Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (1st) Karun Chandhok (DNF)
It was behind the wheel of one of the two single-seaters from Ocean Racing Technology that Alvaro Parente dominated from start to finish in the first race at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon. In Belgium, the driver of the Dallara 25 secured the maiden win for the only Portuguese team in the GP2 Main Series.
Starting from when the lights went out with a strong start from pole position, Alvaro Parente did not give his rivals a chance as he slowly but surely built up a five second lead before the first appearance of the safety car. Alvaro Parente managed both safety car periods perfectly as well as the potential of his single-seater to secure a well deserved victory on a circuit that everyone classes as one of the best and most challenging on the calendar. As well as pole position and victory, the Portuguese driver added fastest lap to make it the perfect start to the weekend with the maximum haul of points,13, a total that saw him jump from 12th to 6th in the drivers championship. "Everything was perfect. We were unbeatable today as the fact that I was always faster than my rivals suggests. At some point there was oil on the track at and I slowed down a bit to avoid taking unnecessary risks. But everything else was perfect, pit stop included," Alvaro explains and tomorrow, 'Varinho' will start from eighth place of the grid, because of the reverse grid order, but that does not affect his optimism. "Our car is very fast and I will give my best to gain some positions and get the maximum points possible."
Starting from sixth on the grid, teammate Karun Chandhok carried out an early pitstop and was fighting for a points position when he lost the control of his car during an overtaking manoeuvre, forcing the Indian racer into an early retirement. "It was not my lucky day and I have mixed feelings. We have to analyze what happened because we lost quite a chunk of performance since yesterday. Also, my DNF will make life harder in the second race. Congratulations to Alvaro and to the team for this first victory."
With its first victory in the GP2 Main Series, Ocean Racing Technology moves from 7th to 5th position in the team's championship and Tiago Monteiro and Jose Guedes are very pleased with this confirmation of their team's potential. "All the members of the team, from the drivers to the engineers and the mechanics worked hard to get this win. This is a fantastic achievement for our first year in the championship where we have reached a great level of performance," underlined the Ocean Racing Technology directors.
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Lucas Di Grassi (3rd) Dani Clos (10th)
Eventful GP2 race today at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit where both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers, Lucas Di Grassi and Dani Clos, managed to keep out of trouble to finish in third and tenth place.
The start of the feature race had to wait a little longer than expected after Dani's car stalled on the grid. After the formation lap, the field had to complete yet another formation lap when Perez' car went slowly on the start/finish line. Dani's little gremlin meant he had to be pushed back into the pit lane and start from there in what would be a race full of incidents. Lucas, on the other had, was well placed on his fifth slot on the grid, ready to put up a good fight.
The race started with Lucas gaining a place at the first corner and quickly passing Nunes into third behind Parente and Hülkenberg. The Brazilian driver pushed the German to the limit during the first few laps, but was not able to pass him. By the end of the 8th lap, Lucas made his mandatory pit stop and what looked like a good opportunity for him to improve his position, soon became a fight against Maldonado, who ran in fourth. Lucas was able to fight off the Venezuelan's attacks and continued in third position. Then, with two laps left, the safety car was deployed after a heavy crash suffered by Coletti. The race finished under safety car and Lucas crossed the line scoring another podium for the Fat Burner Engineering Team.
Spaniard Dani Clos saw his hopes going up in smoke at the very beginning when his car stalled on the grid. Nevertheless, the rookie did all he could to better his position, and after his pit-stop, returned to the track in 12th place, just behind Filippi, Valsecchi and D'Ambrosio. The Italian duo had a nice fight in front of the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver, but this soon ended in drama when their cars collided. However, this meant that Dani gained another two positions and the safety car was deployed again. When the race restarted, Dani was close to D'Ambrosio, ready to overtake the Belgian, but all of the sudden found D'Ambrosio slowing down in front of him and in order to avoid crashing into him, went wide. This meant that Dani lost three positions, but quickly, the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver overtook Panciatici for 12th, and a few laps later, he was promoted to 11th when D'Ambrosio was forced to retire to the pits. Coletti's nasty accident close to the end of the race put Dani up into 10th place.
However, after the race, Dani was handed a 25 seconds penalty for having improved one of his sector times while yellow flags were being waved. This means Dani drops back to 11th position.
Lucas Di Grassi: I had a good start and good first lap. The car behaved very well during the first half of the race. Then we lost a bit of performance and I had to fight with Maldonado. We scored good points and I am happy for my team as well. Now I am third in the championship and close to Petrov. Tomorrow I hope to score more points.
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