30/07/2006
NEWS STORY
Super Nova International - Jose Maria Lopez 2nd Fairuz Fauzy 10th
Jose Maria Lopez started from first row today, and within seconds was leading the race, after Piccione came off. The Argentinean driver made a 2.8second head way between him and 2nd place, which was swapping between Pantano & Glock. Jose showed skill & continuity throughout the entire race, and looked set for his first pole finish this season. Unfortunately German driver Timo Glock (iSport) closed in and on the very last lap Jose lost speed and the iSport entry passed on the first corner, taking pole in his home country. Super Nova still take home 8 points from this weekend, including fastest lap from today!
Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy, drove a solid 27 laps, starting at the back in 22nd, gaining places throughout the 45 minute race to finish in 10th position.
Team Principal - David Sears: "The whole Super Nova team were cheering Jose Maria Lopez today as he led the race, nearly from start to finish, unfortunately he made a mistake and let Timo Glock pass him to win the race. However from qualifying last, 7th, and 2nd place today we get some still useful points, elevating Jose in the championship. But the team can't help but be a little disappointed.
Fairuz Fauzy drove well, finishing in the top ten, demonstrating he can find the speed. If Fairuz can qualify better, he will get some results, in our last few races. The teams' transporter continues from Hockenheim to Hungary where we will be looking for our first pole finish!"
Jose Maria Lopez: "I'm feeling pretty angry really, although I shouldn't as we only miss out on one point, but… Thinking of yesterday we started at the back and came right through to 7th. I was nervous but determined to win today. In the last 10 laps I found it hard to keep the pace. Unfortunately Timo Glock was the quicker one. The team have been fantastic though, and I'm feeling positive about Budapest."
Fairuz Fauzy: "I didn't get the best start unfortunately, although I managed to gain a place. The car felt good and I am pleased with the result, but would like to look forward to Budapest and hope to qualify better! We have a great team, so it's definitely possible!"
ART Grand Prix - Lewis Hamilton 3rd Alexandre Prémat DNF
With just three weekends to go before the end of the 2006 GPO2 championship, ART Grand Prix reinforced its position in both the drivers and team championships.
However, Hockenheim was not the best race of the season for the team, who despite leaving Germany with two more podium finishes from Lewis Hamilton to their credit, failed to take victory. There was also immense disappointment for Alexandre Prémat, whose race was ruined by an electric sensor.
Both Lewis and Alex knew the weekend was not over despite qualifying in eighth and tenth places on the grid respectively, knowing that they were both in with a good chance as they have proved on several occasions already this year that they are more than capable of working their way up though the field.
Lewis proved it yet again when he made it to the 2nd step of the rostrum, however Alex was struck down by a mechanical problem which forced him in for an unscheduled return to the pits. Recording the best lap of the race, proof that he had the speed at Hockenheim, the Frenchman finished race one down in 19th place, which basically ruined his chances of a good finish in race two on Sunday.
Starting seventh on the grid in the second race, Lewis displayed further aggressiveness and prudence to ensure another podium finish that enabled him to increase his lead in the championship.
Frederic Vasseur: Inevitably my feelings are somewhat two fold. Lewis now has a good lead in the championship, with two solid races and two podium finishes, but Alex's weekend was wasted due to a fault with a sensor. He recorded the best lap of the race all the same and once again took a point from Piquet. Overall they made good moves in regard to the championship, but Alex deserved better.
Alexandre Prémat: The disappointment is immense because even if our qualifying was not the best of the year, we were not overall anxious in regard to the race but some to be able to go up with the outposts. An electric crankshaft sensor cut off for me just 5 laps into the first race making me return to the pits to fix the problem and ruining my weekend. It is annoying that such a small mechanical hiccup like this can destroy all your efforts. After finishing way down in the first race, I could not hope for a lot in the second.
I went on maximum attack, all or nothing. It was a small consolation to finish as the fastest this weekend, but it proves I was the quickest in the first race and therefore enabled me to take a point from Piquet. Without this defective sensor things would have been different: I could easily have finished 4th on Saturday, and have been well placed on the grid for Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton: The car was great, and even though it did not go that well in qualifying, we needed the points for both championships and we got them. It couldn't get better in race 1 starting from 8th and finishing 2nd. Race 2 was fun with several nice battles and another podium in the end. The team did a fantastic job as usual, a big thank to all its members.
Trident Racing - Gimmi Bruni 6th Andreas Zuber 14th
Gimmi Bruni brilliantly drove this morning race to the sixth place, finishing the German event with 13 points in his bag. Andreas Zuber started from the back of the grid finished on P14.
Maurizio Salvadori – Team Owner: "After a difficult period we have managed to come back with sensible results. We needed it. Gimmi always drove very well demonstrating that he is a real professional. He was capable of defending his leadership and also able to overtake in gaining precious positions. Really good. The thirteen points that he has earned brings our team to an excellent level. Instead Andreas seems to be the bad luck's target, it is really too bad because we have no doubt that he is a valuable driver. As a team we will do our very best to help him out in order to give him a great ending to this championship. In the end, a handshake goes out to each and every member of the Trident Racing team for never giving up even with all the difficulties of the few last races".
Arden International - Nicolas Lapierre 7th Michael Ammermueller 20th
Nicolas Lapierre and Michael Ammermueller both had the frustrating experience of finishing one place outside the points after a character-building weekend for the Arden boys at Hockenheim.
Nicolas had no fitness problems on his comeback from injury, but equally had no luck on Saturday. After earning a respectable midfield grid position he stalled at the start and lost a lap before he could get going again. He was at least able to test his fitness by running a race distance, eventually finishing 20th.
From 19th on the grid Michael made a good start and made good progress up the order, helped by a late pit stop that saw him briefly get as high as second before he came in. After that he dropped to ninth. He was bumped down one place as his tyre performance went off and then gained ninth back when Piquet retired on the last lap. Not only did he just miss out on a point, but he had to start the Sunday sprint from ninth instead of the pole that eighth would have earned him!
Nicolas started well down the field on Sunday. But he got off the line well and made all the right moves, taking advantage of trouble ahead and making some good passes. Frustratingly he finished just outside the points, and was right on the tail of the drivers that finished fifth and sixth, Giorgio Pantano and Saturday race winner Gianmaria Bruni. On the way he passed Michael, who was running strongly until an engine problem slowed him and eventually forced him to come into the pits to retire after completing 20 of the 27 laps.
Both drivers are looking forward to the next race in Hungary, and they only have to wait until this Friday before action gets underway again.
Nicolas Lapierre - Saturday: 'I don't know what happened at the start. I just did my normal thing, and it stalled - maybe because of the heat. We're going to look at the data and see what happened. They pushed me into the pits and I started a lap down. After that I had a very good race. We were expecting some rain and were trying to do a fastest lap at the end so we pitted for tyres very late. I'm disappointed, but I'm happy that I could drive all the distance, even if it was a bit hard at the end. It was a bit tough, but I expected that because I haven't been driving for two months.' Sunday: 'For my comeback race its not been too bad. Obviously the problem yesterday cost us quite a lot, and this one was just to come back to get ready for Budapest. I made a good start, and then I had some good overtaking opportunities. It's good to have a race like that, to come back and fight again. The team did quite a good job this weekend and we were faster in the second race than the first one, so I think we're making some progress. I think we had good pace in the race and we're going to work hard to improve qualifying in Hungary. We have some good ideas for that, and if we get that resolved then we will be at the front, I think.'
Michael Ammermueller - Saturday: 'I had a very good start and a good first lap, and I think the speed was not so bad during the race. But then in the pit stop we lost a little bit of time I think, and in the last 10 laps I didn't have any front tyre wear! I couldn't go through the high-speed corners properly. Ninth is the worst position you can have! It's not nice to have so much bad luck.' Sunday: 'I had some problems with the fuel pressure, and I didn't have power. At the beginning it was just on the long straight, and then it was everywhere, so I stopped. I think the car was quite good, we were on the same speed as the drivers at the front. Today we were not so far away from the points, but you can't do anything. I've never been to Hungary, so I don't know how it will be - but I hope better than here!'
Racing Engineering - Adam Carroll 8th Javi Villa 13th
It wasn't the end to the weekend that Racing Engineering was looking for with Adam Carroll finishing 8th and Javi Villa 13th.
A water leak ruined the British drivers chance of success after starting from 3rd on the grid. The Mecachrome engine, which was replaced on Friday after a failure to the previous one, reached 120 degrees before the start of the race and automatically switched into safe mode running at just 70 per cent of its potential power. It made a difficult race impossible.
It was the usual exciting start with stallers, spinners and smashes but both Carroll and Villa managed to keep out of trouble throughout lap 1 and the race, to reach the chequered flag.
It was a difficult first lap for the British driver who was forced to avoid spinning leader Clivio Piccione and lost two places by the end of lap one. But Villa got the good start he had been hoping for and quickly moved up to tenth.
From then on the 27 lap race was fairly straight forward but by the half way point both cars had reached their maximum potential and started to drift towards the wrong end of the timing sheet.
With back to back races there is no rest for the team and no time to lose to get the cars ready for combat again. The next round of the GP2 series is this coming weekend in Hungary.
Team Principal Alfonso de Orleans Borbon said: "I'm really upset this weekend and feel we have been badly let down by Mecachrome. You normally wouldn't expect two engine failures in a season let alone one weekend. It is not good for a driver of Adam's quality to have these problems or for our team morale. Racing Engineering try so hard and yet we are at the mercy of other people screwing our weekend up."
Adam Carroll: "There was just nothing I could do. I didn't make any mistakes but I was slower through corners and on the straights due to the difference in power so my race was over before it had even started."
Javi Villa: "I made a good start and managed to get up to 6th but then I had problems with over-steer towards the end of the race and I lost some places. I am happy with how my weekend has gone and it's probably my best so far in GP2. I'm just learning more all the time."
DPR - Vitaly Petrov 15th Clivio Piccione 25th
The chequered flag at the end of the action-packed first race in Hockenheim couldn't have come at a better time for DPR. An unfortunate Nelson Piquet had been running in 8th place until a fuel issue prevented him from crossing the finish line and the lucky runner in 9th place was Clivio Piccione. He claimed 8th and, with it, pole position for today's second race.
Fast-improving Vitaly Petrov came through from 23rd on the grid to finish 15th which added to the delight of team boss, David Price. "It was a fantastic day and couldn't have come at a better time to give everyone at DPR a boost. Vitaly did a really good job and kept his nose clean throughout the race, avoiding the many incidents. His fastest lap was only a fraction slower than Clivio's so I'm very pleased. His first time in the car he was 3 seconds off, the next time he was 2 seconds and this time he was 1.5 seconds so we can't ask for better than that. As for Clivio's pole, we may have lucked into that but we will take our luck however it comes at the moment!"
Unfortunately yesterday's pole didn't translate into a race win today. The Monégasque was desperately disappointed to see his race finish on the first lap after an off-track excursion and subsequent contact with another car. Vitaly Petrov secured a second 15th place finish.
David Price said after the race, "It's not good enough. Clivio got himself in the wrong position and unfortunately paid the price. Vitaly should probably have finished a bit higher up but wasn't comfortable with the car today. The positive is that he got plenty of mileage under his belt and now goes on to Hungary which is a circuit he not only knows well but has won at recently."
The Russian's race engineer, Chris Gorne, explained a little more about Petrov's first race weekend in GP2. "Vitaly learned a lot yesterday and his performance reflected that. He made a good start but the car wasn't beneath him in the same way as it was yesterday. He struggled with it as it was more nervous to drive, possibly because of the track and also the new tyres that we put on for today's race. It didn't really come together for Vitaly until the car had settled in and, by then, it was a little too late to make a difference. He did very well overall, though, and we're all looking forward to Hungary."
Piquet Sports - Nelson Piquet Jr DNS
There was another shattering mechanical retirement for Nelson Piquet Jr at the Hockenheimring in today's GP2 sprint race. Nelson's car failed to start at the beginning
of the formation lap. He was pushed into the pits where frantic investigations began on the engine that was newly fitted late last night, but with no quick fix available, the Brazilian was forced to make his second retirement in as many races, as a fuel pump failure put him out yesterday.
Hockenheim was the first weekend of a double-header that will now see teams move to Budapest for the Hungarian GP2 races on 5 and 6 August.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I could feel there was a problem straight away and it just didn't do anything when I tried to start. The car was good yesterday and I did a good race and I just can't believe that we couldn't finish either race. I'm really upset."