12/07/2009
NEWS STORY
Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (2nd) Karun Chandhok (DNF)
Alvaro Parente delivered a high quality performance in the second race of the GP2 Main Series at the Nurburgring this afternoon. The Portuguese driver was fast, reliable and confident on a track made formidably challenging by a downpour just half an hour before the start of the race. Alvaro recorded the second fastest lap of the race among the drivers on intermediate rubber, the Portuguese driver knowing how to find the resources to climb the hierarchy without making even the smallest error.
Parente and Ocean Racing Technology are rewarded by this 2nd place which is also the second podium in two rounds for the Portuguese team.
Parente gave signs of his excellent form from the beginning with a strong start where he was the fastest driver off the line. He was at the point of taking the lead when Vitaly Petrov caused havoc and then, after several battles, Parente rose to second position thanks to a beautiful overtaking manoeuvre on Kobayashi with just four laps to go. With a 2nd and a 6th place finish, the n°24 driver has opened his score card in the most beautiful way. "We needed this kind of result. Everything went well, the balance of the car was perfect, especially in the last stage of the race. We chose a set-up for a wet track but that would start to dry and the car was even more efficient at the end of the race. I want to congratulate all the team. We have to keep up the great work, to score points and to keep improving our performances," said Parente.
Starting eleventh on the grid, teammate Karun Chandhok could have very easily fought his way into the points but his race came to an abrupt end in a multi car pile-up in in the first turn of the Nurburgring and the Indian driver knew that there was a strong probability of being a victim in such an incident after starting mid field... "It was not a good week-end for me. I had what it takes to fight with the front runners but to start from the middle of the pack always makes things hard. I hope I'll find my way back into the points in Hungary," explains Karun Chandhok.
The two directors of Ocean Racing Technology, Tiago Monteiro and Jose Guedes, are very satisfied with the team work displayed recently. With two podiums from two rounds, the Portuguese team has shown that it is on its way to achieving the ultimate goal, which is to be one of the fastest teams in the paddock, despite being in their rookie season. "Alvaro's race was superb from start to finish. His start and race pace were excellent. We secured a second podium in a row but this second place is also our best result of the year so far. The entire team is to be congratulated because our two cars are very competitive. We don't know what the future lies because it is a highly competitive championship and all the teams work hard, but our aim is to keep heading in the same direction and to make constant progress. This weekend, we gathered valuable experience in tricky conditions and we demonstrated once again that we are competitive," underlined Tiago Monteiro.
DAMS - Kamui Kobayashi (3rd) Jerome d'Ambrosio (7th)
This weekend DAMS raced in the fifth round of the 2009 GP2 Series Championship on the Nurburgring in Germany. The track that winds its way through the Eifel Mountains, lived up to its reputation with changing grip conditions throughout the weekend. Low temperatures, gusts of wind and rain made life very difficult for drivers and engineers.
Bringing the tyres up to their optimal operating temperature was a real challenge, which explains why the team had such a poor qualifying session on Friday. Kamui Kobayashi and Jerome d'Ambrosio started from far back on the grid for race 1, so they were faced with a very tough challenge. Nonetheless, they both had good drives. Kamui finished just outside the points in ninth place after a spectacular fight back up through the field, and Jerome came home tenth just behind his team-mate.
This morning, the rain made a points finish a real possibility. Kamui never stopped pushing throughout the race and finished on the podium in third place. His team-mate was less fortunate, and after holding onto sixth he saw the flag in seventh spot just outside the points. These performances are a big encouragement for DAMS, and today's podium has boosted everybody's morale.
Eric Boullier, Team Manager: "We were very disappointed after Friday's qualifying, but we knew that the Nurburging often enables teams to turn the situation in their favour. Kamui and Jerome did the first part of the job by fighting their way up through the field yesterday. Starting from the front end of the grid today, a finish in the points was a distinct possibility, and Kamui didn't let the opportunity pass. He finished on the podium, which is a great reward for the whole team. I feel sorry for Jerome who saw the flag just outside the points, as he deserved to score this weekend."
Kamui Kobayashi: "If anyone had told me that I'd finish on the podium this weekend, I wouldn't have believed them. However, I took full advantage of the tricky conditions in today's race and stepped up onto the podium. I didn't miss this opportunity, and I'm very happy with this result after a few difficult races. I hope it means that things have swung in my favour, and that the rest of the season will go off much better."
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "I've got mixed feelings after this weekend. I didn't score any points, which is a bit frustrating, as it penalises me in the championship. But our performance shows that without the yellow flag that ruined my qualifying session, I could have been among the front-runners. The speed and the potential are there; we just need a little more luck."
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (8th) Lucas Di Grassi (DNF)
Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers, Dani Clos and Lucas Di Grassi, are leaving the Nurburgring with mixed emotions after today's sprint race. While the Spanish driver showed great pace and competitiveness to finish in eight place, his team-mate did not even make it to the first corner after being hit by Petrov at the start.
Despite finishing eight, and therefore not being able to get his first points of the season, Dani did an excellent race today at the Nurburgring after starting from 16th place on the grid. The Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver did what he does best at the beginning of a race, and that was overtaking three cars at the start. No satisfied with that, Dani continued to pursue the rest of the field ahead of him and by the end of lap four, he was already eleventh and did not waste any time fighting with Gonzalez for P10. The Venezuelan, however, soon entered the pits leaving the tenth to the Spanish rookie.
With Zuber within sight now, Dani put the pedal to the metal, but lost two places when Grosjean and Maldonado overtook him. Still behind Zuber, the Barcelona born driver reduced the distance to 0.5 seconds, but with the Austrian going into the pits, he inherited P11. Romanian Herck was the next driver in Dani's way, but the Fat Burner Racing Engineering boy dispatched him soon while at the same time had to deal with Rodríguez' pressure from behind. Valsecchi was the following man suffering Dani's hounding and by lap 12, the Spaniard made a great move to place himself in ninth position. During the last laps of the race, Dani did what he could to cut the gap to Maldonado, who was 4.2 seconds in front. And with just one lap to go, the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver passed the Venezuelan with a great maneuver to cross the line in eight position.
Team-mate Lucas Di Grassi had a very different outcome in today's race. After having finished Saturday's feature race in seventh place, the Brazilian driver placed himself second on the grid, determined to fight for victory. However, as soon as the lights went out, Petrov hit him and the Fat Burner Racing Engineering car collided with Perez' car as a result, forcing him to retire and say goodbye to any possibility to reduce the gap in the championship's standings.
Dani Clos: The start wasn't good and the first lap was quite messy, but I was able to overtake several cars. During the race I was really consistent and felt really confident. I struggled a bit towards the middle of the race, but with the track drying up a bit, I set good lap times again. It was quite difficult to keep the tyres on temperature today. I passed Pastor (Maldonado) and caught up to the guys in front quite quickly. During the last lap I was about to overtake (Jerome) d'Ambrosio, but he cut the chicane to avoid me passing him. It was a good race and it's a shame how the weekend started. I need to improve a few more small things to really get the best out of everything.
Lucas Di Grassi: The start wasn't so good and I think I was in fifth. But (Vitaly) Petrov hit me and this bent my steering. When braking, the tyres locked and I wasn't able to turn. I am quite upset as there always seems to be something that keeps us from scoring good points.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, Team President: Pity about Petrov hitting Lucas, who surely could have made it to the podium. We know the car is good, and so is Lucas. Bad luck. In regards to Dani, he did an amazing race. Pity he didn't start further up as we know he can be quick. Hopefully we will see him in the points at the next race. Well done to all the boys in the team. Once again they have done an excellent job, even though they didn't get the results they deserve.
Durango - Davide Valsecchi (10th) Nelson Panciatici (13th)
Nurburgring race 2 finished by the Durango drivers at the tenth place, with Davide Valsecchi, and at the thirteenth, with Nelson Panciatici. They both took a very good start, Davide was even able to claim P6, but then his race pace was not fast enough to keep it. This is Enrico Magro final comment: "At the beginning things were looking good for us and sincerely I thought that Davide could even fight for the top four positions. Unfortunately this has not been the case. Nelson on this difficult track drove very well using in the proper way his foot but his head as well".
iSport International - Diego Nunes (11th) Giedo van der Garde (DNF)
It has been a disappointing weekend for iSport as the team leaves the Nurburgring with no rewards. iSport racer Diego Nunes started twentieth on a wet track but kept his cool to finish eleventh in difficult conditions, a small consolation after being taken out of a point scoring position by Pastor Maldonado in yesterday's feature race. Dutch iSport racer Giedo van der Garde started from twelfth and was running eighth when FMS driver Andreas Zuber hit the back of Van der Garde's iSport car forcing him into retirement, ending iSport's hopes of any points from the weekend.
Diego Nunes: "I was really disappointed from yesterday's result and had to start from twentieth. It was quite wet at the start and I managed to stay away from any accidents. The track started to dry through the race which made it difficult with the tyres. There was not enough time to change to slicks at the end as we would have lost too much time. I finished eleventh which was ok".
Giedo van der Garde: "I started from twelfth and I made up some places at the start to eighth but then Zuber hit the back of my car and I had to retire. It was a shame as I think we could have had a good race and scored some points so in the end it was a really disappointing weekend"
Fisichella Motor Sport International - Luiz Razia (14th) Andreas Zuber (DNF)
The GP2 Series returned to the Nurburgring this year after a one year hiatus when the championship visited Hockenheim, the alternative venue for the German GP. Andreas Zuber and Luiz Razia were in action for Fisichella Motor Sport International, with Zuber continuing his recent strong form by picking up a podium in Saturday's feature race.
Free practice and qualifying took place on Friday, with the 35-lap feature race at Saturday afternoon and the 24-lap sprint on Sunday morning as part of the build-up to the Formula 1 race. Changeable wet and damp conditions affected the circuit for the whole weekend, making timing a crucial element to strategy.
Andreas Zuber: Had an unfortunate start to the weekend, only completing five laps of practice after spinning to a halt across the pitlane entrance. His quickest time to that point, a lap of 1:40.264 put him 16th fastest in the session. He fared much better in the afternoon, completing 16 laps during qualifying with a fastest time of 1:38.852 to set himself up from the third row of the grid for the feature race, from sixth place. He had an excellent race, gaining two positions by the first corner and then having a steady race. He avoided the chaos around him and gained another position to finish third, on the podium for the second consecutive weekend. Beginning from sixth in Sunday's race, Zuber was unfortunate to get caught up in a messy start, which caused damage to his front wing. Although fighting hard to stay in the race, he stopped out on track on lap 14 after spinning on slick tyres in wet conditions and retired.
Luiz Razia: Set the 13th fastest time in Friday's free practice with a lap of 1:40.192 after 16 laps but suffered a substantial accident, making it a race against time to get to qualifying. Razia only managed eight laps in qualifying and, with a time of 1:41.969 was forced to start at the back of the grid. He made a brilliant start, gaining seven places at the start to move up to 19th, however his good work was undone when a spinning Luca Fillipi collided with him, forcing his immediate retirement. He put in an impressive showing on Sunday however, starting from 25th and crossing the line in 14th, an improvement of 11 places.
Paolo Coloni, Team Principal, FMSI: "I am pleased as we put in a strong performance this weekend and it's really good to have another podium finish. We've dealt with difficult conditions and situations this weekend and have worked very well as a team. Luiz had a big accident on Friday and the guys did a great job to put the car together again to qualify. In the first race Andreas did a strong race to finish on the podium. In the second race he didn't have a fantastic start and, after a couple of incidents including a nose cone change, ended up spinning out on the track on slick tyres in the wet. Luiz's story was written after the free practice crash because he didn't have the full running or preparation but still had a very solid race today. It's been an expensive weekend for us."
Trident Racing - Ricardo Teixeira (15th) Rodolfo Gonzalez (DNF)
Trident Racing finally got a positive feeling from the 5th round of the 2009 GP2 Main Series at the Nurburgring. On Race 2 at the German venue both Ricardo Teixeira and Rodolfo Gonzalez made it to the end with convincing laptimes.
Teixeira ended up in 15th after recovering from the back of the pack and improving his marks lap-by-lap in the second half. Gonzalez did a great job at the start, but made contact with D'Ambrosio and broke his front wing. The team profited from the unscheduled pit to put dry tires on.
Despite the lack of experience, Gonzalez managed his car well, getting faster and faster while the track dried, and then became the fastest man on-track together with Valerio trough the second half. Unfortunately, he was forced to a stop by an hit from behind received by anoher car with two to go.
Trident Racing is now ready to move with confidence to the Hungaroring, where the Main Series will be back underway in two weeks, starting the second half of the 2009 season.
Ricardo Teixeira: "I'm satisfied with how things went on today. Despite the tough track conditions, I didn't commit mistakes. It was my first wet race in the GP2 Main Series, and it was so easy to do something wrong, so I decided to take it easy at the start. I did it maybe a little bit too much, as I anticipated braking at the first corner. I could have even passed a couple more cars, but I didn't know what kind of grip expect on the first corner. On lap 1, I lost time in a contact with Perera, and the pack moved on abut 10 seconds. Lap after lap I got closer, managing to catch again Razia. I'm happy with the car's performance, it seemed really competitive with today's track."
Rodolfo Gonzalez: "I've been positively impressed by how my race went on today. I made a good start on Race 2 too, getting close to Jerome D'Ambrosio at the first corner. Unfortunately, we made contact, I damaged my front wing and was forced to be back into the pits. I came back on-track with slick tires and, after the first laps when the asphalt was still too wet, a dry line started to appear and laptimes grew progressively lower. I clocked the fastest lap of the race several times, fighting with Valerio. I'm sorry for not having had the chance to finalize the job, but I'm glad I showed my true potential as well as the team's. I hope there'll be some more occasions."