07/05/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering - Christian Vietoris (4th) Dani Clos (7th)
Racing Engineering started the 2010 GP2 season on a very good note, after a satisfactory qualifying session in Barcelona. Christian Vietoris achieved the fourth position overall, making his GP2 debut from the second row of the grid. Teammate Dani Clos finished the qualifying session in seventh position, thus underlining Racing Engineering's excellent form during the first qualifying session of the season.
The Spanish track of Montmelo welcomed the GP2 field for the first official day of the 2010 season with a cool temperature and overcast sky. The free practice session was used by the drivers to familiarize themselves with the track conditions and prepare for the afternoon. Racing Engineering's Dani Clos finished the morning session in sixth place, while Christian Vietoris set the eleventh fastest time.
The overall conditions had cooled down when qualifying started, and Christian and Dani set the first and fifth fastest times after just three laps. Like usual, the GP2 drivers pass by the pits halfway through the session to pick up a set of new tyres and have some adjustments made to their cars in order to improve their lap times. Once the entire field had completed their first run, the Racing Engineering boys were in fourth place for Vietoris and seventh place for Clos. But a cooling down track during the second half of the session meant that no significant improvements on the timesheets took place. Christian saw his attempts to set a faster time hampered by traffic, whilst Dani encountered a yellow flag at a crucial point during his fastest lap. With just three minutes to go, and with most of the field on track, a spinning Bianchi resulted in another yellow flag hindered the drivers from clocking better times.
German rookie Christian Vietoris claimed the fourth fastest time for his Racing Engineering team, whilst Spanish driver Dani Clos will start his home race from the seventh spot on the grid.
Christian Vietoris: "During free practice I encountered a lot of traffic and also made a mistake. Therefore, the eleventh position wasn't what I expected. We made a few changes in the car ahead of the qualifying session, which worked very well. Bianchi was very fast today and fourth position isn't bad, but I know that more was possible. I struggled as I found a lot of traffic on the track and I think second position was within reach today. Tomorrow we have the feature race, which will include a pit stop, and my target is to definitely be on the podium. I also think that a win is not impossible."
Dani Clos: "I think it has been a very positive day, as I have been very comfortable with the car. I encountered a lot of yellow flags, and it was difficult to be constant during the qualifying session. We had a very good setup but, on my best lap, I had a yellow flag in the third sector, and I had to lift my foot off the accelerator. When we put on the second set of tyres the track changed, and we couldn't improve the times. But I'm happy with the car and the team, and I'm hopeful for tomorrow."
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "I'm very pleased with today's results as both drivers have been very consistent. It's very good for the team to have both cars in the top 10. Everyone in the team has done a fantastic job, and the boys have shown great progression. Looking at tomorrow's race, I'm very confident with both drivers and think they are able to achieve good results."
iSport International - Oliver Turvey (5th) Davide Valsecchi (10th)
The GP2 Series kicked off the 2010 season in Barcelona today at the Circuit de Catalunya. Davide Valsecchi was the first of the iSport cars to set a flying lap to put him a solid seventh, with his team mate Oliver Turvey following suit and signing the fifth fastest time. With track conditions deteriorating and a late yellow flag for the spun car of pole sitter Jules Bianchi, none of the front runners were able to improve their times leaving Oliver Turvey a solid fifth on his GP2 Series debut and a disappointed Davide Valsecchi P10.
Oliver Turvey: I was fifth which I am quite happy with. The car felt good and we were competitive so we should be in a good position to challenge for a podium tomorrow. The track lost some time as the session went on so I set my fastest time on the first run. We should have a good car for the race so if I can get a good start and stay out of trouble on the first lap we could get some good points and a podium.
Davide Valsecchi: Not a great day for us. I was not fast enough to fight for the top. It's a shame because I really wanted to be quick enough to be there to fight tomorrow for something important, but I was not fast enough to stay at the top, I was always, eight, ninth, tenth. Anyway, I hope for a good race tomorrow but we cannot fight for the victory or the podium, we have to fight for something less than that and try and get some good points.
Super Nova - Marcus Ericsson (8th) Josef Kral (18th)
Today's session in Barcelona welcomed GP2 teams back on track for the first time this season. This mornings' free session saw the teams' rookies Josef Kral and Marcus Ericsson finish P9 and P16.
Qualifying this afternoon saw track temperatures rise and the tables reversed for Super Nova. Nineteen year old Ericsson completed 12 laps to finish in a strong eighth position for tomorrows feature race. Overcoming earlier engine issues Kral looked set to join his team mate in the top ten, but unfortunately was involved in an incident on track whilst on a hot lap. Damage to the suspension stopped him improving on his previous lap time. The young Czech will have his work cut out for him starting from P18 but the team have confidence both drivers can finish in the points.
Marcus Ericsson: "It was good today! Practice didn't go quite as planned but we learnt something. I set myself a goal to be in the top eight for qualifying and so we are there! It's a shame because were just 1-tenth off so we could have been P5 or P6. On my last lap I could have been quicker, but we had a few gear box issues. But anyway it s a very good start, its good for confidence, the team have done a brilliant job."
Josef Kral: "Well, it's the worst way to start really. The free session was good, but I feel we could have been better. But we had problems with the engine, so we had to change some things. By that time there was 15 minutes of session left, and we were quite quick. So I felt confident.
We did three laps in quali and on the fourth as I started to overtake, but the car closed in on me quickly and we crashed. The front suspension arm got bent so couldn't drive it well, which is unfortunate. The way the car was feeling I was quite sure we could have finished in P5. Anyway tomorrow we will do the maximum to get up to the front and score some points. Hopefully something will happen at the front which will help us."
Team Principal David Sears: "Marcus Ericsson improved a lot from this morning, and to qualifying in the top ten at the very first race weekend is a positive start. Josef Kral was unlucky. He was looking quick this morning and again during his few laps in qualifying. This is a track both drivers know, so hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow."
Trident Racing - Johnny Cecotto Jr (15th) Adrian Zaugg (21st)
The 2010 GP2 Main Series season started today at Barcelona. The first qualifying practice of the year kicked off with the battle for Race 1's grid, as drivers hit the track to score the best possible spot.
Trident Racing ended up with a 14th place, thanks to the effort of Johnny Cecotto Jr., and a 21st place, with Adrian Zaugg. The session has been heavily conditioned by the track's conditions, which proved definitely better in the opening stages. The majority of the drivers running clocked their fastest lap on their first set of tires, to see laptimes grow consistently in the second half.
Johnny Cecotto Jr."I'm quite satified with my qualifying run. I'm sorry to have committed a slight but key mistake in the closing stages, when I had great splits in the first two sectors. I hoped to get closer to the top-10, but it ended up this way. All in all I'm happy , because I found a really well-balanced and consistent car. It makes me more confident for tomorrow."
Adrian Zaugg. "It's been a really tough session. With my first set of tires I made a mistake and then, with the second one, I got stuck in traffic on the two best laps available on new rubber. Any chance to improve vanished at that point. I was expecting a much better result, but now we must look forward to tomorrow's race, where I hope to find my way back towards the top."
Scuderia Coloni - Alberto Valerio (17th) Vladimir Arabadzhiev (23rd)
The first qualifying session of the GP2 2010 season was not easy for Scuderia Coloni. The Italian team's cars posted respectively the 17th time with Alberto Valerio (1'29"271) and the 23rd time with Vladimir Arabadzhiev (1'29"912). Actually, the Brazilian driver was pretty fast in the first part of the session and he was pushing as hard as he could to improve. Unfortunately, his best lap was ruined by the cars of Marcus Ericsson and Fabio Leimer slowing down in the last chicane, something that costed Alberto some precious tenths.
Arabadzhiev was even more unlucky. Not only the Bulgarian driver was forced to lose half of the session for a "drive by wire" problem, but when he finally managed to complete his first outing, he was then halted in pit lane for the weighing operations, losing other vital minutes. The team managed to send him on track for a last try, but he had to slow down due to the yellow flags caused by Bianchi's spin.