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Spa - Race 1 Quotes

NEWS STORY
06/09/2008

Super Nova Racing - Alvaro Parente (2nd) Andy Soucek (6th)

Super Nova happily walk away with two top seven finishes this afternoon in today's exciting Spa feature race, collecting 10 valuable points.

The only thing predictable here in Belgium was the unpredictable weather, and as expected rain fell just before the race, prompting everyone to start on wets. Andy Soucek lost several places at the green light but kept focused and as the track dried and mistakes were made, the Spaniard did a great job finishing 7th, placing him on the front row for Sunday mornings' Sprint race.

Alvaro Parente consolidated the teams great job by driving a convincing and sound 26 laps, to finished on the podium in an impressive second place. He confidently led the race for some time after Senna was penalised for an incident in the pit lane. However Romain Grosjean managed to pass taking a win and fastest lap for ART Grand Prix, Alvaro finishing in the same worthy position as he had started. Andreas Zuber completed the podium today coming in third for Piquet Sports.

Team Principal David Sears "It started to rain just before the race today, as it had done yesterday before practise, and so everyone switched to wet tyres. Alvaro Parente chased Bruno Senna from the start, and looked very strong indeed, while the track was damp. After pitting for dry tyres, Senna got a drive through penalty, which allowed Alvaro to lead the race until he was overtaken by Romain Grosjean, but ended in a strong 2nd position. Andy Soucek drove extremely well, ending up 7th overall. The team believe if he'd been called in earlier he could have finished higher. However both drivers finished in the top seven, and Andy will start tomorrow on the front row, and perhaps a win is in sight!"

Alvaro Parente: "It's good to be back on the podium! We've been struggling a little in qualifying, but yesterday was good and the pace was there today. The changeable weather is always going to make thing interesting, but I was able to put pressure on Bruno, & lead the race for while. It was a good result, we just need to have the best possible result tomorrow and again in Monza next weekend."

Andy Soucek: "It was quite a crazy race today! I am really pleased to be starting on the front row for tomorrow, however a little disappointed that I lost places to Petrov and Maldonado at the start. As it dried up and people made mistakes, my pace was not bad after all. I have lots of hope to win my first race tomorrow, so we'll see!"

Trident Racing - Mike Conway (7th) Ho Pin Tung (15th)

Mike Conway made his way to 8th place today at Spa-Francorchamps, in the first race of the GP2 Main Series weekend, and will start Race 2 from the pole spot. Ho Pin Tung crossed the line in 16th place, enough to let him take off from row 8 tomorrow. Today's race started under thick rain, though the racetrack started to dry out after the early stages, and all the drivers eased to the pits, profiting from the mandatory stop to move to slick tires. Unfortunately, during Mike's pit-stop, a the left front lug nut got stuck, forcing the British driver to lose 14 seconds and get stuck in the 2nd half of the charts. He was able to recover though, clinching the top spot for tomorrow's reversed grid.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director: "Bad luck used to hit us in the past races, but we can say we were somehow helped today, also thanks to the great pace kept by Mike over the whole 26 laps. Unfortunately, during the pit-stop made at lap 8, we lost 14 additional seconds than the ideal time due to a lug nut problem. Mike eventually found himself relegated from 6th to 11th place. In the final laps, thanks to the issues happened and to the mistakes made by the rivals in front of him, he was able to climb up to 8th place, enough to take 1 point and tomorrow's pole spot. Ho Pin was penalized by the decision to postpone the move from rain to slick tires, though he told by the radio that he preferred to wait for a better track condition. Today's balance leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouth, due to a pit problem that deprived us of a possible podium finish".

Mike Conway: "The first part of the race has been pretty linear, though the track's condition wasn't optimal, and changed quickly. We decided to pit at the right time, but a problem made us lose valuable time. When I retook the track, I found the first laps difficult due to the damp track and the slick tires, and it was easy to make a mistake. In the end I managed to keep a good pace, climbing back to 8th place. It's a good result for tomorrow's Race 2: I hope to make a good start and try pull away from the rest of the pack."

Ho Pin Tung: "I was unable to improve my position t the start because it was given behind the safety-car, but I took some spots back during the first laps. A bad timing choice for the pit-stop cost us a lot of time, since it happened too late compared to the track's conditions, and I found myself at the back".

DAMS - Jérôme d'Ambrosio (8th) Kamui Kobayashi (9th)

Today, the first race of the 9th round of the 2008 GP2 Series Championship, part of the Belgian F1 Grand Prix meeting, took place on the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Ardennes. Both DAMS drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio took on a big challenge in the 26-lap race marked by tricky weather conditions, collisions, penalties and accidents as well as neutralisation periods due to the crashes.

The Belgian started from 21st place, and took advantage of the above-mentioned racing incidents to fight his way back up to 9th place when crossing the final line. Finally, he classified eight after the exclusion of a competitor. He will start from pole position tomorrow. Kamui drove a superb race and moved up from 25th to 9th place at the finish.

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