A Vancouver Pre-Race Thread

[macdaddy]

First-day quals are over...

1) Tracy 1:00.819
2) Bourdais 1:00.974
3) Carpentier 1:01.370
4) Junqueira 1:01.459
5) Tagliani 1:01.539
6) Hunter-Reay 1:01.742
7) Servia 1:01.904
8) Dominguez 1:02.051
9) Gidley 1:02.071
10) Vasser 1:02.076
11) Allmendinger 1:02.135
12) Wilson 1:02.153
13) Jourdain 1:02.463
14) Gonzalez 1:02.634
15) Haberfeld 1:02.712
16) Lavin 1:02.813
17) Sperafico 1:03.657
18) Mazzacane 1:04.488

[Kicking-back]

Tracy v Bourdais in a class of their own, then the rest are in a good scrap.

[Snrub]

Fingers crossed for a PT flag to flag arse whoopin'. Hopefully Q2 has the same results. It would be great to see Pat beat up the NH boys too. After his terrific passing in TO, maybe he's ready to take it to Bourdais.

I find it quiet intersting that Servia is actually getting some consistant results. I'm quiet puzzled that he's able to beat out a bunch of heavier hitters.

[macdaddy]

Yes, they sure seem to be. Carps is four-tenths behind Bourdais.

You get down to the bottom of the list...
Sperafico is 0.844 behind Lavin,
Mazzacane is 0.831 behind Sperafico.

Dale Coyne and Servia are solidly into the top-10, and there are three Canadians in the top-5! A strong time for RHR, who has never raced a ChampCar here before.

[Dov]

What else can you say about PT and Bourdais that hasn't been (or will be) said. RHR qualified well and Servia REALLY impressed me today....I hope he can do it again tomorrow! I know it's his first time racing in Vancouver, but I have to say that I was a little bit dissapointed with Justin Wilson's time. He'll probably improve in Q2.

Macdaddy, what do you mean RHR never raced a CC in Vancouver before? Wasn't he there last year with American Spirit Racing?!

[Kicking-back]

He was.

[macdaddy]

He was, and I'm stupid.
KB forgot to finish his sentence.

[evo]

Originally posted by Snrub
Fingers crossed for a PT flag to flag arse whoopin'.

Personally, I'd much rather see a race.

[Dov]

Junky was still complaining today about Dominguez taking him out of the race in Toronto. I sure wish he would grow up!

[codename_47]

Ahhh, I like these threads more, with the topic on the racing and the people who want to discuss it, rather than financial matters....why can't CC race every week!

Tracy...PLEASE get your act together this weekend.
If you want a second title, it's now or NEVER, as far as the points chase is concerned!

[Omega99]

Tracy does need to step it up soon. There's still lot's of racing left, so anything could happen.

[Snrub]

With the new points schedule PT must dominate like first half 2003 if he's going to win. Why oh why must Cicale insist on being paid what he's worth! I learned on cart.com that both PT and Pat were penalized their best time. I know what Pat's time was, but does anyone know what PT's was?

Someone should tell Junky that it was more his fault than Dominguez's in TO.

For the record I don't like watching flag to flag wins, but in order for the season to be more interesting, we need one now. (there can be all sorts of crazy stuff happening behind, just like TO)

[macdaddy]

I started this thread shortly after first quals were over, and I don't think that PT's time had been taken away yet when I culled the numbers.

His time of 1:00.819 was negated for blocking, but his 2nd-best lap at 1:00.870 was still good enough for provisional pole.

Culled from this article in the Vancouver Sun...

Tracy's best time was less than five-tenths of a second off Cristiano da Matta's track record of 60.399 set in 2002, but he thinks it's within reach.

"I think it can fall [today]. We're quicker than last year's pole. The car is basically the same car, same tire, but 100 horsepower less... so it shows how well the teams have worked refining the cars, making the cars better.

[Kicking-back]

Great stuff!

[f1manoz]

The PT and Seb Show in Vancouver. These two are really the class of the field at the moment, no matter what Bruno can pull out. If PT had held his head in the last race, and not had a couple of unfortunate incidents at others, he'd be better placed in the championships.

Gidley in ninth is a massive improvement since Toronto. Just goes to show what preparation can do for you!!!

[Snrub]

Surely PT is refering to having less HP than in 2002 rather than "last year" (2003). Judging from the repeated mistakes from his article in the TO star I think this is probably the case.

Macdaddy: You were pretty quick posting the Q1 numbers, so your suggestion was clearly the case.

[Omega99]

They have push to pass this year, so they actually have more horsepower...

[macdaddy]

PT was referring to 2002 in his horsepower comparison, things were different back then. That's why I quoted that particular segment - I found it interesting.

[macdaddy]

Gidley qualifies P5 - four spots above Tagliani.

[Snrub]

Starting lineup:

1 1 P. Tracy 1:00.870
2 3 R. Lavin 1:00.980
3 2 S. Bourdais 1:00.974
4 55 M. Dominguez 1:01.168
5 17 M. Gidley 1:01.365
6 7 P. Carpentier 1:01.398
7 34 J. Wilson 1:01.434
8 6 B. Junqueira 1:01.459
9 8 A. Tagliani 1:01.539
10 4 R. Hunter-Reay 1:01.566
11 10 A. Allmendinger 1:01.588
12 9 M. Jourdain Jr. 1:01.777
13 11 O. Servia 1:01.904
14 5 M. Haberfeld 1:01.911
15 12 J. Vasser 1:01.936
16 21 R. Gonzalez 1:02.163
17 14 A. Sperafico 1:03.347
18 19 G. Mazzacane 1:03.757

Worth mentioning:
* Take a look at Memo, 5th place and beat Tag!!
* 4ths cover 4-11th.
* Who's this R. Lavin guy, is he last year's F3000 champ or something?!?
* AJ outqualifying Jourdain again.
* Vasser's really struggling.
* Shame Servia couldn't do better since he's been doing so well lately.

[GBoehm]

closer field than i thought it would be

[f1manoz]

Well done to Lavin, complete and utter surprise but well done all the same. Hope he keeps it up during the race.

Gidley in fifth shows that preparation can make all the difference in the world.

Pity Servia dropped down to 13th from Qualifying One but there's no doubt he'll come through if he keeps hisnose clean. The RuSport guys are also a tad lower than usual.

PKV... hmm, what's gone wrong there???

That's one hell of a close grid - basically one second covers 1st to 15th (well, 1.1 but who's being picky) but Sperafico and Mazza are well off the pace...

[Flatspot]

What happened to Junqueira? Fastest in final practice and dead last in the qualifier. :confused:
I'd love to see Gidley on the podium tomorrow.

[Omega99]

Just watched the tape delay of qualifying on Global, and all the red flags seemed to prevent anyone from putting down their hot laps when it counted, save Lavin. I think there are a lot of drivers that are not in a spot on the grid that represents their speed, and as a result, there should be some shuffling on track tomorrow!

[Snrub]

I just did too, infact it was sort of by accident that I caught it on Global West with ExpressVu. I don't know why Global out here wouldn't show it!

Lavin had genuine pace, but if anyone had managed to put in some hot laps he'd probably have been back around 4th. Commendable never the less!

Interesting mechanical failures in Q2:
* Junky went over a curb in a very normal fashion and his steering arm and possibly also a suspension arm broke and sent him into the wall.
* I noticed PT was smoking when he was going slower. (reminded me of my RX-7 and the seal that's going on my turbo ) Later PT said that he lost it as a result of oil leakage and had to keep coming in. Kind of odd. Wonder if it's a genuine oil line failure, etc. or if it's his engine. There seem to have been more engine problems this year.