As an encore to last week unprecendented 1-3 performance at
Laguna Seca
source: Team Players
Now that Team Players has put two drivers on the Champ Car World Series podium
for the first time, the next goal is to produce its first ever 1-2 finish. If it
can continue on a roll that began last weekend with a near-perfect race at
Laguna Seca, where Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy were first and third
respectively, Team Players might be able to accomplish that order of business on
the 1.969-mile Portland International Raceway road course, site of Sundays G.I.
Joes 200.
Having such a great race on the Laguna Seca road course was a
big boost going into Portland,said Carpentier, who earned his first victory of
the season and fourth career triumph by leading from pole to checkered flag last
Sunday. Team Players putting both of its drivers on the podium on a technically
challenging course such as Laguna shows what a well-tuned operation it is right
now, and you have to give a lot of credit to the engineers and crews whose
terrific work has consistently put us in a position to win races. Historically,
Ive done well when we head into the most hectic part of the schedule, so I like
the way things are shaping up for Team Players right now.
Carpentiers recent surge up the standings has lifted him into
fourth place, only 19 points behind current leader Michel Jourdain of Mexico.
Tracy, in third place, is just eight points back of Jourdain. Tracy also gained
in the standings with the third-place finish at Laguna, his first trip to the
podium since his three-race winning streak to open the season.