INDIANAPOLIS – The Champ Car World Series has imposed penalties to 2003 series champion Paul Tracy for his actions at Sunday’s Grand Prix of Denver Sponsored by Bridgestone.
Tracy was deemed to be in violation of his probation by the sanctioning body after crashing into point's leader Sebastien Bourdais in Turn 8 of the last lap of the event.
Prior to Denver, Tracy had been placed on probation for his actions during the Champ Car event in San Jose July 30 where he was penalized for being in violation of Champ Car Rule 2.6. The rule specifies that "Participants engaged in any event...must refrain from intentional physical contact with any participant, inappropriate or profane language...and unsportsmanlike behavior."
As a result, Tracy will forfeit three (3) championship points, will be fined $25,000 and will have his probation extended for one more race. The original probation was for three races, and will now be extended to include the Lexmark Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia.
Tuesday afternoon, Forsythe Championship Racing Vice President of Team Operations Neil Micklewright issued a press statement decrying the penalty.
"I believe that the penalty imposed to Paul Tracy for the last lap incident is simply wrong and not appropriate, but we have to accept the decision of the Series even if we don’t agree with it. That’s the nature of the sport. We eagerly await the penalty that we believe should be handed to Sebastien Bourdais for his part in the incident, including running across a "hot" track and initiating physical contact with our driver.
"Having been taken out in the first corner, PT drove an incredible and heroic race to regain second place and nursed the car which was having fuel pickup problems whilst remaining fast. It was the drive of a champion and therefore to not finish the race was crushing for all of us."
