11/07/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (3rd) Christian Vietoris (10th)
Racing Engineering had another strong day at Silverstone, where the fifth sprint race of the season took place this morning. Dani Clos scored yet another podium, the second of the weekend, by finishing third. After a magnificent start and a race always on the attack, Dani was able to score more precious points for his championship battle. Christian Vietoris, who suffered from wheelspin at the start, had a strong performance as well, spending most of the race in sixth position but, experiencing tyre wear issues, he finished the race in tenth position.
Although shortly before the race start some rain drops fell, today's GP2 sprint race at Silverstone took place under dry conditions. Christian Vietoris, starting from third position on the grid, struggled with his clutch and suffered from excessive wheelspin. Unable to maintain his position, the young German dropped back to sixth. Dani Clos, on the other hand, had a fantastic start from sixth on the grid which allowed him to finish the first lap already in fourth place.
Perez, ahead of Dani, quickly overtook Valsecchi and then Turvey to take the lead on lap 6. Dani, now stuck to the iSport car of Valsecchi, took a bit longer to pass the Italian since he kept at the back of his mind that it was more important to score points by not taking any unnecessary risks. Valsecchi kept resisting to Dani Clos, but when the Spaniard saw a gap in lap 10, he passed him for third position. Dani quickly closed in on Turvey, who ran in second, having a time gap of only two tenths of a second by lap 15. However, Dani was under permanent pressure from Maldonado, who ran just behind the Spaniard, with a gap of less than a second throughout the race. Between the attacks of Maldonado, the wish to bring home important points and a Turvey who just didn't make any mistakes, Dani settled for third, his second podium of the weekend.
Team mate Christian Vietoris was stuck to Maldonado in fifth during the opening stages of the race, keeping up with the cars in front of him. However, when Dani Clos and Maldonado passed Valsecchi and the italian ran just ahead of Christian, the Racing Engineering driver wasn't able to pass him and started to suffer from excessive tyre wear on his rear tyres. With 5 laps to go, Christian lost his sixth position, and chance to score a point, when Bianchi passed him. On the last lap, Christian lost the rear of his car, opening a gap for his followers, who took advantage and passed the German, who dropped back to tenth position.
Dani Clos holds onto his second place in the drivers' standings, behind GP2 veteran Maldonado, after scoring his second podium of the weekend in Silverstone. The second half of the 2010 GP2 season starts in two week's time at the Hockenheimring in Germany, where the goal for both Racing Engineering drivers is to secure more points.
Dani Clos: "I had a very good start today and am happy about this. I moved up to forth position during the first laps, when everyone on track was quite aggressive. When Perez passed Valsecchi, I took some more time to study the driver in front of me and when I saw the gap, I passed him. Then, Turvey didn't make a mistake. This was a good weekend and the car was great all weekend long. We have scored more points, but now we need to forget about Silverstone and prepare for Hockenheim."
Christian Vietoris: "The weekend went really well until today. But today was not optimal. The start was not OK as I struggled with the clutch. At the beginning, I could stay close to Maldonado and keep the pace, but then my rear tyres went away and I wasn't able to keep the pace anymore. On the last lap I lost several positions when I lost the rear of the car and four cars passed me."
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "Very good, another podium for Dani. Although, it's a pity, as I think he could have finished second today. The team did a fantastic job. Now we are going to get ready for Hockenheim."
ART Grand Prix - Jules Bianchi (5th) Sam Bird (DNF)
The ART Grand Prix GP2 team had their best race of the season to date at the Silverstone circuit this weekend with a podium finish to their name courtesy of Jules Bianchi, who after securing a brilliant pole position, his second of the season, crossed the line in second place at the end of race one. The Frenchman then picked up even more points in race two by crossing the line in fifth place.
Meanwhile, teammate Sam Bird scored strong points in race one when he finished fourth, just one step off the podium in his home race, but unfortunately he suffered a mechanical issue on the installation lap for race two and failed to make the start.
Jules Bianchi: Qualifying has been really tough and I was genuinely delighted to secure my second pole position of the season. We had to fine-tune the car between the two sets of tyres, there was a bit of traffic and some guys out there were bloody fast, such as my teammate Sam. My lap was not perfect but we all make mistakes here and there, or were caught in traffic. I wanted to have a better start than the last time I was on pole in Barcelona and I think I did but Maldonado just had a fantastic one. We had the same pit strategy and there was no way I could hope to get past him thanks to another pit stop window. I tried to go for the fastest lap but Pastor beat me there too. I had a good second race with some nice overtaking and good points in the end. I gained some positions in the drivers' classification but above all I can feel we improved a lot since a few weeks and I look forward to Hockenheim.
Sam Bird: It is quite a shame that I could not get a podium at my home race but I had some very good fights and I was so close to the top 3. Obviously I had great aims for the second race but unfortunately the mechanic decided another issue in the warm up lap. To take the next step, I just need a weekend where we don't have any problems, where I don't have good points in the first race and a gremlin in the second for instance.
Frederic Vasseur: All in all it is an excellent weekend as we can see with our tally: 17 points is our best of the season so far and it was the best of all teams in Silverstone. It is down to the outstanding performances of each and every member of ART Grand Prix. Jules got his second pole position from five qualifying sessions. Both results allow him to gain three positions in the championship and his driving is getting better and better, with a mastering management of the events and some great overtaking manoeuvres. Sam was extremely fast too and he also handled the weekend perfectly but we have to apologize to him for the mechanical failure of the second race. Without it I think he would have been a serious contender for the win. But he is mentally strong and a great driver and I am confident we will see him with the front runners in Hockenheim.
Super Nova - Luca Filippi (9th) Marcus Ericsson (18th)
Super Nova scored a top ten finish this morning in Silverstone concluding the teams' home event, on a positive note.
Although sadly no points were claimed, both Luca Filippi and Marcus Ericsson shone through as being two of the quickest drivers out there this weekend, setting numerous fastest laps between the pair of them.
Unfortunately bad luck in Race One meant Luca started today from P20, yet drove a storming sprint race to gain an impressive eleven positions, finishing in ninth place at the chequered flag.
Team mate Marcus Ericsson forfeited several places at the start, and spent the opening laps on a mission to recover lost ground. Whilst pushing hard on lap two, Marcus momentarily lost control of his car, taking a spin and resumed at the back of the field. The 19year old did a good job, showing how competitive he can be with speeds matching the race leaders. At a track known with few overtaking opportunities, Marcus managed gain two places to finish eighteenth.
Luca Filippi: "It was a good race, considering we started from P20. I like this track, and although it is very difficult to overtake here, I did gain a few places at the beginning. I was fighting the whole time, catching up, but we were quite far away from the guys at the top, so I had space to really push. We did some very quick laps, and we set fastest lap mid-race, so I am very pleased with the set up of car. I think we had the pace to fight for the podium this weekend, so I am hoping I will be back at the next race to fight for a podium finish."
Marcus Ericsson: "I didn't get the start I was hoping for and lost a couple of places in the first lap. I tried to claim one of the places back, but lost the car under the brake, and joined at the back on lap two. I managed to catch up with the field very quick, so the pace was definitely there! But it was more difficult to overtake today, so I eased off a bit to create a good gap, and to test the pace and that's when we did fastest lap. I have been very happy with the car this weekend, the set up was great. Both Luca and I were very quick, which is very positive. We just need to qualify better, and then I'm 100% we can be there, fighting for the top point scoring positions."
David Sears Team Principal: "Both our Super Nova drivers did not score points today, but they were both extremely fast. As Luca had to make an extra pit stop for a puncture yesterday he started from 20th on the grid but finished an incredible ninth placer at the flag, overtaking more cars than anyone else in the race, and setting second fastest race lap.
Marcus Ericsson was looking good for a top ten finish but unfortunately he spun and ended up in eighteenth place. Marcus again, recording some very fast race laps and both drivers are looking forward to our next race in two weeks time in Hockenheim, where hopefully both of them will be starting in the top ten and scoring some better results."
DAMS - Jerome d'Ambrosio (11th) Ho-Pin Tung (15th)
This weekend, DAMS raced in the fifth round of the 2010 GP2 Series Championship on the Silverstone circuit in Great Britain. The layout of the famous British track has been slightly modified, and the final section of the lap that is longer and quicker, required a period of adaptation. It was also slippery and dusty all weekend giving a low grip level.
Unfortunately, despite promising free practice sessions, the team was unable to optimise its performance in qualifying. Jerome d'Ambrosio set the twelfth-fastest time, while Ho-Pin Tung damaged his car on Friday morning, and was not able to take to the track again until Saturday's race. Despite pushing hard the drivers did not score any points. D'Ambrosio finished eleventh and Tung ran into mechanical problems.
On Sunday, things did not work out for DAMS either. The Belgian managed to hold on to ninth in the early laps, after which he dropped back two positions and finished eleventh. His team-mate pulled back nine places and saw the flag in fifteenth spot.
DAMS is now concentrating all its efforts on the next round on the Hockenheim circuit in Germany in two weeks' time.
Loïc David, General Manager: "We're really not very satisfied with this weekend's results. Yet again we started too far back from the front, which is a real penalty in GP2, as the results of the first race determine the grid for race two. Both drivers did their best, but overtaking is almost impossible at Silverstone, and even if our pace in the races was good, fighting up through the field was mission impossible. We hope to get back on the right track at Hockenheim."
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "It's another disappointing result for the team. However, we spare no effort and we work harder and harder at each race to try and reverse the tendency. We mustn't allow ourselves to become demoralised by our latest results. We're going to keep our nose to the grindstone and continue working. I'm convinced it'll pay off in the end."
Ho-Pin Tung: "A weekend to forget. I damaged my car by going over a kerb on Friday morning and the team had to build up a car around a new monocoque. I'd like to thank them for the huge effort they made. I was unable to take part in qualifying and I had to start from the last row. After a few laps my gearbox began to act up. It's frustrating as most of the parts in it were new."
Ocean Racing Technology - Fabio Leimer (13th) Max Chilton (19th)
Ocean Racing Technology disputed the two races at Silverstone by showing a rhythm equivalent to that of the best teams in the GP2 Séries, however the Portuguese teams efforts did not pay off and they leave Great Britain empty handed.
A poor result in qualifying for both drivers is the reason behind the lack of success for their drivers. Fabio Leimer moved up four places in Sunday's race and his 13th place finish reflects the difficulty in overtaking when running in a very tight group where the drivers race paces are very similar.
The Swiss driver explains that in the GP2 Series, even the tiniest difference in qualifying can compromise the entire race weekend. "Once again qualifying compromised the whole weekend. But we have to insist on the fact that our experience is getting better day in day out. We clearly have some work to do but it's getting better. In Hockenheim the ideal will be to be in a good position after qualifying and we know it is within our reach," Fabio Leimer said.
Max Chilton was confronted with the same difficulties, especially early in the weekend where driving conditions and car set up in qualifying are sometimes very different from those found in the race.
After a difficult first round, the British driver found a better rhythm in the second race and Max feels that his car had the potential to enter the top ten but is aware that a bad place on the starting grid complicated the task at hand, making it almost impossible to fight for points. "My race pace was not that competitive on Saturday but the car was far more efficient the day after. My problem was that most of the time I was stuck in traffic. But the balance is better and we are closer to the front runners' pace. There is a lot of work but also a lot of progress," assured Max Chilton.
The GP2 Series continues to be an extremely tight championship where both rookies of the Ocean Racing Technology team continue to prove their high quality in the mid pack.