Forsythe to run Carpentier

[cartpix]

It's an AR1 exclusive, so if it doesn't happen, blame Mark C. not me. It is on his news page NOT his rumor page. The article says, sponsors are looking up. Expect an announcement from the team in a few days.

I for one, am very happy, for Pat. He's one of the good guys. He's never too busy for a pic & has always been good to me.

Jeff

[macdaddy]

Every Canuck should be happy.
But my "take" on things has been covered...
Starting at the eleventh post here...

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...922#post915922

[suzmac]

I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that "my Patrick" has a ride!!! Now let's start racing already!!! I am getting impatient!!!

Sue

[Fogelhund]

Mixed thoughts. I'm glad he will have a ride. Terrible the circumstances and the way that Forsythe has handled this.

[suzmac]

I agree with you Fogelhund but I am so glad that he will be racing and that he has a ride but I don't think GF appreciates him all that much!!!

Sue

[racinthestreets]

Give GF a break. He had to find sponsorship for two cars because of the Players loss and fund his portion of the OWRS. He did what he had to do with Lavin and Patrick. It is a business, and I believe at this point in Patrick's career he needs to bring sponsorship and obviously Proctor & Gamble was not sufficient for a season. IMO if Patrick's talent alone were enough for a seat he would have it.

[Fogelhund]

Give GF a break? Your right, he has only known for what, four years that Player's sponsorship would be going away? Surely a four year time table is enough to find a sponsor for someone committed, and believing a series will succeed.

When a fifth place in championship driver is being called a "Pay Driver" which I believe is your insinuation, it is a pretty poor commentary on a series. FWIW, I don't agree with you.

Let's face it, Forsythe has not managed to get sponsorship for either Tracy or Patrick.

What is most shameful is the way that he has handled the situation. There is absolutely no excuse on the planet for the way this was handled. Pat had to find out from Paul? After the rest of the team knew? Forsythe has neither the kajoles or class to tell Pat himself. Regardless of how you feel about Pat, the way he was treated was disgraceful.

[Mike.ca]

Actually, Fogelhund, it was more like six years. The Canadian Tobacco Act was passed in 1997, with an implementation date of Oct. 1998. Even then, there was a five year grace period for existing sponsorships, which ran out in Oct. 2003. It's an absolute mystery to me that Forsythe didn't have a sponsorship deal in place long before the bankruptcy, long before the start of the 2003 season. As I understand it, the lead time for multimillion dollar sponsorships (at least, for Canadian companies) is around eighteen months to two years, sometimes longer. I'm sure that there's an interesting story in all of this. Maybe some day an enterprising journalist will uncover it.

If it works out, the story about Patrick racing for Forsythe is excellent news - for him and the series. He deserves a competitive ride, not a field filler. The series need to have its best drivers in its best cars. It's important for its credibility. In the end, it's all about the quality of the racing. The more drivers there are battling for the lead, the better it is for the series.

[macdaddy]

Toward the end of last season, GF was hinting toward a new European sponsor. I guess that all went up in smoke when the series decided not to make that road trip.

[Fogelhund]

Thanks Mike.ca, I admit, I was too lazy to look up the actual number of years, and knew that four years would cover it, should have said at least four years.

[Jordi]

Patrick deserves a ride, he is not only a talented driver but one of the more recognizable names in Champ Car today. He must be racing!

[Flatspot]

Give GF a break? You need to cut him some slack even though he had a ton of lead time to pull things together. Look at what has happened to both Champ Car racing and sport sponsorship in general over the last 5 years. I don't think everything can be blamed on poor planning. Partially yes, completely no.

[Mike.ca]

I don't think anyone used the phrase "poor planning". I don't know what it was. But we are talking about one of the top teams in all of motorsport - anywhere. That's why it's so odd that GF got to this point. Like I said, there's probably an interesting story behind it. Maybe one day we'll know what it is.

[Muzza]

As I just posted in another thread in this forum, I will not be suprised if Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi shove Carpentier down Forsythe's throat.

[racinthestreets]

He would immediately become the second best driver on that team.

[Dov]

From Champweb:

Carpentier in 3rd Forsythe Machine posted on 03-23 12:53

Le journal de Montréal is reporting that Patrick Carpentier will in-fact be racing in a 3rd Forsythe car as originally reported by Champweb.net at the season premiere. Carpentier was said to have a personal sponsor worth a little under $1 million, but that is unconfirmed.

If Carpentier's deal does come to fruition, it will be a great battle between Forsythe Racing and Newman-Haas throughout the 2004 season.

[Flatspot]

Given that we are assuming that the OWRS owners are assigning seats at this point, and given the poor way Carpentier appears to have been handled at Forsythe, the smart move may be to put Jordain in the Player's seat and shove Carpentier down N-H throat. That way Jordain has a competative ride and Carp can drive like he has something to prove instaed of driving for a team he feels doesn't need him.

[Dov]

Excellent point Flatspot! I was thinking exactly the same thing this morning regarding Carp and Forsythe.....why would Patrick want to race for a team that doesn't want him, yet he still deserves a competative seat.....

[Tiresmoke]

wow, yall are takin' a very strange view on this Carp thing. Forsythe Racing is one of the best known and highly regarded racing teams in the world. Forsythe, with Player's, did a helluva lot for racing in north america. GF personally didn't want to see Champ Cars go away so he and his partners stepped up to save the series. No harm was ever meant to Carp and he's gonna be racing again in 2004 as planned.

get a clue fellas.

[corkholio]

If one of the best known and highly regarded team couldn't find any sort of sponsorship in 5 years of trying, then there is a major problem.

I can't see Forsythe giving Carpentier anything better than 2nd rate equipment, much like Herta in 01.

[Flatspot]

Not following you here Tiresmoke. Yes, Forsythe is doing and has done some great things for the saving of the series but he certainly hasn't done Carpentier any favors of late.

What so blatant that we're missing?

[racinthestreets]

What so blatant that we're missing?

Very good point Flatspot. That is what I was conveying when I stated that if he was a top talent driver he would have a seat with or without sponsorship. I know a lot of the contributors are high on Pat. What are not only we missing but the teams like NHR that take talented drivers with or without sponsorship?:confused:

[Mike.ca]

Originally posted by racinthestreets
IMO if Patrick's talent alone were enough for a seat he would have it.

It's all relative. No one here thinks that Patrick is the second coming of Ayrton Senna. But among the drivers confirmed for Champ Car this year there are 7 (other than Patrick, who is yet to be confirmed) who have actually won CART races. That's not a bad ratio, but only PT(26) and Jimmy(10) could be considered big winners. Apart from them, you've got Junquierra(5), Bourdais(3), Jourdain and Dominguez(2 each), and RHR(1). In that company, Patrick, who has 4 wins, is a pretty big deal.
As for talent alone getting him a ride, where? True, N/H goes out and gets the sponsors then hires whom it wants. But it already has two drivers under contract. I don't think that N/H would breach its contracts with either of them, no matter who was available. True, N/H is adding Jourdain. But he's bringing the sponsorship. So where IS a talented driver with no car (as opposed to personal) sponsorship supposed to go?

[Amar7605]

I am the last person to say that any driver just needs to be handed a ride, but in this case I'll make an exception. Not because of Patrick but for OWRS. Patrick is an asset to OWRS because he has name recognition and a fan favorite. It is in the best interest to get Patrick a ride somewhere.
Please, OWRS, don't pull a Sarah Fisher/TG ****!

[Dov]

Tiresmoke,
I can't speak for Flatspot, but I was referring to Gerry Forsythe's handling of the PC situation and not how talented Carp is. That being said, I still think that PC is one of the more talented drivers in CC's today if he had a good car under him and a team that was fully behind him!! More importantly, Patreek is one of the FEW drivers in the CCWS who is marketable!!!