Tracy/Oriol

Well, I’m sure you have heard by now that Paul Tracy will be out of the number 3 seat for a while after injuring his back in the morning practice. The hit was hard and looked bad, but he did take the steering wheel off before complaining of a sore back. They took him to the medical unit and nothing dramatic was diagnosed but they nonetheless took him to the hospital where they diagnosed him with fractured vertebrae. Now, the initial diagnose has him out three months, but I am willing to bet that he will suit up for Portland. He’s going to rehab like crazy and the ‘three month’ period will likely be shorten considerably. Like Paul said in the pits this afternoon, he’d be willing to drive, but its really for precautionary reasons. You don’t want to risk aggravating the injury should he suffer another collision. It’s a shame, he’s certainly going to be missed, but there is no point in risking further injuries. I give him full credit for not only returning to the track this afternoon, but also to the pits to address the media. Under the circumstances he had no obligation to address the media, let alone walk to pit lane and address them there. He’s certainly shown a lot of class today.

As for Oriol, well he has to make the most of the opportunity. This is very similar to 2005 when his other friend Bruno Junquiera injured his back and Oriol made the most of that seat time. If you consider 7 podiums, 1 pole and 1 win making the most of seat time. I tell you what, this, in my humble opinion put Mario Dominguez in the hot seat because he knows that Paul is guaranteed the #3 seat, but that #7 seat is wide open after Houston. If Oriol throws down the kind of performances he did back in 2005 and Mario is mediocre, then what is stopping Gerry Forsythe from putting Oriol in that seat? I suppose his sponsors could make Gerry an offer he can’t refuse, but that’s speculative at this point. There seems to be a few drivers with 3 race deals, so this could bode well for Oriol. Like he said, he came to Long Beach looking for a ride. He found one and now it’s time to show what he can do. He was fast at Sebring with the new car and he’s got one of the top teams in racing. He’s got an uphill battle, starting in 15th, but he’s also got a long race and plenty of experience to back him up.