Retirement 'costly' for Tracy

Paul Tracy has seen his Champ Car World Series points lead cut dramatically after he was forced to retire from today's (Monday) London Champ Car Trophy at Brands Hatch after his gearbox broke

May 5, 2003, 5:07 PM

After winning the first three races of the season, Tracy had built an impressive 26 point cushion to nearest rival Bruno Junqueira. But Tracy's retirement, coupled with the Brazilian's second place finish, has seen the Canadian's points margin slashed to just 11.

"It's never good to give away points like this," said Tracy. "Now we don't have a cushion. This DNF is very costly. It's disappointing to have a failure like that."

Tracy had encountered gearbox problems during the race before his retirement, and smoke could be seen trailing from Forsythe Racing Lola for several laps before his gearbox exploded in spectacular fashion down the main straight.

"We had issues with the gearbox during the race," said Tracy. "Sometimes it was shifting by itself. Three or four laps before the car caught fire, I heard noises and the car started to smoke a bit. When I was rolling down the hill, I had no gearbox. Otherwise, the car was running good."