21/05/2009
NEWS STORY
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Lucas Di Grassi (5th) Dani Clos (13th)
After a very good free practice where both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers, Lucas Di Grassi and Dani Clos, finished in second and ninth place respectively, the qualifying for Friday's feature race in Monaco ended with certain disappointment for the Spanish team as the results did not reflect the true pace and potential showed in the morning.
Free practice went well for Fat Burner Racing Engineering's duo Dani Clos and Lucas Di Grassi. The Spanish driver, who participates for the first time in a racing event in the Principality of Monaco, showed a very solid performance and finished free practice as the best rookie in a fantastic 9th position. Lucas, on the other hand, set the second fastest time in free practice, which looked very promising for the qualifying session.
When the lights turned to green at 4:15 pm, Lucas and Dani started their first flying laps for Monaco's GP2 qualifying. The Brazilian was soon showing great pace which placed him in second, whilst Dani behind the wheel of the second Fat Burner Racing Engineering car, moved up to seventh. When half way through the session drivers started to enter the pits to pick up a new set of tyres. Lucas, in second, improved his lap time once more, setting a time of 1:20.689, 1.125 seconds behind pole sitter Grosjean.
Dani entered the pits whilst in tenth position and with the cars prepared for the second part of the session both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers rejoined the session with about 10 minutes to go, dropping back on the time sheet while in the pits. Lucas faced a typical Monaco problem and encountered too much traffic on the track which did not allow him to regain his previous position and although he improved his lap time with 1:20.308, he will start tomorrow's race from fifth place. His team mate was able to move up to tenth when he set a lap time of 1:20.750, but dropped back to 13th by the end of the session, when he could not complete a clear lap anymore either.
Lucas Di Grassi: The car is working fine and the team is doing a good job. I was in P2 during most of the qualifying, but then there was just too much traffic to improve my lap time and I went from P2 to P5. Things are looking pretty good for tomorrow and we we should be at least be able to make it to the podium. We will fight for the best possible results to leave from Monaco with good points.
Dani Clos: At the beginning everything went pretty good and I was very confident with the car. The problem was just about getting a clear lap and this was really difficult. However, when we mounted the second set of tyres, we also changed a few minor things on the car, but the results were not as expected. After our performance in free practice I am obviously not happy with the qualifying results. But we have to see how things go tomorrow. Everything can happen.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbón, Team Principal: Well, we had a pretty decent car, but it would have been practically impossible to get the pole because of the intense traffic. Here in Monaco you could be on your best lap and it could be suddenly ruined by a slower car. But all in all we are quite happy with both, our drivers and the car. All the boys did a good job and now we are going to get ready for the tomorrow's race.
Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (6th) Karun Chandhok (10th)
Ocean Racing Technology highlighted their performances on Thursday during qualifying for the GP2 Main Series in Monaco, becoming one of just two teams to finish the session with two of their cars inside the top ten. On the most demanding circuit of the season, Alvaro Parente and Karun Chandhok fought throughout for top times the entire session. As always in Monaco, the traffic was intense during the 30 minutes of qualifying and on occasion it hampered the performances of both men who qualified in 6th, Parente and 10th, Chandhok, places.
Parente actually recorded his best time on the last lap and is satisfied with the overall result. "It was so tight and, as always in Monaco, so complicated. A flying lap can easily be ruined and I could only find a clean lap at the end of the session; at last I was able to get the maximum out of the cars potential. We know the race will be complex because overtaking is difficult here, but our set-up is good and we will do our best," he explained.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, Karun Chandhok had more challenges in his path due to traffic on the Monaco circuit and the Indian driver really never had a clear path in front of him during the session. Frustrated by the end result, Karun is nevertheless satisfied with the work done by Ocean Racing Technology in regard to the preparation of his car. "It is a bit frustrating because there was much more in the car but I always had a slower car in front of me and in the end I could not reach my target which was a spot on one of the three front rows. It was within our grasp and it's a pity because knowing this track really well I know it will be difficult to climb in the pecking order during the race. Having said that, I am totally satisfied with the progress we've made on the car. We're close to having the ideal set-up."
DAMS - Jerome d'Ambrosio (7th) Kamui Kobayashi (17th)
Today, DAMS took part in free practice and qualifying on the Monaco circuit for the second round of the 2009 GP2 Series Championship in which the team is lying second after Jerome d'Ambrosio's performances two weeks ago. The French squad has come to the Principality to play a leading role on one of the most prestigious circuits in the world.
Jerome d'Ambrosio and Kamui Kobayashi used this morning's session to work on setups rather than going for performance. When they started qualifying they ran into the usual problem in the Principality, finding a clear lap on this short circuit as all the cars went out at the same time.
In these difficult conditions, d'Ambrosio set the seventh-quickest time while Kobayashi who had problems with his car's handling, finished seventeenth. This evening the team will try to improve the cars' performance after analysing the data collected on the track.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "Our grid positions for tomorrow's race aren't ideal. Setting up a car in Monaco is always a big challenge as the grip keeps changing and you have to anticipate. Jerome's managed to get onto the upper part of the grid, which is very important here. Kamui had more problems, and we'll have to bet on an aggressive strategy tomorrow if we want him to score points. We managed to achieve this in Barcelona two weeks ago, and we're determined to do the same thing here."
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "Monaco is a very specific track with a lot of pitfalls and taming it in thirty minutes' free practice demands maximum concentration. It's a very special feeling when you go out on this circuit. I'd like to have done better today, but our setup lacked that little bit extra. We're going to work on it this evening to improve the car's balance. The aim is to score points in all the races to win the championship. With my grid position I reckon it's on the cards."
Kamui Kobayashi: "It's been a difficult day and I was expecting a much better result. This morning, I tried to improve the car's behaviour with my engineers throughout the thirty minute-free session. We managed to do so but not enough. The car still lacks stability under braking and we're going to try and remedy this, this evening. Anything can happen in races in Monaco and I'm still very motivated for the rest of the weekend."
iSport International - Giedo van der Garde (15th) Diego Nunes (21st)
Both iSport drivers Giedo van der Garde and Diego Nunes had a tough act to follow after iSport's success in last year's race at Monaco. On the tight streets a clean lap is always difficult and early contact with the wall compromised Diego Nunes' qualifying session along with traffic. Giedo van der Garde ran well early on but dropped down the time sheets after also being held up badly in traffic. With both iSport cars starting from P15 and P21 the team have a difficult task ahead tomorrow but the unpredictability of Monaco can always throw up some surprises which both iSport drivers will be looking to capitalise on.
Giedo van der Garde: "I had some very quick laps but every time in the last sector I was held up by traffic and after that the tyres were finished and I couldn't improve any more. I improved on the last lap but had traffic and I think I couldn't manage to do much better. After the first set of tyres I was P6 and on the second set I was much quicker by 6 tenths which was my quickest lap. But then I got a lot of traffic in the end. I will for sure try to have a good race".
Diego Nunes: "I touched the wall on the first set of tyres but the car was still ok but it was little bit different but still ok to be quick. On the second set of tyres I lost all my 7 laps behind other people and traffic. I managed to do one last lap only and that's it so I was unlucky and I should not have touched the rail but now we a lot to do for the race".
Durango - Davide Valsecchi (16th) Nelson Panciatici (25th)
After qualifying both Durango drivers have not been able to hit two nice numbers at the Montecarlo roulette. Davide Valsecchi is sixteenth, Nelson Panciatici twentyfifth. For Nelson this was the first time not only on a street circuit but on the Monaco street circuit as well, which means he had to pay his due to this situation. "I tried to bring the car home and I was able to do it at least. But Monaco is just the second event of the championship, for a rookie like me here things are much more complicated". Davide Valsecchi, on the contrary, was quite sure to do much better: "I felt alright and the car was balanced, I thought I could reach the first rows without big problems. But, considering that there are ten drivers in half a second, I will have to start the race from behind".