TSN.ca Staff
9/8/2006
Paul Tracy says despite his differences with Champ Car rival Sebastien Bourdais, he believes the two-time defending series champion deserves a shot at Formula One.
In his exclusive column on autosport.com, Tracy says his bitter rival deserves a chance to prove he is among the best drivers in what is considered the pinnacle of motorsports.
"As much as Sebastien and I don't get along personally, I've never said he's not a great driver, and I think he deserves a shot at Formula One," writes Tracy.
"Assuming he wins the title this year, there's nothing left for him to achieve over here. He'll have won three titles on the bounce, a bunch of wins, a bunch of poles and he starts each season as the main guy for the championship. He's done everything he could do here, and in his plans Champ Car was never the final stop for him, it was just a stepping stone to Formula One."
Bourdais has openly expressed frustration at the lack of recognition from Formula One teams, especially the French-based manufacturer Renault.
Tracy says he understands Bourdais' frustration, having never gotten a a realistic offer to test for an F1 team earlier in his career. He's heard rumors that BMW-Sauber might be interested and he believes that would be a good starting point for the Frenchman.
"If you can go into Formula One with a kinda C-level team, which is what BMW are at the moment, and you can score points within the first couple of races like Mark Webber did and Robert Kubica did, suddenly you're King Ding-a-ling, God's gift, and you've made it. Scoring points in a (explicit) car secures you a multi-million dollar contract. Is Sebastien capable of doing that? For sure."
Tracy, however, couldn't let the events of the Grand Prix of Montreal go by without a comment. Asked about Bourdais' comments that he acted "like an idiot", the Forsythe Racing driver said it was to be expected from his rival.
"He was just twisted that all the cameras were on me down in fourth place in that (driver's) parade, and weren't on him as pole position man."