Stop. Rewind. Play. Stop. Rewind. Play
source:
paddocktalk.com - by Brad Gerhart
Over and over I watched the Sebastien Bourdais/Paul Tracy, Monterrey Lap 49
restart incident. And just like the first time I saw it, my opinion hasn't
changed.
Tracy clearly gave Sebastien more than enough room, and Bourdais had little or
no chance of making the corner. Clearly, Tracy is right there and Bourdais feeds
the Indeck Champ Car a little McDonalds Horn destroying Tracy's front suspension
and ending his day early.
Yet, Bourdais comes out of nowhere and states it was actually Tracy's fault.
"When I tried to pass Tracy he didn't give me any room at all. Three-quarters of
my car was beside him. My front wheel was just behind his front wheel. I wasn't
asking for the whole racetrack. I was waiting for him to give me some room but
he didn't give me any."
Now in my honest, unbiased opinion, Tracy gave him plenty of room. Anymore room
and both wheels would have been in the grass. But PT is not one to give up the
lead, even when there is plenty of open space to save the car.
"He ran me off the track. I don't know how much more room I could have given
him," Tracy stated. "I gave him the corner and he didn't give anything back. He
just drove over my front wheel. It was after the apex when he hit me. It was way
after the corner. I was on the grass and he kept pushing over. "It's a shame."
Without the restart incident both drivers would have likely have finished on the
podium. But the huge error, both on and later off the track, gives you a fifth
place finish while the lead car, potential race winner, goes home in 15th.