need to use tire warmers to get the Bridgestones up to optimum temperature? By the way, CART is no NASCAR either.

P.S. Welcome to the 10/10ths Forum James Wilkenson and I like your signature line because it is the truth!

[f1manoz]

Well, this had to happen eventually. Many other drivers have been whinging about him doing it for a while...

[Snrub]

I tend to think CART and all of those drivers wouldn't be saying something if it wasn't happening. There's too much smoke for there to be no fire.

As has been suggested by a couple people, I think some sort of multi-lap one car qualifying would be the best way to go. They do not nessisarly need to have multiple laps deemed to be warmup. If they are warm they can do 2 or 3 laps in a row at full speed. Saving 5lbs of fuel would not be worth compromising a chance at a good lap.

[norman-normal]

For many reasons, but safety, above all, they need to keep tight control. They have not done this in the past, probabley because of the promemance of the Players team.

It's hard not to like PT's style of driving, but he's starting to mouth off like some juvenile thug,(glass jaw, open fist).

[The Snout]

I think PT's feeling a little pressure to. Here he is now with his best chance to win the Championship, it's getting well into the year, it's almost now or never, so things like this a magnified.

[norman-normal]

Good point Snout. Paul often says that he lets his "driving do the talking". If only that were true he would be the prince of CART, and a much admired roll model.

Paul put your driving where your mouth is!