10/09/2010
NEWS STORY
Scuderia Coloni - Alvaro Parente (5th) Brendon Hartley (22)
It was a good Qualifying for Scuderia Coloni in Monza: Alvaro Parente will start tomorrow's Feature Race from fifth place thanks to a 1'30"474, just 2 tenths adrift from poleman Bianchi.
The Portuguese driver had a really good session, being always among the top six despite being quite unlucky, as a red flag came out while he was improving his laptime.
The session was stopped due to Maldonado and Razia going out simultaneously in two different spots of the track, and when it restarted there were just five minutes to go. With the whole field on track seeking for improvement, traffic was an issue but Parente managed to find a clear lap anyway, shaving two tenths off his laptime.
It was a good session also for Brendon Hartley: the Kiwi driver, who did his first kilometres on a GP2 car just this morning, boasted a two seconds improvement on his Free Practice laptimes and stopped the clock on 1'31"601, meaning P22 on the grid.
It's a good result because Hartley was just 1" adrift from his team mate after only two 30' sessions, and on one of the series most demanding tracks.
Furthermore, Brendon was half a second faster than the other rookie of the event, Piscopo, who already had some testing with the GP2 car in the winter.
Paolo Coloni: "We did a really good job improving our setup for tomorrow's race. I'm very happy for our driver performances: Alvaro was very quick as he always is, and his laptime could have been even better without that red flag. Besides this, I was very impressed by Brendon. Being just 1" second off the top guys after only two sessions is a great achievement".
Alvaro Parente: "It was a positive qualifying because the changes that we made to the car between one tyre set and the other allowed us to improve, and this means that we are on the right path. Maybe we can do a little better in Sector 2, but I'm very confident for the race. If there will be no surprises at the first chicane then we have lots of chances of getting a very good result".
Brendon Hartley: "In a normal weekend I wouldn't be satisified with P22, but considering that until this morning I never even saw the car, I think that there are many reasons to be positive. My split times are already good, now I just need some more time in the car to put them together lap after lap. Tomorrow my first aim will be finishing the race in order to drive as much as possible. I'm confident that doing that my pace will get better and better".
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (9th) Christian Vietoris (10th)
Racing Engineering had a positive day at Monza today, although the results in qualifying were not reflecting the performance of Racing Engineering's cars and drivers adequately. Nonetheless, the first good news came from Dani Clos who, having made an incredible and courageous recovery from his accident in Spa, was fit to behind the wheel for this weekends event. At the mythical high-speed circuit of Monza, Dani Clos set the ninth fastest time in qualifying which, together with Christian Vietoris' tenth position, means that Racing Engineering's drivers are starting Saturday's feature race from the fifth row of the grid.
It was sunny and warm at Monza today, when the GP2 engines were turned on for free practice shortly before midday. Dani Clos, who spent some ten days of intense and purposeful training to recover from his back injuries, was back to drive his Racing Engineering car and left no doubt about his condition. He quickly moved up the time sheets, occupied the top spot for some time, and finished free practice in an excellent fifth place. Christian Vietoris, on the other hand, was having a satisfying free practice as well. Trying different set ups on his car and setting very promising sector times, the German GP2 rookie finished the session in eleventh.
With the track getting quicker and the time gaps very close in free practice, the afternoon qualifying promised to become a thrilling session. After just two flying laps, Christian was already in sixth position. With the standings changing and lap times improving constantly, Dani set the seventh fastest time the following lap. After just five flying laps, the Racing Engineering boys returned to the pits to pick up their new set of tyres halfway though the session. With the entire field in the pits at this moment, the final laps were set to be some of the decisive of the entire session. With less than half the session left, all drivers went back on track. Those already having finished a flying lap were the lucky ones when Maldonado spun off at the first chicane. The Racing Engineering duo was not part of them. After an initial yellow flag, the session was red flagged and all cars had to return to the pitlane. With 5 minutes and 29 seconds left, the session was restarted as soon as the Venezuelan's car was removed. Keeping in mind the necessary out lap, there was a maximum of two flying laps possible. Both Racing Engineering drivers were on a fast lap, set to improve their lap times, when Turvey stopped causing a yellow flag. Respecting the rule change applied recently, Dani and Christian immediately slowed down as they still were to pass the incident zone, unable to improve, they ran out of time to start yet another flying lap. Dani and Christian, only separated by 5 thousands of a second and four tenths behind pole sitter Bianchi, finished today's qualifying in ninth and tenth position, respectively.
Dani Clos: "It's a real pity about qualifying. The new rule about yellow/red flags has cost us a better starting position. We were definitely in a position to have a really good qualifying session here in Monza. It's a shame I was not able to complete a fast lap. Like so often, towards the end of the session drivers go off and I had to abort my fast lap. After the red flag there was no time to improve my lap time as we already had another yellow flag out again. Tomorrow we need to run a very smart race. In front of me there are the two drivers, who are ahead of me in the championship, but I will do my own race and will try to get the best out of it."
Christian Vietoris: "We could have been in much better positions. Qualifying was not easy before, but with the new rule, it is even more of a lottery. There are always drivers going off and this makes the sessions so unpredictable. Tomorrow I need a good start and it's definitely a realistic goal to finish the race in the top 8 as we have a good car here, but were simply not able to show this today."
Alfonso de Orleans - Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "I am surprised with our qualifying results. Although both drivers are in the top 10, they should actually be in the top 5. However, the red flag at the end of the session stopped both our drivers on their fast laps so we have a bit of a random starting grid for tomorrow. Anyway, we will do our best to make up for this during tomorrow's race."
Super Nova - Luca Filippi (11th) Marcus Ericsson (19th)
After finishing 3rd in this morning's practice session with Luca Filippi, the Super Nova team had high expectations for qualifying. Luca couldn't quite repeat this performance though and, with the top twelve cars separated by less than half a second, ended up in 11th position. The track appeared to be slower in the second half of the session and most drivers were unable to improve. This meant that, after struggling with the balance on the first set of tyres, Marcus was left with a big challenge to move up the timesheet. Although he managed to improve his time on a slower track, Marcus will be starting from 19th on the grid and will have to fight hard tomorrow to get into the points.
Luca Filippi: "We were very fast in practice this morning, and then in qualifying this afternoon everybody got a lot closer. I ended up P11, which was not what I wanted, but with 11 cars covered by just four tenths of a second, just a little bit of tow, or a couple of tenths quicker could have seen me in the top four or five. But still, this is not too bad. I am sure we can set up a good car for tomorrow and with a good pace we can get some points and get a podium. I am looking forward to a good race tomorrow."
Marcus Ericsson: "It was a difficult session for me today. All day I have been trying to get used to the low down force, but apart from that the car felt well balanced so it was looking good for qualifying. However in qualifying I didn't put the laps together that we were hoping for, so of course it is a disappointment. I will be looking through the data tonight, and hopefully we can come back and be strong tomorrow."
David Sears - Team Principal: "After free practice with Luca Filippi in P3 we had hoped for a good qualifying session. However Luca couldn't get the balance he liked and ended up in P11 with team mate Marcus back in P19. As we have seen in previous races, both are good racers, so hopefully we can still collect some points from tomorrows' race."
Trident Racing - Adrian Zaugg (17th) Edoardo Piscopo (24th)
The 9th round of the 2010 GP2 Main Series kicked-off today at Monza, in what has always been a special frame to Trident Racing. At the Italian Grand Prix, the home squad also announced a new deal to line-up an Italian racer, Edoardo Piscopo, who stepped in to replace Johnny Cecotto Jr.
The weekend's schedule provided some early action in Qualifying, where Adrian Zaugg ended up in 17th, and Edoardo Piscopo finished 7 further spots back. The session was red-flagged with 5 minutes to go due to an off-track exit.
Edoardo Piscopo: "Today has been really intense for me, as it was my first time racing a GP2 Main Series car. In Practice, I lost some valuable time after being hit by another car at Roggia, and I didn't complete all the scheduled work. In Qualifying I didn't run good, but it's better to keep it real while facing such a strong opposition for the first time. I know I can improve on each lap, starting from tomorrow's race 1".
Adrian Zaugg: "Qualifying today has been really difficult. I like Monza a lot, and I raced here on many junior championships. I expected some great results, but a really heavy understeer situation conditioned the session's outcome, which hasn't been great at all. At Monza, comebacks are not impossible but, on the other hand, you need some good performance, especially in straightline speed. I hope I'll have what it takes on tomorrow's race 1."