The duel for the lead in the early stages between Power and Tagliani was captivating on a number of levels. (LAT photo) » More Photos

It would be patronizing to even hint that Tagliani and Walker just deserved a sympathy vote. Both team and driver have well-deserved reputations as racers who punch above their weight, who can make a little go a long way and perform giant-killing feats, who keep trying against insuperable odds, and who retain a positive public face whatever Fate hurls at them.

Ultimately, of course, the fairy-tale didn’t last. The race was decided by Power’s brilliant start which sent him past both front-row men and into the lead. That forced Tagliani, running second, to use Cosworth’s power-to-pass overboost facility on mere backmarkers in order to contain the gap to the leader. Thus by the time the softer red-walled tires proved incompatible for his car’s handling over the full duration of the final stint and he rapidly lost grip, Tagliani was left with no self-defense mechanism and he tumbled down the order in the closing 15 minutes. An ignoble ending, then, for a fine bunch of people who all behaved with great dignity in the immediate aftermath – and who hid their feelings about the race-winning team.

What now then for Walker Racing? Well in the short-term, the core group, comprising long-standing team manager Rob Edwards, along with Dan Hare, Keith Beck, Brendon Cleave, Don Oldenburgh, Anna Chatton, Craig Ramsey and Les Channon, will switch their attention to the squad’s three-car Atlantic program, which provided some solace for Derrick and wife Tove in Long Beach, as their (other) French-Canadian star, Kevin Lacroix, finished on the podium. Long-term, the goal must be to return to IndyCars in 2009, but whether Walker can find the means to do both that and fight his legal battle with Gore is highly questionable. Maybe 2011, when the Indy Racing League introduces its new IndyCar, and newcomers will be at far less of a disadvantage compared to the Penske/Andretti Green/Ganassi triumvirate, will have provided sufficient recovery time.

As for Tagliani, he has to keep looking, hoping, praying for a seat. While he talked to Gil de Ferran about the Acura sports car ride that ultimately went Simon Pagenaud’s way, Alex has plenty left to give in single-seaters, as proven last weekend by both his pace and his peach of a pass on the highly rated Franck Montagny when both were on cold tires after a pit stop put the Frenchman’s Forsythe car ahead. Considering he also has oval experience (and proved extremely quick and brave on them), he should be an obvious choice for either an established IndyCar team seeking a potential race-winner and PR person’s dream, or an ex-Champ Car transition team, looking for pace, feedback and engineering direction. As yet, though, there have been no takers.

If, as the motorsport cliché goes, you’re only as good as your last race, then only the foolish wouldn’t refine that definition to mean performance, rather than result. And with that and the 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix in mind, one is left asking how the hell Tagliani and Walker can be without an IndyCar entry this year.

David Malsher is the Editor of RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.