15/05/2010
NEWS STORY
DAMS - Jerome d'Ambrosio (1st) - Ho-Pin Tung (19th)
The DAMS team met with success in the second round of the GP2 Series Championship in Monaco thanks to Jerome d'Ambrosio's victory in race 2. The results in qualifying did not do justice to the team's and drivers' performances. A mix-up in the final laps helped a large number of the French squad's rivals to improve their times under yellow flags, when Jerome and Ho-Pin Tung slowed to respect the regulations.
On Friday, d'Ambrosio was in seventh place on the grid, and the Belgian drove an intelligent race avoiding the traps of the Monaco circuit to finish in that all-important eighth place, which gave him pole for Saturday's round. He took full advantage of it in race 2 and scored his first GP2 Series victory, and also DAMS' first win in Monaco. Ho-Pin hit the rail hard on Friday, and ran into mechanical problems the next day despite showing a good turn of speed in practice.
Loic David, General Manager: "It's a great joy and a reward for the whole team and for Jerome. The results in qualifying were very frustrating, but we drew positive energy from them for the second race. Jerome controlled his rivals perfectly on Saturday and scored a magnificent victory. Ho-Pin put on a good display in practice but fell victim to Monaco's pitfalls and then mechanical gremlins. We're going to do everything possible to score more points in Turkey."
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "I'm absolutely delighted to have scored my first victory in GP2, above all in Monaco! The team did a great job preparing the car and we should have had a good result on Friday. On Saturday, I made a good start and I had to fight to keep my position in the lead in Sainte Devote. After that, I was able to control my rivals. I felt at home and confident and even the arrival of the safety car didn't upset me. It's great for everybody. Now, our championship challenge is well launched."
Ho-Pin Tung: "My overall result isn't very positive but I share the whole team's joy in Jerome's great victory. I was disappointed after qualifying as I should have been better placed on the grid. On Friday, I got caught out after the tyre change. They probably weren't warm enough and I hit the kerbs in the swimming pool too hard. The car slammed into the guardrail and that was that. On Saturday, I was battling mid-field when I had a mechanical problem. That's racing! I'm going to learn the lessons from this weekend and it'll be better in Turkey."
Trident Racing - Johnny Cecotto (4th) Adrian Zaugg (12th)
Johnny Cecotto Jr. cruised to a steady 4th place for Trident Racing today at Monte Carlo, in the closing race of the GP2 Main series weekend in the Principality. The Venezuelan did a great job at the start, passing race 1's winner Sergio Perez and getting closer and closer to the front runners.
Cecotto kept controlling the race in the middle stages, and clocked some very fast laptimes in the closing laps as he collected his first points of the season, coming close to a podium spot. Adrian Zaugg drove a regular race too. The South African driver's race was conditioned by yesterday's incident. He managed to clinch the 12th spot at the end of a troublefree run.
Johnny Cecotto Jr: "I'm extremely happy with how this weekend developed towards a great finish. At the start of the race I took off good, moving on Perez. Unfortunately, we touched and my steering wheel went off-center. There was no other damage, but I had to fight with a really sore right hand in the attempt to keep it straight. My laptimes were good though, as I started to lap really fast after passing Razia. It's a pity the race ended before I could catch Bianchi, who was sitting in third. I'd rather be driving for two or three laps more! I'm really satisfied, and if I think to my mistake in qualifying I can be sure I could have had a chance to podium. Now we have to start thinking to the next race."
Adrian Zaugg: "The only feedback I was expecting from Race 2 was about the car's overall competitive level. There were no chances to end up into the points zone starting from so far back. I can say we've been globally more competitive than in Barcelona, and that's a good sign for Istanbul."
Super Nova - Josef Kral (8th) Marcus Ericsson (9th)
Another step forward for the Super Nova drivers, Josef Kral and Marcus Ericsson have given the team two top-ten finishes in today's sprint race. As ever in Monaco the first lap was crucial, with both drivers having good starts and managing not to fall foul of cutting the first corner. The positions then settled and, apart from some penalties and a couple of retirements, Josef and Marcus had trouble free runs to 8th and 9th positions.
Josef Kral: "I had quite a good start. When I got side by side to Marcus, I think it was Clos who was also side by side to Marcus, it was close because we touched a little bit on the straight up to the hill, but I managed to stay on the track. After that I was pushing all the time. It was a stable race, nothing really happened and especially when I was pushing up to the safety car, the car was very good but Pic in front of me was slowing me down quite a lot, his rear tyres were quite used, so I was expecting any mistake from him, but no mistake came and then the safety car was deployed which probably hurt me quite a lot because the front tyres were cold and from that point it started to have big under-steer so I had to slow down a bit to be safe and not to crash.
After the whole weekend we are happy because we moved from 20th to 8th position which is really good. Maybe with a better qualifying the whole weekend could have looked different. At least I have lots of experience for the rest of the season."
Marcus Ericsson: "It was quite a good race, I didn't have a brilliant start and was up side by side with Clos who started 6th, so I think I was overtaking at least five or six cars into the first corner. Unfortunately I was on the outside, Clos was on the inside and he decided to lock up and went wide and I was outside so I couldn't get into the corner, I lost back all the positions I'd gained at the start, it was a bit of a shame and then Josef and I came together up the hill, which was a bit of a scary moment. We touched for a second but we managed not to hit the walls. After that the race felt very good. The car was brilliant, it was very, very good compared to yesterday, we had a complete front wing which made a huge difference and I was able to be so quick in the high speed corners.
I think we had a very good race pace and unfortunately we couldn't really show that because of the traffic but it gives confidence for me and for the team to go into Turkey, we know that we are quick. It's something to build on."
David Sears - Team Principal: "I have been very impressed with the mature drives from Josef and Marcus this weekend. Although it was always going to be difficult to pick up any points after qualifying, both drivers have moved forward in each race and not made serious mistakes. I'm sure they will agree that this weekend has given more experience than any other race weekend in their careers, with every lap of every session competed at the most challenging event of the season."
iSport International - Oliver Turvey (15th) Davide Valsecchi (16th)
In an eventful race two at the Circuit de Monaco, iSport racers Oliver Turvey and Davide Valsecchi were both on the wrong end of some more bad luck. British racer Oliver Turvey, starting from fifteenth made up several places as others crashed out ahead of him. Turvey was running as high as ninth when the safety car was deployed for two accidents involving Albert Valerio and Rodolfo Gonzalez. His progress however was halted when he was handed a drive through penalty for missing the apex at turn one at the start leaving him fifteenth. His team mate Davide Valsecchi showed the pace of his iSport GP2 car as he exchanged fastest laps with Sam Bird in the early stages of the race. However, Valsecchi was also handed a drive through penalty for the same offense as his team mate demoting him back to sixteenth.
Oliver Turvey: I got a good start, on the approach to turn one I saw a lot of smoke ahead and it looked like there was a collision further up, so I did cut the first corner to avoid what I thought was a collision. I didn’t gain any advantage, I made sure I slotted back in to where I was. I didn’t gain anything so I was a bit surprised to get the penalty. Before this my race was going well. I managed to overtake Ericsson in to the hairpin on the first lap. We were moving forwards, we were into the top ten. I felt good with the car; again Monaco is hard to overtake so starting so far back it was always going to be difficult. I think we learned something from this weekend we tried some things on the car so we’ll move onwards now to hopefully have a good result in Turkey.
Davide Valsecchi: The car felt really good. We managed to make up some places and I felt the best I have ever felt in a car driving in Monaco. So we were fast but because of the penalty in qualifying and also being hit yesterday we did not get a result. I cut the corner as I saw other’s doing the same and just followed them through; I didn’t gain any positions from this. Towards the end of the race the car felt much quicker than the cars in front and the tyres were really good at the end of the race, which is like it was in Asia so I feel quite good about the car for the next race.
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (23rd) Chris Vietoris (DNS)
Racing Engineering had no luck in today's sprint race in Monaco. Christian Vietoris was unable to start the race due to a problem with his engine, whilst Dani Clos, who finished on the podium yesterday, had to retire after an accident.
Cloudy but dry weather conditions welcomed the GP2 field today for the sprint race which, due to the unusual Monaco timetable, took place in the afternoon. Dani Clos was starting from sixth place on the grid, whilst Christian Vietoris had to retire before the start of the race because of an engine failure.
The race started with D'Ambrosio leading ahead of Van Der Garde and Razia. Dani had a clean start but, being prudent at the first corner, he lost some positions to drivers who cut the apex at St. Devote. The Spanish driver was on 10th position and, although he was clearly faster than the drivers ahead of him, the peculiar characteristics of the Montecarlo track made it impossible for him to overtake. Then, on lap 9, he touched hard the barrier at the Casino and had to retire from the race.
The race continued with D'Ambrosio on the lead. On lap 15, the Safety Car had to come out after two separate accidents from Valerio at the Chicane, and Gonzalez at the Casino. The race was neutralized for three laps, after which five drivers received a penalty for missing the apex at St. Devote at the start. From then on, D'Ambrosio controlled his rivals and achieved his first win of the season. After round 2, Perez leads the championship standings with 18 points, with Dani Clos tied in second place, just three points behind.
Dani Clos: "I had a normal start but lost positions as other drivers jump started and cut the first corner. I had one of these slower cars in front of me then, but overtaking was impossible. At one point I got too close and lost the front end of the car, which resulted in me hitting the wall. However, I am happy with the results achieved this weekend. We did a really good job and have to keep going this way. The results will come."
Chris Vietoris: "There isn't much to say. I was about to leave the pits when the engine stopped. I rolled back a bit, but that was it. The engine turned itself off."
Alfonso de Orleans - Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "After yesterday's fantastic podium finish, today was a real downer. It started with Christian's engine problem and sadly Dani's race ended against a wall. I know everyone did a fantastic job, including Dani and Christian. Now we need to get ready for Istanbul to get some more good results there."