Beyond all the tough talk preceding the race and the carbon-carnage on the
Toronto street course, Alex Tagliani, Memo Gidley and the Rocketsports Racing
crew had an exceptional weekend, one that highlighted the grit and determination
of the second year outfit
source:
Rocketsports Racing - Nadia Petrossi
The intensity started to build prior to the
weekend when Tagliani came under fire from fellow-Canadian driver, Paul Tracy,
who blamed Tag for prematurely ending his Cleveland race. Despite the decision
of race officials, critics and just about everyone who had seen the now famous
re-play declaring Tagliani's innocence, Tracy continued to point the finger at
his fellow Canadian.
The pair battled in the press for days on their
native Canadian turf until Tagliani rose above the chatter to focus on the race
and work closely with Rocketsports engineers to develop the right dampers/tires
combination for the bumpy Toronto street course in constantly changing
conditions.
Hard work paid off on race day when Tagliani moved the No.
8 Johnson Controls Lola to second position, from ninth on the grid. Then, a
controversial drive-through penalty for "making avoidable contact" with Oriol
Servia combined with an ill-timed yellow flag just as he prepared to enter the
pits forced him back to 11th.
The feisty French-Canadian climbed his way
back up to sixth, until a mad scramble for final positions late in the race saw
Tagliani make contact with Roberto Gonzalez. A second penalty for making
avoidable contact was assessed, which dropped Tagliani to seventh at the
checkered flag in the time-shortened race, which ran only 84 of the scheduled 95
laps.