13/11/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (4th) Ho-Pin Tung (DNF)
Saturday's feature race finally brought the rewards of the hard work by the entire racing Engineering crew. Dani Clos had a great race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, increasing his chances to finish the championship in third overall. After yesterday's penalty, which meant the Spaniard dropped from second to eleventh on the grid, Dani took courage and had a race on the attack, recovering seven places to finish in fourth and less than a second away from the podium. Ho-Pin Tung, replacing the sick Racing Engineering driver Vietoris, had to retire after a mechanical problem.
A dry track and warm temperatures welcomed the GP2 field today for feature race, which exceptionally took place in the morning. The goals before this race were clearly set. While Dani qualifying in an excellent second position, the penalty applied after the session sent the young Spaniard back to eleventh position on the grid. This meant that the Racing Engineering driver would have to use every single lap of the feature race to try and make up positions in to reduce the damage and keep his chances of finishing third in the championship alive.
Ho-Pin, after struggling with traffic in yesterday's qualifying, had to start the race from the and his goal was clearly to make up as many positions as possible throughout the race.
Racing Engineering's Dani made a rocket start in which he gained four positions. Three laps later, he overtook another two cars and was already running in fifth position. At this point in the race, Dani was chased closely by Valsecchi, who passed the Spaniard just before the pit stop, which both entered for on the same lap. Reentering the track, Dani lost a position to Bird, who pitted three laps before and took advantage of these laps in free air to set very good lap times. Dani quickly closed in on Bird and the pair was making up positions once their competitors also came into the pits for their obligatory tyre change. They both passed Razia on lap 15 and with two more cars in front of them needing to pit, Dani was already in a fantastic sixth position. Dani continued chasing Bird very closely for the remainder of the race and became the centre of attention with his spectacular moves. Getting the last bit out of his tyres and the Dallara GP2 car. Dani had some very courageous closing laps, but Bird was good at defending his podium place and Dani had to settle for fourth, only 0.7 seconds shy of Bird and the podium.
Ho-Pin Tung, who was starting from the back of the grid, was aware of the speed of his Racing Engineering Dallara GP2 car, passed several cars at the start and needed to be careful to not get tangled in any of the various excursions off the track from other drivers. However, he started experiencing clutch problems when downshifting, and his race was brought to a premature end when, in twelfth position, he pitted with a damaged clutch. A stalled engine in combination with the damaged clutch meant the race for the Dutch Chinese driver was over and Ho-Pin's efforts to improve his grid position for Sunday's sprint race was not rewarded.
The reverse rule for Sunday's race, the last race of the 2010 GP2 season, results in Dani Clos starting from fifth on the grid, whilst Ho-Pin Tung will do so from the 21st postion. The race will take place tomorrow at 13:30 (10:30 CET) and is scheduled to consist of 22 laps.
Dani Clos: "I had a really good start and at the beginning of the race we were pushing hard, overtaking many cars, to get a good position. After the pit-stop we were jumped by Bird, who pitted three laps earlier and pushed in free air. We caught the guys in front and managed to overtake and create a gap. While fighting my way through the traffic, the strategy also included proper tyre management and we were able to finish just behind Bird, but not close enough to overtake him. This race finish feels like a victory to me. If I had started from my qualifying position, from second on the grid, things would have been much different. Nothing s over yet and tomorrow there is one more race where we will try to do the same thing all over again. We will push, trying to make the best race possible."
Ho-Pin Tung: "I had a very good start, but had to avoid some other drivers struggling in front of me. Avoiding the contact with spinning cars cost me some positions. I was able to make up for this but started to suffer from troubles with downshifting. When I came in for my pit-stop, I stalled due to the clutch being damaged. Having analyzed yesterday's qualifying, we saw that we didn't qualify where we could have. Hope was that today would go much better, but now the focus has to be on tomorrow's race."
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "Fantastic race from Dani. I am very impressed as he started from eleventh position. The whole team worked well to prepare Dani a good car allowing him to do the job he did today. With hopefully 4 more points tomorrow, he will finish the championship in third position overall. Everyone did a great job during the pit stops and with the work on the cars. Now let's get ready for tomorrow's race."
Super Nova - Josef Kral (8th) Marcus Ericsson (11th)
A fantastic comeback performance from Josef Kral saw him finishing 8th in today's GP2 feature race and therefore securing pole for the final race of the season tomorrow. Marcus Ericsson also made significant gains from his qualifying position, finishing in 11th position - including coming out on top in a battle with championship winner Pastor Maldonado. Marcus made a great start but then lost some places at turn two, having to avoid a spinning car directly in front of him. He then had a solid race including some good overtaking moves. Josef had an average start but made up for it over the first lap and his pace improved throughout the race - consistently lapping on the same pace as many of the leaders and secured 8th place on merit.
Josef Kral: "I'm definitely happy with the P8 today and that is what I targeted after qualifying. I kept improving my pace as the track evolved and was doing the maximum every lap, so I was pleased with the consistency. I felt like I was quicker than Grosjean in front of me after the pit stop but didn't quite have enough to get past and he made no mistakes. Obviously I am starting from pole tomorrow so I am confidant of a good result."
Marcus Ericsson: "Again I made a really good start and passed a number of cars but unfortunately I lost some places back at turn to, having to avoid Van Der Garde spinning. The first few laps were ok but after that I struggled with the car a bit and for consistency. I suppose P11 isn't too bad from the qualifying position and we can certainly fight for points positions there tomorrow, so I'll see what I can do."
David Sears - Team Principal: I was really impressed by Josef's performance today - after an indifferent start he showed great pace and more than proved his fitness over the race distance. Marcus couldn't quite match Josef's times, however he drove a mature race and did very well to gain eight positions from start to finish."
Scuderia Coloni - Brendon Hartley (9th) James Jakes (15th)
Scuderia Coloni was aiming for a strong comeback in today's Race 1 in Abu Dhabi, and that's exactly what the Italian team got at the end of the first GP2 Main Series race, with Brendon Hartley finishing in P9 and James Jakes closing the race 15th.
The first good news came before the race, with both drivers gaining places on the grid (3 for Hartley, 2 for Jakes) due to the penalties issued by the Stewards to other drivers for not respecting the pit-lane red light in Qualifying.
With Hartley starting from 8th row and Jakes from P20, they both managed to gain one position when the lights went off thanks to a great start. Then, after an early Safety-Car period to remove Zaugg's stranded car, both Hartley and Jakes contested a very consistent race.
Brendon's race was amazing, as he first managed to pass Herck on track and then started to lap on a very quick pace, that allowed him to gain ground while the others were pitting. Lapping on the same times of the leaders Hartley made the most of the team's pit-stop strategy: doing his mandatory tyre change later than most of his direct rivals, Hartley recovered some places and came out of the pit-lane in front of Gonzalez. With fresh tyres he immediately started to push and started to put pressure on Kral, challenging him for 8th position that meant pole for tomorrow's Race 2. Despite some really great driving by Scuderia Coloni's kiwi Kral kept cold blood and managed to defend P8, with Hartley settling for 9th place and ending just 1"5 from 6th place!
Good race also for James Jakes, at his first experience in the GP2 Main Series. Using the same strategy as his team mate the brit boasted a very consistent pace with no mistakes, showing also some very interesting performance peaks when he was not hampered by slower drivers. This was worth a very good recovery that saw him finishing 15th just behind D'Ambrosio.
Paolo Coloni: "I'm really satisfied of the job done by the team and the drivers. Brendon and James are both rookies in the GP2 Main Series, and with such a short track time it wasn't an easy task for them. They delivered a top-notch job and it was great to see how they managed to overcome the odds working with the team. I was amazed also by the pit-stops: there was no mistake from the drivers, they did some great in and out laps, and the mechanics were stunningly quick. I can just say 'Well Done' to everybody".
Brendon Hartley: "After the long stop it feels great to be back in the car! Frankly I was a little disappointed to be starting P15 but after qualifying we all worked hard to improve both my driving and the car. So today it was much better: I was really happy with my race pace and felt I was faster than the ones in front. So it was a bit was frustrating to finish 9th, only 1 place from the reverse grid pole. Anyway we did a really good job, and now I'm looking foward to another step and a strong race tomorrow!".
James Jakes: "First of all I would like to thank Coloni for giving me the opportunity to race this weekend at Abu Dhabi. It has been quite a difficult weekend so far, on one side because I was coming from a long stop for my wrist injury and on the other because getting used to the Bridgestone tyres isn't easy after racing all year on Pirelli in GP3. Anyway we made a lot of improvement in Race 1 and I'm looking forward to seeing if we can improve again tomorrow in Race 2".
Trident Racing - Federico Leo (19th) Adrian Zaugg (DNF)
In Race 1 of the final GP2 Main Series event of the year at Abu Dhabi, Trident Racing scored 19th place with rookie Federico Leo, while Adrian Zaugg was forced to retire after being hit from behind on lap 1. The incident was followed by a 2-lap Safety-Car neutralization. The closing laps proved linear until checkered.
Leo matched all the goals set on the eve, as he cruised to the finish without mistakes. He also showed a good progression in laptimes, and did not suffer from physical troubles despite the long distance and the hot weather. Due to today's results, Leo will take-off from Row 10 on tomorrow's Race 2, while Zaugg will start from Row 13. Lights will go off at 13:30 local time, with a widespread live TV coverage set for the event.
Adrian Zaugg. "There is not much to say. At the start I held my position, I was in 7th, with high hopes for a great race. Then, after a couple of corners, I was hit from behind and went up spinning. I found myself with a stalled engine and I realized I was hit by Herck. That was over for the day. An equally bad ending compared to the many times the same thing has happened over the year."
Federico Leo. "I built-up a lot of experience today. I didn't make mistakes, that's good, and successfully made it to the end of a not-so-easy race. It was the first time for me on the car on used tires, and it ain't an easy beast to tame. It takes some experience, especially battling with guys that have at least a season under their belt. My goal was to end the race, and I did it!"