PT P5 in Final Race
PT P5 IN FINAL RACE OF 2007
Mexico City – November 11, 2007 – Starting todays race in P8 Paul made an aggressive start moving him quickly into P4 when a yellow flag was thrown for stalled cars on the starting grid. By lap 15 PT had moved into P3. His first pit stop came on lap 24 and he returned onto the track in P5. When all stops had cycled through PT once again was in P4. Things remained the same until lap 48 when the second pit stop took place. After that stop PT found himself in P6. A yellow thrown on lap 56 for debris bunched up the field for a late race restart. Although Paul had saved a good deal of his 100HP Power to Pass he was unable to take advantage of Graham Rahal in the closing laps. PT would finish the race in P5 and the 2007 P11 in the points. Paul will return in 2008 with Team Forsythe.
Paul: “(On the race) I got a great start and jumped a couple cars on the grid. The car was okay, but not great. It got really loose halfway through each stint, so that’s really what we were fighting. I couldn’t really lean on the rear hard enough. We just finally got a half-decent result. The team has worked really hard this year, and we haven’t really had a lot of highlights. It’s been all lowlights. To come and have a good race—and we had a good race in Australia—it’s something we can build on for ’08.” (On the departure of Sebastien Bourdais) “I just wish him luck. He’s a great driver, and he’s a fantastic personality. All the Champ Car people want to see him do well in Formula 1.” (On Bourdais tying him for sixth on the all-time Champ Car win list) “Me, him and Al Jr. are all on the same number. I’m going to try to get ahead of that next year.”
PT P8 IN FINAL QUALIFYING SESSION OF 2007
Mexico City – November 10, 2007 – Todays session saw Paul finish in P8. He ran a fast lap of 1:24.608 @ 118.031 MPH.
Paul: “I had a really good first lap, nice and clean. I left a little bit on the table. Then, on the second set of tires, I upshifted on accident in The Esses, two corners too early, and basically lugged the motor down. The first lap is going to be your best lap. I upshifted by accident, and I equaled the time, but I probably lost three tenths just by carrying a gear too long for three or four corners. It was a small mistake on my part, but we’re getting closer. Road courses for our team have been a big struggle, and we’re getting closer to where we need to be. I don’t think it’s going to be hard to pass at all (in the race). The Power-to-pass for tomorrow is an incredible boost. I think we’ll see an unbelievable race. We’ll see what happens after the first couple of laps. You’ve only got five shots of it with the length of the straightaway, so you’ve got to be careful how you use it. But once somebody gets it on, there ain’t no stopping a guy from coming by.”
PT P8 IN MEXICO Q1
Mexico City – November 9, 2007 – Heading out at the very start of todays session it wasn’t until his second to last lap that PT set his fast lap moving him to P5. By the time the session was checkered he had been bumped back down to P8. PT ran a fast lap of 1:26.130 @ 115.946 MPH.
Paul: “I think it went all right. I mean, it was only myself, (Simon) Pagenaud and, I think, (Will) Power, that stayed on blacks (black-walled tires). Everybody else in front of us was on reds. The reds seemed to be worth about three-quarters of a second in lap time. I’m pretty happy with how it went, considering we have two shots at reds tomorrow. I think the track will definitely be faster tomorrow. I’m pretty happy. Today, if we would have been on reds, I think we would have been top five which would have been good.”