CART: Carpentier and Tagliani continue with Forsythe Racing
24 November 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Player's Forsythe Racing announced Tuesday that Canadian drivers Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani would once again form the team's driving tandem for the 2001 FedEx Championship Series season.
Both drivers contributed significantly to the success the team enjoyed during the 2000 campaign. In his fourth year in the series, Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) registered a career-high 101 championship points, recorded seven top-five finishes and equaled a career-best result with a runner-up performance at Gateway International Raceway. He finished 11th in the championship and would likely have contended for a top-10 position had he not missed three of the season's first four events after sustaining a small fracture of his left wrist in a fall at his Las Vegas home.
Tagliani (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) made a significant mark on the series during his rookie season, winning the pole position at Rio de Janeiro in only his fourth Champ Car qualifying performance. He finished 16th in the championship with 53 points, and also finished sixth in the series in laps completed, with 2,366 of a possible 2,830; and fourth in miles completed, with 4,026.954 of a possible 4,779.696. His season-best finish was fourth at Long Beach, in his second career start.
"This past season was quite eventful and I gained some maturity from it," said Carpentier. "I'm approaching the 2001 season with renewed confidence in the Team Player's operations and I'm convinced that our perseverance will pay off in the end."
Tagliani noted that the experience he gained as a rookie will prepare him more fully for next season.
"It's hard to imagine the extent of the challenge when you make the jump to the CART series, because quite often, you're facing the unknown," he said. "But now I know what to expect and how to react in tight situations. I think I've proved that I can stand up to the challenge and I feel that, as a team, we have all the tools to be right back in the thick of the championship hunt in 2001."
Text provided by T.E. McHale
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