Team Player's drivers corner the market on top three at Grand Prix of Monterey qualifying Team Player's drivers Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy
finished second and third respectively during Friday's qualifying session on
the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca road course, which hosts the seventh round of the
Champ Car World Series on Sunday. Barely a quarter of a second separated the two Team Player's
drivers from Bruno Junquiera, whose hot lap time of one minute, 10.040 seconds
(111.031 miles/hour or 185.125 kilometres/hour) earned him the provisional pole.
Carpentier had a hot time of one minute 10.314 seconds (114.583 miles/hour or
184.403 kilometres/hour). Tracy clocked a fast lap time of one minute 10.341
seconds (114.539 miles/hour or 184.330 kilometres/hour). Fellow Canadian Alex
Tagliani qualified in the thirteenth spot. In the end, it all came down to the final five minutes. A red flag caused by the two American Spirit Team Johansson drivers gave the Brazilian driver the chance to squeak past Team Player's Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy, who had set the pace throughout the session and between them had held the pole three times throughout qualifying. "It's not bad but second means nothing today,"
said Carpentier, who had the fastest time as the red flag came out with just
five minutes remaining in qualifying. "That first place would have meant a
secured position on the front row." "We were quickest before the red flag came out,"
said Tracy, a two-time winner at Laguna Seca who currently sits second in the
drivers' standings. "As time went by, I could see that there would barely
be enough time to improve. For a while, since we were in first, I was hoping
there wouldn't be enough time to go back on track. But, when we got out, I was
caught in traffic and even though I was able to improve my times, it was not
good enough." "Team
Player's made some changes for this afternoon's qualifying and we will do
more for tomorrow," added Carpentier, who is in fifth place in the
drivers' standings. "The car is stiff and pushing too much in some
corners but overall we do have a good car." Racing fans can follow Team Player's progress at the Grand Prix of Monterey throughout the weekend by logging on to the team's website at www.teamplayers.ca. They can also watch the race on tape delay on the The Sports Network at 8:00 p.m. ET
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