Patrick is 2-peat... :)

[Mags]

Hello.. WHY isn't anyone going nuts about the fact that Patrick Carpentier just won Laguna Seca?? #2??? It's like SUCH a great thing he did!!! Doesn't anyone on here care about Champ Cars?? He did a 2-peat!!! )) HURRAH Patrick!!!!

[Kicking-back]

Welcome back to the forum, Mags.

Carpentier did a great job - a calm, measured drive when all around were losing their heads - and he was bloody quick, too.

[MLM]

Congrats/felicitations to Patrick
Did he run naked around the Corkscrew?

[fobi0]

Uh OK.

I guess some people have a hard time seeing people are actually going nuts about Pat as well as Coyne and Servia for their performances this weekend in the first thread stickied in this forum.

Sure Pat had a great race and dominated it, but not in a such fashion that it hasn't been seen before. For that matter he was even more dominating during the 2nd win of his career. So what makes it so much greater than say, a Dale Coyne car on the podium, which is probably viewed as a much greater achievement than the 2nd greatest victory of Pat's career? Where is the thread for that? Or is Servia not as good looking as Pat?

[Uesque]

Originally posted by fobi0

Or is Servia not as good looking as Pat?

Don't know, we haven't seen him run the course in his altogether.

[jjspierx]

Yes, Pat drove a great job. Even if Sebastien hadn't had his problems, he would have had his hands full with Patrick all race. I think they were close enough in speed that a pass would have had to have been made in the pits. I was happy to see Pat win, he truly deserved it and was the fastest man on the track.

[JohnSSC]

Getting to fobi0's point though - while not making a judgement on relative good looks, Servia must've done a heckuva job to get a DCR car that high up the grid!

On topic: It is good to see PC doing so well despite all the controversy and uncertainty that has surrounded his time with St. Gerald this year. I hope these results equate to a good ride somewhere next season.

[Dov]

Congrats to both Pat and Oriol!! Both used their head and raced extremely well. Will this win persuade Patreek to stay in CC? Probably not.

[enemy-ace]

I don't think it's a matter of having to persuade Patrick to stay in Champ Car; it's more of a matter of persuading an owner to 'pony up' and pay him what he's worth to stay. Unfortunately it doesn't appear any of the teams have the finances to do that.
Great drive from Patrick though, It'll be sad to see him go.

[Fogelhund]

A nice victory for Patrick, and certainly well deserved. Tracy certainly is having issues again this year finishing races without having bumped into other cars.

Hopefully Patrick does end up with a paying job next year, and hopefully there is room for that in Champ Cars.

[BootsOntheSide]

Pat did a good job to kepe it on the track, and he's certainly putting Lavin to shame this year - once you consider that he's very much the sapre part in the team he's driving about as well as Tracy in fact.

[Fogelhund]

Boots - I'd argue he is driving better then Tracy. They are practically even on points right now, and IMHO Tracy is the faster driver on talent alone. But, Patrick is doing what it takes to get the car to the finish consistantly. Tracy has been hit or miss again this year, like he has been for much of his career.

[N I Tram]

I think he's outperforming Paul this year, and maybe he'd be poutting up a genuine title challenge were it not for Lavin's presence. He'd certainly be a loss to CART and a big gain for the IRL (not to mention whichever specific team he joins) if he does end up switching.

[Snrub]

I respect Pat and I think he's got a lot more in him than he's shown the past couple of seasons, but you can't say that he's driving better than PT. PT's had some really bad luck, messed up when he was doing well, etc.

Originally posted by Kicking-back
Welcome back to the forum, Mags.

Indeed, what's happened to you and Liz?

[Mosport67]

Pat's had some bad luck too. Engine failure in Cleveland and backmarker in Vancouver.

[macdaddy]

And team orders to contend with.

[jjspierx]

Have we had any concrete word on whether team orders have played any effect in any of the races this year?

[macdaddy]

jj... No, I don't think so.
"Concrete" is a pretty "hard" word to use, though. It requires proof!

The championship looks like this...
1) Newman-Haas
2) Newman-Haas
3) Forsythe
4) Forsythe

Pat is 1-point behind PT. Three races remain. If N/H falters (which I doubt - I'm speculating here) then Pat could conceivably win the championship. Even the fact that he's within striking-distance this late into the season should guarantee him a solid ride.

I hope Gerry realizes this. Same goes for Molson, Labatt, Canadian Tire and whoever owns Tim Horton's nowadays. And by mentioning Gerry, I'd be remiss if I didn't include KK and PG.

Nice guy and great driver aside, Carpentier is a marketable commodity and to let such a solid driver disappear, at this stage of the game, would be negative-PR that is easily avoided.