04/02/2010
NEWS STORY
iSport International - Oliver Turvey (2nd) Davide Valsecchi (3rd)
iSport International are back in Abu Dhabi this week for round two of the GP2 Asia Series after a three month break. Qualifying took place under the cover of darkness at the impressive floodlight Yas Marina Circuit this evening. After an impressive twenty-three point haul in the last round, iSport picked up where they left off.
iSport racer Davide Valsecchi went top of the timesheets early in the session duelling with Arden racer Charles Pic for pole with both ART cars also getting in on the action. With Valsecchi and Pic trading fastest laps for most of the session it was Valsecchi's team mate and rookie Oliver Turvey who starred in the final seconds of qualifying to take second, just 0.020 seconds shy of pole position in only his second GP2 race weekend. Valsecchi looked to go quicker still but ran wide on his last flying lap to take third spot behind pole man Pic and his team mate to set up a thrilling feature race.
Oliver Turvey: It was really pleasing and to be on the front row is a good place and to be only two hundredths off pole. It was a good qualifying session, I was improving all the time, the track was getting better and I managed to set my best time on my last lap. I was very pleased with that, the team did a good job and the car felt really good. It was much better than last time obviously, I felt much more confident with the car so I'm looking forward to the race now.
Davide Valsecchi: It was good. We got third position so we start near the top tomorrow. All the day we were competitive from free practice to qualifying. I'm really happy and we have a really good car. Also my team mate Oliver is in second position so we have the performance so we hope tomorrow to finish on the podium.
MalaysiaQI-MeritusMaharaGP.com - Alexander Rossi (DQ) Luca Filippi (20th)
Asian motorsport ambassadors MalaysiaQI-MeritusMaharaGP.com team's new line-up of Luca Filippi and rookie Alexander Rossi was announced at a recent press conference hosted in the presence of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President, showing the team's strong Arabic roots through its Saudi partner, Chaiman Raad S. Abduljawad.
Despite a difficult day and high winds that brought sand everywhere into the car and onto the track, the two drivers, Italian Luca Filippi (20) and US Alexander Rossi (21) had a good start of the first practice session at Yas Marina circuit and finished the 30 minutes first practice with the best times of 1.54.446 for Filippi, the fastest after 11 laps and 1.55.077 in 8th position for Rossi, also having completed 11 laps respectively
In the qualifying session the two drivers had different fortunes but both will start from the back of the grid. The session started strongly for Luca Filippi. He looked like he was going to have a good chance of taking pole, but his efforts did not achieved intended results as an unexpected problem with the gearbox caused the car to stop.
Rookie Alexander Rossi (21) had a strong qualifying showing and finished fifth with 1.52.861. The American did not have time to celebrate his good result in today's qualifying session. A Stewards' decision lines him up beside his teammate on the back of the grid for race 1 tomorrow. During a pit stop, a mechanic adjusted the front- wing hole setting on one side to 17 and on the other side to a whole 18 which is not allowed - a simple human error.
The target for both drivers now is a top-eight result in race 1 as the top 8 finishers in race 1 have a reverse grid format for race 2.
Luca Filippi: "I arrived very motivated for qualifying. After the first free practice session run I must say everything looked good. But nothing went per the plan and we had no radio communication to start with. I thought I had a problem with engine losing power. My mechanics stripped the car and realized we have had a problem with the new gear purchased at the last event. Usually this component is has an expected life of 2000 kilometers and we have only driven 400 kilometers and all the teeth were stripped. I am very disappointed to start from the back of the grid and not to have been able to do a better qualifying."
Alexander Rossi: "I was pleased in the free practice session that placed me in the top ten and finishing 8th. I was even more pleased to have established that the car had a good pace in qualifying. However, the session was difficult with no radio with the team, and in the end, I did not know how many laps were left in the qualifying session. There was not that much traffic except in the last lap and we could work reasonably well and progress during the session. Half of me is frustrated because we could have been in the front row but we will start from the back.
Peter Thompson: "We proved today that we had the pace. Unfortunately we had technical problems with Luca Filippi's car, and although it was a human error, it is simply unacceptable that we should make this error. The drivers now have a big task in tomorrow's race, but they believe that they have the car and the pace to aim for a top-8 result and, please God, we can target a podium for his Saturday race too."
Chairman Raad S. Abduljawad: "A pity because the drivers and the team have done a good job and set good times despite some reliability problems encountered with Luca Filippi's car.
Super Nova Racing - Josef Kral (15th) Marcus Ericsson (21st)
The qualifying session this evening proved to be much more competitive than round one, with the majority of teams drafting in their main series drivers for the event. However it was a rookie, Charles Pic, who claimed pole position.
Super Nova had high hopes for qualifying after their previous performance in Abu Dhabi with Josef Kral and the addition of Marcus Ericsson. Unfortunately these expectations weren't fulfilled as both drivers struggled for pace and qualified towards the back of the grid. A strategic decision by the team to be the first cars on track, in order to avoid traffic, backfired as the track improved significantly towards the end of Qualifying allowing drivers with fresher tyres to vault up the timesheets. Marcus Ericsson was also struggling to cope with an possible engine problem that caused his car to stutter on the throttle in the low speed corners.
The team is left frustrated and dissappointed by this performance and will be working extremely hard to overcome these problems in order to salvage something from the weekend.
Josef Kral: "My time on the first set of tyres could have been a little bit better as I had traffic in the middle sector of my best lap. I think that perhaps we went out too early on the second set of tyres but I pushed as hard as I could, with my best lap good enough for P8 at the time, before other drivers went quicker at the end of the session."
"Maybe we will have an advantage by saving tyres for tomorrow and I hope that this will allow me to overtake the cars in front and achieve a good result tomorrow."
Marcus Ericsson: "The car felt pretty good in practice although we were first out and the tyres were overheating towards the end, so I felt confident for qualifying. For my first qualifying run I had a lot of traffic and therefore couldn't put a lap together. On the second run I felt lots of hesitation in the engine so I struggled to be fast and consistant, especially in low speed corners."
"We just need to work hard to resolve this problem and do a better job in the race tomorrow."
David Sears - Team Principal: "I'm sorry to say but we had a terrible qualifying performance today. The track was very dirty and we were the first team to send the drivers out on their second set of tyres and unfortunately the track became cleaner and quicker for the final few laps of the session, allowing the last cars on track to significantly improve their times."
"Unfortunately we have ended up near the back of the grid, with an engine problem for Marcus not helping matters. This leaves us with a lot of work to do in the race tomorrow."
Trident Racing - Dani Clos (17th) Plamen Kralev (22nd)
The GP2 Asia Series was back underway today at Abu Dhabi. In the great frame of the Yas Marina racetrack, Trident Racing, as well as all the other teams and drivers entered the first 30-minute practice of the year, followed by the qualifying session that set the grid for Race 1.
Spaniard Dani Clos took 17th place, hit by the sand brought on track by a strong wind that plagued the session of all the teams and drivers on-track.
Bulgarian driver Plamen Kralev continued in his learning path on the GP2 Asia Series Renault-powered Dallara and will take off from row 11. The first race of the weekend will be starting on Saturday at 18:00 local time (GMT+5) on a 33-lap distance, while Race 2 is set for Saturday, with the same timing. Race 1 will be covered live by Rai Sport Pił in Italy. Race 2 is set to be aired Saturday night at 1:30 AM.
Dani Clos: "It's been a complicated day, because in the 30 minutes of free practice I've been called to learn a racetrack that was completely new to me and conditions were bad in terms of grip. The GP2 Asia Series Dallara is also new and it's been a good surprise. I had to look for the right feeling lap after lap. In Practice we worked great, but in Qualifying I couldn't find that feeling back, I made some mistakes and it all impacted on the results. We have some work to do but I hope everything will be alright since we I believe have some great potential".
Plamen Kralev: "Today I turned less laps than prevented, and overall I got a better feeling during Free Practice than in Qualifying. My goal for tomorrow's Race 1 is to complete the whole laps and gain some more experience, which is vital since I haven't driven this car for long".
Scuderia Coloni - Will Bratt (23rd) Alberto Valerio (DNQ)
Not a lucky start for Scuderia Coloni in Abu Dhabi. The two cars fielded by the Italian team will indeed start from the back of the grid in the tomorrow race, following an incredible Wednesday which saw the team cope with some really bad surprises.
Problems started immediately in the Free Practice session, with Alberto Valerio crashing on the first timed lap, having just passed the S3 intermediate. The brazilian driver, at its debut both with Scuderia Coloni and on the Emirates track, was unscathed but in the collision with the wall the Dallara-Renault gearbox was damaged, meaning no Qualifying for Alberto.
Things weren't a lot better for Will Bratt. After a very cautious approach in the Practice, the brit decided to give all he could in Qualifying but he spun and his car remained blocked across a kerb, forcing him out of the session.
Paolo Coloni: This really isn't the start we were expecting, but we can only put it behind us and concentrate on tomorrow. First of all, we're happy that Alberto is ok, that's the most important thing. Regarding tomorrow, we will now concentrate on the race strategy to give the guys all the chances for a great recovery.