05/08/2006
NEWS STORY
Piquet Sports - Nelson Piquet Jr 1st
Nelson Piquet Jr (right)today took a stunning win in the GP2 feature race at the Hungaroring. It is a fantastic result for the Brazilian, who also scored points for pole position and fastest lap, and with his championship rival Lewis Hamilton coming away from the race pointless, Nelson has reduced the deficit in the championship to just 13 points, with five races remaining in the 2006 season.
Nelson made a perfect start from pole and then powered ahead of his rivals. He built up a commanding lead over the coming laps, and was so dominant that he took the chequered flag 37 seconds ahead of second-placed Timo Glock.
Tomorrow will see Nelson take to the track for the 28-lap sprint race. Due to the reversed grid format, he will begin from the fourth row of the grid in eighth place.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I don't really know what to say! Everything just went perfectly the whole weekend so far. I had a good start and the car worked brilliantly all the race. That's how every driver wants to do a weekend and that's how I wish I finish the championship. It's game on for sure now and I still can win the championship and hope to do it. Looking at our performance today, theoretically we can win tomorrow even starting from eighth but things are more complicated in the race. You can get stuck behind a car or finish your tyres. I hope to gain some positions at the start and overtake car by car. Starting in eighth is not very safe but hopefully everything will work out and I will score as many points as I can."
Racing Engineering - Adam Carroll 7th Javier Villa DNF
Race one at the Hungaroring went up in a cloud of tyre smoke for Racing Engineering drivers Adam Carroll and Javier Villa today, as accidents put paid to both men's best efforts to bring home more points for the team after a strong performance in qualifying yesterday promised to provide some silverware for the team's trophy room.
Adam started from fourth on the grid, while Javi was further back in twentieth, and excellent starts from both drivers saw them leapfrog drivers in front of them. Adam was up to second place at turn one and pushed to keep up with eventual winner Nelson Piquet Jr, but despite pulling away from his pursuers the Ulsterman was unable to keep pace with the man in front. Javi, meanwhile, was able to jump up the field and could easily run with those around him.
Adam came in for his planned stop to change all four tyres, creating a lot of smoke as he stopped for turn one, but a collision with Jose Maria Lopez shortly afterwards broke his steering column and caused difficulties for the remainder of the race; despite this he managed to finish seventh to gain a front row start for race two tomorrow. Javi stopped later in the race for four tyres as well, but cold tyres and a brake balance problem created yet more smoke at turn one before he came together with Felix Porteiro, with both men out on the spot. Javi finished in 23rd position.
A slightly frustrated Alfonso de Orleans Borbon later noted: The race went quite well, and I think Adam drove very steadily; but it was a bit of a pity that we were second and then came out of the pits in ninth; we took the chance to change all four tyres, which didn't really help. And then there was contact between Lopez and Adam; his steering column is actually bent, so it was very difficult to finish the race, but he still managed to put in some good times with what was left of the car! Javi was pretty much the same; we changed all four tyres, but at the end of the pit straight the tyres didn't brake the same way as before and he had the collision. But all in all I think Adam and Javi did as good a job as they could."
Sitting with his engineers after the race, Adam Carroll commented: I had a good start and was running second, but unfortunately our pitstop didn't work out the way we hoped it would; we decided to go for four wheels, and I got a shake and a Big Mac with it as well! Actually it wasn't too much slower but I came out in ninth place, and I think that was a bit of a shock for all of us! A lot of people pitted a lot earlier than we expected really, so I think we were just a little unfortunate there. And then Lopez went off and across the grass, I had a good run on him and a lot of speed, so he really should have been looking in his mirrors, because you don't have to ask me twice! It was just unfortunate because as he turned in I was there, so we were quite lucky because I was up on two wheels, and I only lost one position."
Resting in the truck, Javier Villa commented: It was not so good today. The start is difficult on this track but it was not so bad, and then the other guys stopped and I kept going as fast as the ones at the front, and I was second behind Piquet at my stop. We stopped for four tyres and then when I got to the first corner it didn't brake, locked in the front, and Porteiro was there and I crashed with him. Tomorrow we start 23rd, and it will be even more difficult, but I think it's really important that I get a good start and then see what we can do."
Super Nova International - Jose Maria Lopez 8th Fairuz Fauzy 16th
Super Nova's Argentinean driver Jose Maria Lopez (left) started from front row on the grid this afternoon, but it wasn't going to be an easy drive. An incident on the opening lap with Arden driver Michael Ammermueller set him back 4 places, & when Jose came out of the pit lane with 35 laps to go he sat 12th. As other teams pitted & several cars took retired, positions swapped, Lopez closed the gaps in front of him. Fairuz Fauzy who finished 16th today showed improvements in his sector times, but struggled with a puncture at the beginning of the race, which meant he lost time.
Nelson Piquet Jnr. led a strong race today, followed in by Timo Glock (iSport) and Giorgio Pantano in 3rd. Super Nova's Jose Maria Lopez finally finished in 8th place, claiming 1 point & starting in pole for Sundays sprint race.
Team Principal - David Sears: "Jose Maria Lopez made a poor start & got swamped by cars in the first corner and collided with Michael Ammermueller, which put him down to 10th place. At the end of the 2nd last lap Jose made a mistake allowing Perera draw along side him, but Jose fought back finishing 8th, pole for tomorrow's race. Fairuz Fauzy really could not get to grips with the demanding Hungaroring circuit and finished last place out of the 16th finished, in a race that was totally dominated by Nelson who closes up to just 13 points between him and Championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Piquets pace was so strong he finished 33seconds ahead "
Jose Maria Lopez: "I am disappointed with the result, obviously…..I wanted to win. I just didn't have the pace today, and I got involved in a few incidents one with Ammermuller at the start and one with Carroll, as well as having lots of over-steer. But I live optimistic and we start pole tomorrow which is great, we're definitely aiming for a podium tomorrow!"
Fairuz Fauzy: "I got a puncture one my 2nd lap and was forced to cruise into the pit lane, losing a lot time. From then on it was a long race on the tyres we had, so it was hard to make better my time. Its an unfortunate thing and I'm frustrated with this but I intend to look forward to tomorrow."
Trident Racing - Andreas Zuber 13th Gimmi Bruni DNF
Gimmi Bruni (right) and Andreas Zuber drove very well and the whole team praises them. Gimmi had to retire because of the failure of the rear left suspension upper triangle. This failure costing the podium. Andreas has been very fast having the chance to finish in the top eight, but he finished thirteenth because of a penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Gimmi Bruni: "I did a great start, immediately catching the third position. Then I was in control of the situation but, after half race, all of a sudden I felt something wrong in the rear. The rear left suspension upper triangle broke and I don't understand why, because I am quite sure I had no contacts with the others. I could have finished on the podium and got a good starting grid position for tomorrow, but I had to retire. Today simply has not been my day".
Andreas Zuber: "Today we have been able to set up the car in the way I like, so I drove a good race. But I had a problem after the pitstop, maybe it was may fault or maybe the system failed, but I did not engage the rev limiter in the pitlane, so I have been given a ten seconds penalty. Without that penalty my classification could be much better now, but I must be happy with my fast lap times, I drove at the same level of the best, this is a fact".