The Race From Hell

[Liz]

I can't remember seeing any race in any series as ridiculous as that one from Surfers.

If Gil had any miracles coming to him, he has used them all up in this race. How he managed to crash himself out with an insane first corner move on Montoya, and still come out of the race in the Championship lead, says more of miracles than of anything else.

Although Oriol Servias gets the hands down Prat of the Race award and will be lucky if Paul Tracy doesn't disassemble him, (and Cal Wells appeared to be egging him on to it) I would have to say that about sixteen pilots are tied for number two Prat status.

And Gil would be one of those. WHAT ON EARTH WAS HE THINKING ABOUT????????

The only reason to watch the tape of that michegoss would be to see if it was really as bad as it seemed.

[Madfan]

Liz, I agree totally! Some of these guys seem to throw all
caution to the wind, and shouldn't Oriol be penalised for his disregarding the rules and intentionally
cutting across the hairpin before taking Paul out? I think
he is the worst driver out there. Oriol should be banned
from Fontana so he can't cause any more trouble.

[torsion_bar]

Riduculous? Yes; it looked like the pictures I have in my head when I read about Porsche Supercup races.

On the other hand, I haven't seen so exciting a race in a long time. I've never seen so many cases of brake lockup in one race before. All those incidents brought to mind what I've read about Monaco '82 when it seemed like no one wanted to win. Crashes are bad, but a little bit of light contact (Vilnuerve and Arnoux, '79) here and there does spice things up for me. And it's always nice to see Paul Tracy on mad charge through the field. Perhaps, it is better that Champcars are less forgiving than F1 cars because the CART drivers get to push the envelope just a tiny bit further.

[bella]

maybe you know what happened to christian. i missed the race (trying to sleep), and can't find anywhere where he went to. i assume to go kick a dustbin somewhere. and how. and why. and the meaning of life would be nice while you're at it.
tags been learning words from mr tracy? naughty boy.

[Crash Test]

What a fantastic weekend! I seriously feel sorry for everyone who sat at home for that one!

Paul Tracy doesn't disassemble him...

Hehehe...Oriol isn't the only one who came close to copping it! During the drivers parade, myself and the Paul Tracy appreciation association let rip with a massive DON'T CRASH PAUL! as he sped bast on the back of a car....the look on his face was priceless, and everyone got a huge laugh out of it...

Good ol Mikey...when he was walking back to the pits after his BBQ, I gave him a high 5 and a pat on the back....oooowww sssweatty...quickly wiping my hand...

Great stuff...massive write up to follow

[Liz]

We can't wait!

As for the Oriol Servias Disassembly Society, I bet Kenny Brack will sign up too.

Christian actually finished well up the pitch, due to so many people destroying themselves in such spectacular fashion. And I guess Tags is proof that you do learn the naughty words first and best. Although he was entirely justified.

And as always patient and careful Adrian Fernandez is left to pick up the pieces and the 20 points at the end. This man is not the best of the field, but he is amazing for his ability to win races by default.

[Crash Test]

I've just watched the tape of the race....what the hell was going on?? Paul Paul Paul....

Can someone tell me what happened with Max? Is it just me, or did Paul plainly and simply, punt him off in cold blood. At least with the first turn Gil/Montoya thing, both drivers had good arguments over who is at fault. What could Paul possibly say to defend himself on that one?

I think that was terrible...

The exact same thing happened late in the 97 Surfers race. On a restart he went mad at the first chicane and then went mad and crashed out.

I'm not denying that it was a storming drive, but maybe if he just drove with his head instead of whatever the hell he drives with, he could have picked up some serious points, and be in with a big chance for the title.

The crash with Servia...was Servia completely in the wrong? Didn't Paul make a meal out of the previous corner?Servia had every right to be there...

Christian- What ever happened to him, he had to get a lift pack to the pits at the end of the day.

Moreno- He was off the pace all day....was never in there, and then he stuffed up....

[Liz]

I think there must have been a serious loss of concentration by everyone but Adrian Fernandez during this race. I say don't let these boys near the beach until AFTER the race.

I think Christian's engine did what Mikey's engine did. They were cautioning on both engines with the same problem.

As for Paul, I don't think it was his doing in the Max Affair. He looks to me as if he narrowly missed being involved when Max simply overcooked it.

Moreno, agree he is trying way too hard and just making a mess of the chances he gets. Order of Prozac for Mr. Moreno, please! Perhaps he thinks he will be fired if he doesn't win the championship.

[Crash Test]

Actually, Christian was always puffing some smoke under acceleration, well before Mikey had any problems...

[Crash Test]

As for Paul, I don't think it was his doing in the Max Affair. He looks to me as if he narrowly missed being involved when Max simply overcooked it.
-Sorry Liz? We are talking about the same incident here? Coming down from the restart, half a lap before he crashed out, he absolutely nailed Max in the rear.

To quote Jeremy Shaw from the boradcast-
"He (Tracy) totally drills him (Papis) from behind, totally uncalled for. Barry Green will be beside himself"

Then onto his comments later that lap after his lunge under Servia which forced him over the grass-
"What is he (Tracy) playing at? I can't imagine what is going through his mind right now. He is not driving at all sensibly.

And then after he hit the wall-
"You could see that coming....That was a stupid move by Tracy. There was no need to force the issue at that point.

Servia was in front, Tracy wanted to go two wide, where it is impossible to go two wide. Servia did everything he could, as he was forced onto the kerb on the outside, which unsettled the car and sent it back at Tracy. 3 incidents in one lap would have to be a record, even for Tracy....

[bella]

aaactually.....now i've been on cart.com, christian has a tyre problem. the problem was, it had target written on it from jimmy vasser's car. interesting the different views on THAT one, although no-one seems to have seen it on tv, and the raceviewer on cart.com didn't mention anything. the little yellow line for #11 just stopped.
ah well. another promising showing down the big toilet in the sky.
as for the smoke coming out of the back of the car, i do believe afterwards he admitted his ashtray was full....
man, i wish i was there. i believe adelaide (or melbourne) say what a great place for the race. certainly beats soggy old rockingham....
i'm behind mr servia. you can make one mistake a year. and he did a big one (from what i heard, or was it the paul tracy appreciation society speaking in mass?). mr tracy (thunderbirds are go.......and there's even a parker....hehehe) seems to have gone back to his usual old self. must have taught alex those naughty words.

photo of the day - a shot of christian's newly wrecked car from qualifying on the truck, with the caption 'oops, i did it again'. hehehe.....

can't wait to see the highlights on tuesday morning. and then i'll be watching fontana live!!!! we're getting sky digital on the 19th (it only took since january...). class!

crash, i'm glad you enjoyed it. seems like a right good day out, and a jolly good show. if a little kiddies at the kart track.....

[AndrettiRULES]

Very very interesting race to say the least. My view on the Tracy/Servia incident was that Servia blew through the first chicane and overtook Tracy while he was braking hard to miss Papis when Max came back across the track...thus Oriol was 'suppose' to give that position back to Tracy...and rather quickly I might add. So, IMO, Tracy got a little ticked off that he wasn't pulling over for him, so he dive bombed into the first chicane on the back side of the course and went sliding through the infield in the process. Then, my view looked like Tracy was a bit ahead coming into the 2nd chicane, and definitely had the proper racing line through there, and Servia just plain drove straight in, hopped over the curbing and slammed into Tracy. I believe Oriol has a lot of talent and will be talked about greatly in the future, but he is super aggressive!

AR

[JeremySmith]

I agree with you Liz...For once..Awful mess,riduculous race. One thing though Mr Montoya "pushed" Gil into the wall at the first corner..I have never seen so many yellow flags,and what was that pace car? It looked like a cab!

Thank GOD for Formula1... Good luck next year Mr Montoya

[Liz]

I saw what AR saw in the Tracy/Max/Servias brouhaha. We got the p&P show, not the Eurosport show, so they were chattering about other subjects when it was all unfolding. I have reviewed that mess and it looked to me as if Servias was at fault as Paul had the right line and rightly expected Servias to give it up. Even P&p said that.

Anyway I think that I have not seen a mess like that since last year's European F1 race that nobody wanted and finally Johnny Herbert won by default.

Pack of idiots.

[Crash Test]

Ok, I've sat down and watched the tape a fair few times this morning. Once Paul went through the grass, Servia made it past and was in front. Going into the chicane, in my 10 years of spectating I have only ever seen 1 pair of cars go two wide at that point, and needless to say it ended in tears. I tend to disagree that Tracy had the line. You want to be over to the right, and hitting that curb that Servia was launched off.

Servia saw Tracy next to him and buttoned off, thus allowing Paul to get slightly ahead. However there was no way that Servia could button off enough at that speed to allow Tracy to get totally by. Tracy however had to make the turn as well, so he had to take some space off Servia, thus forcing Servia over the curb, and out of control into the side of Tracy.

My thinking is that the mitake Servia made was buttoning off. Had he not tried to let Tracy by, the responsibility for not having a crash would have been on Tracy, as he didn't have the line for the corner. But knowing Paul, he wouldn't have lifted and there would have been a bigger accident than there was...

As for Servia getting by Paul at the fitst chicane...had Paul not cut Papis in half, there would have been no problem, and nobody would have gotten by anyone. If i were Max, I would tear Tracya new a-hole, anyone care to remember what happened to Max when Tracy was behind him entering turn 4 at Rio this year?

[Liz]

Well you were there so you probably saw it more closely than I did. But the race reports seem to be pretty evenly split as to fault, and I'm sure the parties involved are also convinced of their position.

Did you hear Cal Wells on the radio to Servia? Did he say "HE's not driving for us next year" or "YOU'RE not driving for us next year"? I've read it both ways.

[Crash Test]

Does Servia bring Telefonica to the team? If so, unless Mr Wells knows something we don't, it would seem silly to give him the boot. He's made some rookie mistakes, but give the boy a go. He did get a podium during his first season....pretty good going.

[AndrettiRULES]

Hmm, interesting, although I've never truly seen any cars hitting that curb you talk about. I've seen some cars skim the curb, but no one hits the curbs like they do around the other parts of the circuit. Almost everyone wasn't even touching that curb...and I'm watching a replay of the race on TV right now! But being to quite a few races the last few years, I can realize how much more you can spot live...and that is approx. the spot you were at, correct?

AR

[Crash Test]

Drivers weren't meant to hit the curb that Servia did. At that stage, he was either going to hit Tracy, or hit the curb. Therefore, his options were limited.

Drivers would be aiming to hit the apex, and maybe use a little bit of curb. This year they put some rather large concrete rumples on the outside edge of the curbs to discourage people going over them (like Servia did) and this no doubt helped launch the car. Also the try no to hit that one so hard because of the speed, and the change of direction is not as great as some of the other chicanes on the course.

[slicktoast]

Jersound, that pace 'car' was a Honda Odyssy mini-van. Rumor has it that all the drivers who were invovled in 'incidents' will race these at Surfers in 2001. Can you say barrel-roll?

[botsquad]

just wondering:

so roger's number one driver brainlocks on the first corner.

the championship now goes down to the finale race at

the Penske owned, (plenty of tickes still available) calif 500.


im no suggesting anything of course.

[Crash Test]

The Odyssy pace "car"....i don't think it was the fastest car at their disposal....it was quite a joke that they used it actually. I just wish that road going Odyssys made that engine noise

Also, I though Roger Penske sold out of his interest in race track? Well that is what we were told on the Gold Coast, also sold out of Detroit Diesel amoungst others..

[Liz]

That's stretching things a bit far. I don't think Gil would have done that under orders. Although he might rather have people believe that than the truth