Tracy: Injury will ruin season.

Paul Tracy is pretty much resigned to not being able to challenge for this year's Champ Car World Series following full diagnosis of the back injury that will rule him out of this weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Canadian veteran suffered a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebrae after crashing in Saturday morning practice, and has been told that he will sidelined for a lengthy, if as yet undetermined, period of time.

The injury comes after Tracy had shown himself to be back on form after taking third place in the season-opening Vegas Grand Prix last Sunday, fighting for the lead with Will Power before an untimely refuelling problem forced him to make an extra stop that dropped him behind Robert Doornbos in the final reckoning.

"This is obviously a very unfortunate situation, but it pretty much ruins the championship for us this year," the Forsythe driver lamented, "I'm very disappointed for the whole team because we had gotten off to a great start in Vegas and were pretty strong here. We were building momentum and just hoping to be fast and consistent the whole year."

Tracy added that he had had little warning about the accident, which saw him make heavy contact with the turn one wall on a circuit where he has triumphed four times in his career. Initially treated for back spasms, he was later transferred to the local hospital where further checks revealed the compression fracture.

"I was coming off turn one and got back on the throttle pretty hard, but the car just snapped around," he reported, "I went head on into the wall and then the car jumped up in the air and slammed back on the ground.

"I could tell something was wrong right away. Now I'm just going to go home and rest for a couple of days and then, early next week, we'll start figuring out the best recovery options, so I can get back in the car as soon as possible. I feel okay right now, after all the medication that the doctors gave me, but I'm just sore and stiff and I need some rest."

Spanish veteran Oriol Servia - who was scouting the paddock for possible future deals - was recruited at midday on Saturday to substitute for Tracy, jumping into the Forsythe car and qualifying 14th after just a few practice laps.

"I wish Oriol the best of luck," Tracy said magnanimously, "He has a really good car and a great team behind him. Hopefully, he can give the them a good result."