Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (3rd) Christian Vietoris (DNF)

Spanish team Racing Engineering had a tremendous start to the 2010 GP2 season in Barcelona today. Local driver Dani Clos, who started from 7th position on the grid, took third place in the feature race. German rookie Christian Vietoris, who started fourth and had high hopes for the race, had to retire after an incident at the first corner.

The first race of the 2010 GP2 season started under an overcast sky and with a temperature of 18?C at the Circuit of Cataluña. Once the red lights went off, Jules Bianchi, Sergio Perez and Christian Vietoris tangled at the first corner, causing the French and German rookies to abandon the race. The field was then led by Sergio Perez, with Dani Clos settling into fifth place. On the 8th lap, the only Spanish driver in the pack, was visibly faster than the cars ahead of him. He then managed to pass Pastor Maldonado into fourth position. At this point, light rain made an appearance over Montmeló, just as some drivers started to come into the pits for their obligatory tyre changes.

Dani Clos, now running behind Ricci, entered the pits on the same lap as the Italian for his pit stop, coming out in the same order and without any further problems, but having reduced the gap between the two. On lap 16, the then leaders Perez and Turvey, had their pit stops, with the Addax driver dropping behind Racing Engineering's Spaniard. Once all the pack had pitted, Charles Pic was in the lead, with Giacomo Ricci second and Dani Clos a close third.

The Spaniard tried to challenge Ricci and close in and his efforts were matched by his predecessor trying to close in on the leader. In the final stages of the race and with Ricci fighting for the lead, Dani focused on defending his position from Perez. In the end Dani Clos finished in third position, managing to start the season with a podium, the second of his career in GP2 and only four seconds behind the race winner.

For tomorrow's sprint race, Racing Engineering's drivers will face different challenges, with Dani Clos starting from the sixth position on the grid, whilst Christian Vietoris will begin the race from the last row.

Dani Clos: "I had a good start, but at the first corner there was an accident, which I was lucky to escape from. I had to cut the chicane, which bent my steering a bit. I was then behind Maldonado and studied him for a while as I didn't want to take too much of a risk. I was able to pass him, and I was then behind Ricci. The pit stop helped me to close in on him, but I wasn't able to pass. Then Perez was doing strong lap times behind me, but I had this under control. I hope we will continue like this. Now we will work on tomorrow's race."

Christian Vietoris: "I had a really good start and was in Perez' slipstream. I wanted to out-brake him, but I think he hadn't seen me and was only focused on Bianchi. We were at the same height in corner one and he stuck to the normal race line, so I had to back off. We slightly touched, which made me spin. It's a pity my race stopped there as I think it could have been a great race."

Alfonso de Orleans - Borbón, President of Racing Engineering: "Dani did an amazing job and I couldn't be any happier. Podium at the first race of the season, so I think we are starting well. It's a pity about Christian, as he had tremendous potential for this race, but it was over in the first corner. Everyone in the team did a fantastic job, and I congratulate all of them for the great work."

Ocean Racing Technology - Fabio Leimer (8th) Max Chilton (18th)