18/07/2008
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering - Giorgio Pantano (Pole) Javier Villa (9th)
Today at Hockenheim Giorgio Pantano took his second pole position of the season for Racing Engineering whilst Javier Villa completed a really good qualifying session for the Spanish team by finishing ninth overall.
Giorgio's pole has its origins in the free practice session, when the Italian driver and the Racing Engineering technical staff found the basis of an ideal setup for the car in qualifying. With free practice starting on a damp track that was drying as the minutes went by, the main focus was on running and setting up the car for the crucial half an hour where the grid was to be decided. Pantano was third at the end of the free practice and had a very clear picture of the way to go to get the perfect car for qualifying session.
The work done in the morning really paid off and the Repsol and Telefónica backed Dallara driven by Pantano was amongst the fastest from the start of qualifying, scoring a 1:23:343 at his first attempt that put him straight to the top. As the session continued the track was getting quicker and laptimes were improving but the Racing Engineering driver settled the battle for pole position when he returned to the track, improving his previous time by more than 1.5 seconds, setting a 1:21:650 that none of his rivals could reach in the remaining ten minutes still left to the end of the session. With this new pole, the second of the season, Pantano increases his advantage at the top of the GP2 series standings and gains for himself the best position to fight for victory in tomorrow's Feature Race on the German track.
The good news for Racing Engineering didn't finish with Giorgio's amazing showing, his team mate, Javier Villa, also had a good qualifying that allowed him to get a place in the fifth row for tomorrow's race after scoring the ninth fastest time. Javi has already been among the top ten in free practice despite completing only 8 laps because of an oil leak in his engine that was quickly and efficiently fixed by Racing Engineering's mechanics before qualifying. There, although he hadn't run as much as he would have hoped for in the morning, Villa was still able to set some good lap times to get that ninth position that puts him in the right place to have a good race tomorrow.
With Giorgio in pole and Javi well placed, the outlook for the Spanish team is good for the Feature Race, due tomorrow afternoon. Another win seems to be perfectly within reach for Giorgio while Javi will be looking for his best result of the season so far.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "Once again Giorgio has done an amazing job, the prospects are good for tomorrow. I am very happy for Javi as well, luckily the engine problem we had on his car's engine was just a loose pipe, which we solved easily for qualifying. Well done to both drivers and a great job by the whole team, but let's keep our heads cool for tomorrow's race."
Javier Villa: "I think that we made a step forward compared to the previous weekends. It's not the best qualifying we've done, but I think for tomorrow, starting from 9th position, we can do a good race."
Giorgio Pantano: "Everything went very well. We understood from free practice what we needed to improve for qualifying. We did the job and I think we did a perfect lap, the car was perfect and I was almost perfect. I have to say thanks to the team as they worked hard to prepare the car for qualifying."
iSport International - Bruno Senna (6th) Karun Chandhok (11th)
Bruno Senna and iSport team-mate Karun Chandhok were partially frustrated, partially encouraged after the opening day of the latest GP2 Series meeting at Hockenheim. The Brazilian will line up sixth in a particularly competitive field - the top 10 cars were covered by less than a second - while Chandhok starts 11th. Neither driver has raced a single-seater at this circuit before, although Senna learned the track two years ago when he made a guest appearance in the Porsche Carrera Cup.
Bruno Senna: "There are a couple of balance issues to sort out before the race, but you can't complain if you qualify sixth when the car's handling isn't quite right. There was no big problem, really, but some little details need to be addressed. In a way it's good to be as close as I am to the guys at the front, because they have all raced here many times in single-seaters and there are one or two parts of the circuit I'm still working out. I have time to pore over the data tonight, though, and I think I should be in good shape for the race."
Karun Chandhok: "It was slightly odd, because I was quick in the first sector but struggled to get the car balanced in the other two. I just didn't feel I had enough grip - and if you aren't completely comfortable it's hard to attack the corners properly. It looks like I need to conjure another performance like Silverstone, where I climbed from 10th to third. There are some good passing opportunities here, which helps, and I have a good team around me so I'm sure the car will be sorted by tomorrow."
Super Nova Racing - Alvaro Parente (7th) Andy Soucek (16th)
The Super Nova team have arrived in Germany in the south west region of Baden-Württemberg, where the Hockenheimring plays host to this years' German Grand Prix, which is now annually alternated with the Nurburgring.
Entering the sixth round of the GP2 '08 season, the team put behind them the frustrations of Silverstone a fortnight ago, and worked on strong set up for qualifying this afternoon.
After morning rain the track dried for the 30-minute session which finished with all twenty-six cars qualifying within a close 3 seconds of each other.
The team's Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente put in a solid effort around the 4.57km track, running amongst the quickest on his first set of tyres. Unable to improve on his second outing, Alvaro will start 7th on the grid for tomorrows Feature race.
Having never raced at Hockenheim before, Andy Soucek used free practice to familiarise himself with the lay out. He will start 16th on the grid, aiming to utilise the long back straight to overtake and finish in the points.
Team Principal David Sears "In qualifying today Alvaro Parente improved a lot from the past couple of races, and in fact at one point looked like he would be on the front, but finally ended up 7th, much closer to the front than recently.
Andy Soucek was probably one of the only drivers to go out today having no previous racing circuit knowledge. Andy ended up 16th, but the team feel sure he will improve from there in the race tomorrow. The weather will still be the deciding factor as there is forecasted sunshine and showers over the next couple of days"
Alvaro Parente: "It's a better qualifying result. On the first set of tyres put I put in a good lap. On the second set we did a small change, but didn't improve my time, which I was hoping & expecting. The improvement is very good though, which I hope will continue throughout the weekend."
Andy Soucek: "It was tough qualifying today. In free practice the track was very slippery, & I spun twice in corner 12, probably the most technical part of the circuit. So in qualifying on my first set, I was not very happy or confident & lost time in this last sector. However on my last set of tyres, in the last sector I made up 4/10th. I hear it's going to rain, so I am prepared for this. I'm hoping to take advantage of the overtaking opportunities here tomorrow and try to push my way to the front!"
DAMS - Kamui Kobayashi (8th) Jérôme d'Ambrosio (14th)
Today, DAMS took part in free practice and qualifying for the 6th round of the 2008 GP2 Series Championship on the Hockenheim circuit in Germany. Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio were racing on the German track for the first time in the new GP2 car, and finished free practice in 2nd and 6th places, which augured well for qualifying.
Unfortunately, a few hours later the set-up of the 2 cars did not seem so well adapted to the layout. By the time this was corrected, track conditions had changed and the cooler temperatures penalised performance. Although Kamui and Jérôme improved on their previous times they did not move any higher up the grid finishing in 8th and 14th places respectively.
But there was still more bad news to come for the team. Kamui received a 5-place penalty from the Stewards for having baulked another driver in qualifying. He will start from 13th spot on the grid alongside Jérôme on the 7th row.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "It's been a disappointing day. Both our drivers were at the front this morning and then we missed out on a good qualifying opportunity. We decided to send our cars out a bit later in the session so as not to be penalised by traffic, and our grid positions do not reflect our true level of performance. We'll have to use race incidents and the weather to make the best of the situation tomorrow with an aggressive and well-adapted strategy."
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "We didn't manage to get to grips with the changing conditions in qualifying and the result is that we're badly placed on the grid. It's a real shame as we were very quick in the morning session. If we can repeat that level of performance tomorrow, we can score some points."
Kamui Kobayashi: "It's disappointing. Things went off well this morning and we were feeling confident about the rest of the day, but it didn't work out as we'd expected. Now, we have to concentrate on the race and try and make the most of the slightest opportunity."
Durango - Davide Valsecchi (18th) Alberto Valerio (19th)
Davide Valsecchi eighteenth and Alberto Valerio nineteenth. This is the result of today qualifying session here at Hockenheim. Once more both Durango drivers has not been able to achieve a better starting grid position, anyway, considering the past experience, during the race they always delivered sensibly better performances.
Davide Valsecchi: "I made some mistakes and then my gearbox had a little failure. So at the end of the day I have not been able to qualify in the first rows. But I know I have something more to spend in my pocket, I will do my best to spend it tomorrow".
Alberto Valerio: "Being the first time that I drove on this track I did not delivered a bad job. I am nineteenth, I know, I should have reached a better position but my car is good with dry weather and wet weather as well. And here the forecasts say it will rain tomorrow".