13/05/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (Pole) Christian Vietoris (9th)
Racing Engineering's Dani Clos achieved a brilliant pole position under difficult conditions in today's qualifying session in Monaco. After an intense battle Perez and Maldonado on a wet track, Dani snatched his first pole position in GP2. Christian Vietoris, having encountered traffic during his flying lap, finished in a commendable ninth place after his first day ever at the prestigious Monaco street circuit.
In the morning practice, the Racing Engineering boys had a busy but positive session, with Christian finishing in third place and Dani Clos in fourth. Those excellent results made everyone at Racing Engineering look forward to the afternoon qualifying session.
While free practice took place on a dry track, the temperatures dropped and with only ten minutes to go for qualifying to start, rain set in. The session started with all the drivers evaluating the track and, after just six laps, Spanish driver Dani Clos clocked the fastest time. At that point, he started an impressive battle with Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado for the pole position, with the top three places changing hands among them throughout the session. Christian Vietoris, on his part, was lapping at a consistent rate, and being careful to not touch the walls surrounding the track. Traffic was being an issue for everybody and, after passing through the pits for adjustments on his car, Christian saw his last run hampered by traffic and yellow flags, but still managed to clock the ninth fastest time in his first official qualifying session in the Montecarlo.
Everything seemed set for another pole from the Venezuelan, when Dani did a perfect flying lap and set the fastest time of the session at the last minute, with a time of 1:37.572, a pole position which is crucial to any aspirations of a good result in Monaco. By achieving pole position, Dani Clos has also scored two more points for himself and the Spanish team.
Dani Clos: "We were calm during the session and always within the top three. There was a lot of traffic but towards the end of the session I found a clean lap. We were able to set a fast time and I am happy to start tomorrow's race from pole. But it's a long race and now we need to work on preparing it."
Christian Vietoris: "Free practice in the dry was really good. It's a pity it started raining just before qualifying was due to start. We knew that the decisive laps will be made towards the end of the session when the track got better. I didn't want to take any risks at the beginning and think this was a good strategy. However, I had some traffic during my fast lap, so I think I could have done even better."
Alfonso de Orlčans - Borbón, President of Racing Engineering: "I am really excited and happy for the results we just got. Pole position in Monaco is something unique for us and Dani did a wonderful job in keeping it all together. Christian did a fantastic job as well. It's a pity he first found traffic and had yellow flags on his fast lap later. I think he will be good in tomorrow's race, as we saw how fast he is in Monaco during today's free practice. Once again, I thank the entire team for the great work. Now we need to prepare tomorrow's race."
Scuderia Coloni - Alberto Valerio (4th) Vladimir Arabadzhie (21st)
A masterly drive on a damp track means a second row start in tomorrow's feature race for Alberto Valerio and Scuderia Coloni. The brazilian driver stopped the clock on 1:38.901, clinching the fourth spot of the grid behind Pastor Maldonado and ahead of Fabio Leimer and Jules Bianchi.
The weekend was good right from the start for the Brazilian driver: in the morning Free Practice he was eleventh despite focusing on a long-run test, and also in Qualifying he was on the pace straight out of the box. Fifth in the initial stages, with a very wet track, he improved lap after lap despite aborting two tries due to slower cars on the racing line. Anyway, he kept the masterpiece for the final try, with just one minute to the checkered flag. Taking full advantage of slightly improved track conditions he went for a last flyer and, despite Maldonado spinning right in front of him and then finding a slower car in the tunnel, he got the fouth best laptime. Living in Monte Carlo from some years, Valerio cared a lot about getting a good result on the Principality streets, and a great satisfaction could clearly be seen in his eyes after the session.
Also Vladimir Arabadzhiev performed good in Qualifying: being at his maiden experience in Monaco, Vladimir paid his “rookie fee” in the morning Free Practice, crashing in St.Devote after just 15 minutes. Despite losing half of the practice, something really important on such a different track, Vladimir drove well in Qualifying and with 5 minutes to go he was 14th, with ten drivers behind them. Anyway, he was blocked by a yellow flag and some slow cars in his last try, and not improving the 1'41”733 time meant P21.
Paolo Coloni: We are really satisfied with this qualifying, both because we showed everybody how competitive we are and because Alberto deserved this after the wonderful job he did. He was so quick that he could have clinched pole position if Chilton didn't ruin his lap slowing down under the tunnel.
Anyway, we are really confident for tomorrow: starting ahead is vital for a good race in Monaco, and in the morning practice we had very good results in a long-run simulation, so everything should be all right. I'd like to spend some words also for Arabadzhiev, who did a good qualifying. Doing mistakes was easy on the damp track, other drivers did some but he was flawless, and until the last five minutes he was doing really well for a rookie. He was unlucky and so he could not improve his time, but we are happy of his performance.
iSport International - Davide Valsecchi (7th) Oliver Turvey (24th)
The sun had been shinning in Monaco for most of the day, but when qualifying loomed the sky turned grey and soaked the streets of Monaco. Tip toeing around the slippery circuit, iSport duo Oliver Turvey and Davide Valsecchi remained in and out of the top ten early in the session as the track improved.
Unfortunately, rookie Turvey was caught out by the slippery conditions and hit a barrier at turn five, damaging his front wing and suspension. With the track times improving, Turvey dropped down the timesheets and will start race 1 from the back of the grid. Davide Valsecchi was also in the wars as he collided with the crashed car of Pastor Maldonado at the end of the session. As a result, Valsecchi receives a five place grid penalty dropping him from seventh to twelfth for tomorrow's race.
Davide Valsecchi: Being through the chequered flag when it is wet is a big advantage as the track will be a little bit drier as there are cars in front of you clearing it. I was one of the first past the chequered flag. So for sure the cars that were behind me, the track was a bit drier for them, they were luckier than me. Anyway after the first corner I crashed with one car stopped into the barrier. The session was finished but for this reason I got the penalty. It was stupid as I relaxed immediately after the chequered flag and then no-one told me there was a yellow flag because we just relaxed. I came round the corner and saw people on the track and braked hard and just ran wide into the car a little. It's a shame.
Oliver Turvey: We had a dry free practice and we had a few issues with the car in free practice, but I think we made good set up changes to improve the car for qualifying. I was really looking forward to qualifying then it started to rain beforehand. I love driving in the wet but Monaco is a very unforgiving track. Gradually through the session I was getting quicker and I was starting to push a bit more. A dry line started to appear at the end of the session and the track was starting to get quicker and improving all the time. I made a small mistake into turn five, down the hill, I locked the inside wheel and it was a really slow speed impact with the barrier, but enough to bend the front left corner, the damage ended our session. We missed the last three of four laps when it was drying out the most and obviously everyone was improving all the time. It's not where we wanted to be in qualifying, especially on a street circuit but we have a lot more work to do tomorrow to try and get in the top eight and score some points.
Super Nova - Marcus Ericsson (13th) Josef Kral (20th)
After successfully learning the streets of Monaco in the practice session earlier the Super Nova drivers had to face an even greater test with rain falling prior to qualifying, making for treacherous conditions on the track. With a lot of standing water around the circuit all of the drivers had to be extremely cautious at the start of the session and gradually build in speed and confidence. With very little wet weather running in pre-season testing Marcus and Josef faced one of the biggest challenges in their careers to date. Both drivers acquitted themselves very well and fought to find gaps in the traffic, allowing them to improve steadily as a drying line started to form on the track. The last five minutes proved to be the fastest conditions but the most frantic, with all drivers pushing to and beyond the limit. Marcus and Josef were on track at the very end and both produced solid laps to qualify in 13th and 20th positions respectively, although with many incidents towards the end there could be penalties to follow for some drivers.
Marcus Ericsson: "It has been a very challenging day. I thought that this morning was really hard when I was learning the circuit but then qualifying in the rain took it to another level! Despite the difficulty I am very happy with the car and team. As the track slowly started to dry I got quicker and quicker and I knew it would be the last couple of laps that would really count. Unfortunately on my best lap I had traffic in the first sector but overall I am pleased with 13th place, taking everything into consideration. From here I can aim for the top eight tomorrow which will also give me a strong starting position for the sprint race on Saturday."
Josef Kral: "The first few laps were really slow as I didn't want to take too many risks and be there at the end when the track was at its best. Halfway through qualifying I changed onto new wet tyres and had to build up speed. I then had to go straight on at the first corner as there were yellow flags and a car in the way. It was very tight to spin round and I also struggled to get first gear. This lost me so much time and therefore another couple of very important flying laps. After all of this I only had one lap to produce a time good enough to qualify, which was very difficult without a benchmark lap. I gained the most experience in my whole career today and I am sure this will benefit me for the races this weekend and for the rest of the season."
David Sears - Team Principal: "After a dry thirty minute practice session to learn the circuit both of our Super Nova drivers had to compete in a wet Qualifying session. Marcus Ericsson kept a cool head and ended up in the middle of the grid. Josef Kral was perhaps a bit too cautious but still qualified in P20. However, with a lot of drivers having previous race experience here in Monaco in other categories, the team are happy with the job that both drivers have done so far this weekend."