Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (3rd) Christian Vietoris (14th)
Racing Engineering's Spanish driver Dani Clos finished third today in the feature race in Monaco, round 2 of the 2010 GP2 season. German driver Christian Vietoris, who startes from eighth position on the grid, managed to finish 14th, after a difficult race in which he had to start from the pit lane.
Cool temperatures and a cloudy sky with a timid sunshine welcomed the GP2 drivers in Monaco for this morning's feature race. Dani Clos was starting from pole position, whilst Christian Vietoris, ninth fastest yesterday, was promoted to 8th position on the grid after Davide Valsecchi was handed a five position drop penalty after qualifying.
At the start, Dani suffered from too much wheel spin was overtaken by Pérez and Maldonado, whilst Christian had to start from the pit lane due to being unable to start his engine on the grid, rejoining the pack on 18th position. The three leaders continued their battle from yesterday's qualifying session, and started to score fastest laps one after each other, with Dani setting the provisional fastest lap on lap four of the race.
Although the gaps were small, none of the first three were attacking each other. Dani came in for his pit stop on lap 15. At that point, Ho-Pin Tung had a crash at the Swimming Pool, which brought out the Safety Car. The race was neutralized for four laps and then Perez and Maldonado started a timid fight for the victory, while slowly pulling away from Dani. The Spanish driver intelligently chose to take care of his car and tyres and secure third place, defending the advances of Bianchi. Thus, the Spanish driver achieves his second podium of the season. Meanwhile, Christian had a complicated race at the back of the pack and, despite having good speed and due to the almost impossibility to overtake in the twisted Monaco track, still managed to escalate positions to finish in 14th position.
For tomorrow's sprint race, the reverse grid rule means that Jerome D'Ambrosio will start on pole, with Dani Clos on 6th position, and Christian Vietoris on 14th. The race is programmed for 16:10 CET.
Dani Clos: "I am satisfied with today's race. It was really good. It's a shame about the start, but I had too much wheel spin. Perez and Maldonado overtook me at the start. I had a good rhythm and was able to put pressure on them, but it's hard to overtake here. I maintained my position, not wanting to take unnecessary risks. I am happy we scored again, which means we've done it in all three races so far and we already obtained two podiums. Let's keep going like this."
Christian Vietoris:"We couldn't start up my engine on the grid and I had to start from the pits. Starting the race from the back is difficult and overtaking impossible. Our speed was ok, but I encountered traffic and there was no chance to overtake. It's a pity, but there is nothing we could do about it."
Alfonso De Orlčans - Borbón, President of Racing Engineering: "It's a pity about the start for both of them. But with these fantastic results for Dani we are all pleased, although I think he had the pace to win. Thanks to the entire team, to all the mechanics and engineers for the fantastic job done. Now we need to prepare tomorrow's sprint race and take it from there."
Super Nova - Marcus Ericsson (12th) Josef Kral (13th)
Today's race in Monaco saw two solid drives from Super Nova drivers Marcus Ericsson and Josef Kral. After avoiding a stalled car on the grid and an accident on the first corner, Marcus and Josef settled into a rhythm and maintained concentration to the end, finishing in 12th and 13th places. With the points scoring positions dominated by experienced GP2 drivers the Super Nova team is happy with this result.
Marcus Ericsson: "It was a great experience to be driving around Monaco for the very first time in my career! It was not the best of starts, I think it was Leimer's who stalled on the grid so I had to squeeze pass in the inside & I lost a couple of positions. Into the first corner I had to slow right down and I hit into the rear of another car quite hard, so I was driving with a lot of under steer, because of the damage to the front wing. But the car didn't feel too bad considering, in high speed the down force wasn't too great, but I was able to keep up with the guys around me, so really I think we have a good car. It's all about experience and I am happy to have finished the race. Of course my aim was to finish in the top eight, but after the first lap with a damaged front wing, I am just happy to have finished. I think we did a good job."
Josef Kral: "There was a big mess at the start but I managed to go round, just cutting the curb. I was just really pushing up until the pit stop, where, I thought it would be a lot narrower going in, but I went in quick and stopped well on the marks, and the team did a really good stop. The out lap to follow was very good too.
Afterwards I pushed hard again and I closed in on Marcus who was in front of me. The pace was really good in the middle of the race, and I think I could have been a second faster, but I didn't want to risk over taking him and causing a crash to both team cars, so I tailed him. In the last 15 laps the car started to overheat, causing massive under steer, which made the last part very tough and cost me a lot of time. To gain seven places from P20 to P13 in Monaco is good though, so I am happy."
Team Principal David Sears: "I think that considering it is their first time racing in Monaco both Josef and Marcus have done a very good job today. Marcus' race was defined at the start when unfortunately he made contact with the car in front, damaging his front wing in the process. He then showed strong pace and was followed to the finish by Josef, who drove very well from 20th on the grid."
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