26/01/2008
NEWS STORY
ART Grand Prix (Grosjean 1st Jelley 12th)
ART Grand Prix started the new GP2 Asia series with two victories, a pole position and a fastest race lap, all thanks to Romain Grosjean. For the inaugural weekend of this new championship, ART GP fulfilled its goal to help its two new drivers acclimatize themselves to the discipline and what together they will experience for the rest of the 2008 season. The four rounds of free tests offered a good technical basis for the entire team to capitalize on their performances and start the race weekend with confidence as well as having a powerful package at their disposal. The confirmation of the team's competitiveness came with Romain's pole position, then his two victories. Now, sitting on 19 points, Romain and ART GP have taken the lead of both driver and team championships.
Romain Grosjean: "We found a good rhythm straight away in free practice and this only got better with each session, which was very good! I succeeded in securing pole position on my final run, it was busy after the red flag, but we did it! My first race was an experiment for my first season in GP2 because it allowed me to learn the start procedures with the Dallara, the pit stops and how to manage a longer race.
My engineer taught me the best way to get off the line at the start and all went perfectly in that aspect. The pit stop was not as simple as that because it is necessary to be very precise, but we didn't have to take any risks and this key stage of the race went very effectively. After coming out of the pits I just had to make the best use of the 14 second lead we had in order to secure this first victory which was an immense pleasure for me and for the entire team.
I didn't have any pressure the next day. On one hand it was because I am here to learn, on the other, because I had already shown the previous day that I could win on my first appearance in a round of the GP2 series. I was in 5th position at the first turn, and once again everything went the right way I passed several competitors to take the head of the race. I made a point of recording the fastest lap of the race, which had escaped me the day before.
This weekend went extremely well. It was ideal training for the GP2 series, which now gives me added confidence with the entire team. It is necessary to continue with this momentum."
Stephen Jelley: "The first race we started in nineteenth after a rather disappointing qualifying, but managed to get quite a good start, made up two places, and managed to lead the race for three laps before going in for my pit stop. I needed to concentrate on my in-laps. After my pit stop, I lost a couple of places by not being aggressive enough, and needing to know the car better. I ended the race in P15, but it's better than where we started, and was a good experience, and was about ten minutes longer than any race I've ever done before.
The second race we started in fifteenth, obviously, the place we finished yesterday, and again we made up a lot, and made it up to third by the end of the first lap, which was good, taking advantage of a lot of people's mistakes, and there was a bit of an accident which resulted in the safety car being deployed, and we spent a couple of laps behind the safety car. I had quite a problem with braking, it didn't help when the tyres were cold. We dropped down to P12 but P12 was better than we were yesterday! As long as the team keeps on improving, that's the main thing. The cars been mechanically reliable all weekend, and everything's been really good."
Frédéric Vasseur: "We came here to learn as Romain and Stephen are two novices in the GP2 Series. Our objective was to familiarize them with all the new parameters they will have to deal with in the GP2 Series, such as pit stops and neutralizations under the safety car. We won twice and we can only be satisfied with this. This result now enables us to approach the next round with confidence, however it will be another new challenge as we will only have 30 minutes of free practice and not four sessions as in Dubai. Romain had two perfect races and must use this weekend to build the future. Stephen encountered some technical difficulties with the balance of his car and brakes over the two days, which only complicated his weekend."
iSport International (Chandhok 3rd Senna 19th)
Things just didn't go our way for race 2. At the start Karun had a clutch problem that dropped him to seventh initially and Bruno got the worst of the traffic and was forced off the track dropping him to twelfth. Both drivers fought back and Karun went on to finish on the podium in third place, Bruno's recovery came to a halt when he suffered a puncture, forcing him to pit and drop out of contention. Both drivers demonstrated that they have good pace by trading fastest laps with Grosjean right to the end.
The Team are looking forward to the next challenge at Sentul in Indonesia where we hope to challenge for the wins.
Qi-Meritus.Mahara (Yoshimoto 4th Filippi DNF)
The inaugural round of the newly born GP2 Asia series started well for Qi-Meritus.Mahara with another finish in the points (3) and a fourth place finish from Hiroki Yoshimoto in today's second race. This was added to seven points obtained yesterday in a strong finish at fifth and sixth places in the first race for Luca Filippi and Hiroki Yoshimoto respectively at the Dubai Autodrome.
Both drivers started from second row today and had a good start passing Karun Chandock (iSport International) and maintaining A. Valles and Romain Grosjean (Art Grand Prix) behind them. Luca Filippi and Hiroki Yoshimoto were second and third right away from the start. The race was slowed down after a safety car came out. The cars were very close when the safety car went back - but Luca Filippi experienced an unexpected problem with the gearbox and had to stop on lap 4. Meanwhile, Hiroki Yoshimoto maintained his position and second place and was laping in 1.24.842 a bit quicker than leader Fairuz Fauzy (Super Nova Racing) till a back-marker coming out of the pit almost pushed him off which gave Chandock the dreamed for occasion to pass him.
Luca Filippi: "I had a good start and was up to a strong second position right away. During the safety car the gearbox went dead. There was nothing I could do to shift down. The gearbox was in neutral. Nothing I could do would reset it. It may possibly be a problem with a faulty set up of the safety systems; but the team has to check what happened. I am very disappointed to have had to stop on the fourth lap, because the car was set up perfectly; my pace was really good from the start."
Hiroki Yoshimoto: "I am proud to win points again for the second consecutive race with team Qi-Meritus.Mahara. I really had a good start. I was on the outside but Fairuz Fauzy (Super Nova Racing) pushed me a bit wide. This is a typical racing incident. Brakes and a sixth gear that was too long cost me the podium. I was not using all the power available. As for the brakes, since yesterday's race, they were a bit "spongy" and were feeling a bit like truck brakes, so I could not push as hard as I wanted to. The worst moment happened when a back marker came out of the pits and almost pushed me off. That provided and opportunity for Chandhok; but I could not re-pass him and regain because of my acceleration trouble. Then I had another emotion laden moment with Soucek's car and we were wheel to wheel until the DPR driver spun. It was a hard race; but I had a strong race. Overall, with the team we need to continue working on the speed and still need to do lot of development work."
Raad S. Abduljawad, Team Chairman Qi-Meritus.Mahara: "The team is on a learning curve but overall it was a good result. We now have data to analyze whether they be good results or mistakes. And from now we can see how to make improvements for Indonesia and the rest of the season. The synergy between the team and drivers is working well. It is a good start."
Peter Thompson, president and team founder, Qi-Meritus.Mahara: "Of course, the team is unhappy that Luca Filippi could not finish this race since he was eventually set up for a win. Overall fourth place again and three points is a fantastic achievement for our new team, which now ranks third in the Championship behind two very established and strong teams. Congratulations to the team and to our champions who have set the pace. The team went beyond it stated goal to participate in their first ever week-end of the series. These ten points are a great result and we are looking forward to some more developments for the race in Sentul, Indonesia for the second round."
DPR (Soucek 7th Ebrahim 20th)
David Price Racing (DPR) with drivers Andy Soucek and Armaan Ebrahim completed the second race in the inaugural season of the GP2 Asia Series at the Dubai Autodrome Circuit today with a 7th place finish from Soucek and an early retirement for Ebrahim. The 28 lap Sprint Race was run under sunny conditions as DPR aimed to repeat the podium success of the previous day.
A strong run of form for DPR during race one saw Soucek finishing third and rookie driver Ebrahim completing his first full GP2 race. The reverse grid system for the race placed Soucek 6th on the grid for race two and Ebrahim 22nd.
As the lights went out on the standing start for the afternoon's Sprint Race the field got away well. During the first half of the lap there were cars battling for positions up and down the grid, Soucek lost out slightly on the dirty line of the track and was pushed down to 7th, whilst Ebrahim had made the most of his start and was running 18th by the end of the first lap.
Soucek was running well keeping up with the pace of the front running cars, as the Safety Car was deployed for the marshals to remove a stricken Arden car and whilst the cars were touring behind it, Luca Fillipe, in the Durango car pulled off the track with an apparent gearbox failure, promoting Soucek up to 6th. At the restart Soucek had a good run on Valerio and made a good clean manoeuvre down the inside to take 5th place.
After being released from behind Valerio, Soucek then began to put the hammer down, setting the fastest lap of the race as he chased down Chandok in 4th place. With 10 laps still to run Soucek was battling hard and managed to briefly take 4th position, before running wide in the in the final corner and spinning, fortunately he kept the engine running and rejoined the track in 7th, and although he was closing on sixth place, was unable to improve, to cross the line in 7th at the chequered flag.
Meanwhile in only his second ever GP2 Race, Ebrahim had a challenging race. In a chaotic start the young Indian driver was punted from behind damaging his exhaust. Although he continued on, Ebrahim was suffering from a reduction in power and was finally forced to pull into the pits with only 10 laps still to run when his exhaust finally broke completely, ending his race prematurely.
David Price, team principal for the DPR team: "Overall it's been a good start to this new Series for us. Andy's been on the pace right from the start and proved that he can mix it with the other top guys. Leaving with a podium finish is a positive start for us. Armaan has learned a tremendous amount in Dubai through testing and racing. Today he was improving his lap times, despite suffering with exhaust problems, so we'll be looking for him to continue this momentum when we arrive in Indonesia."
DPR leave the first round of the GP2 Asia Series, with Soucek lying 5th in the Drivers Championship .The teams now have a two week break before heading off to Sentul Circuit in Indonesia on the 15/16 February for the second round of the new GP2 Asia Series.
DAMS (d'Ambrosio 8th Kobayashi 23rd)
The DAMS team did not manage to score any points in the Sprint race, the second event held on the Dubai circuit in the opening round of the Asian GP2 Championship. Jérôme d'Ambrosio again showed his fighting spirit: 21st on the grid yesterday the Belgian finished the first race in 11th place and that was where he started today. He clawed his way up through the field and saw the flag in 8th spot. His team-mate, Kamui Kobayashi, was less fortunate: he was the innocent victim of a collision a few hundred metres after the start and had to retire.
Despite not coming away with any points the DAMS team's motivation and optimism are intact. It was the two drivers' GP2 baptism, and they made almost no mistakes showing both steadiness and consistency. In addition, the mechanics and engineers made a big step forward in preparing and setting up the cars since the previous week's testing. Everything looks like it's now in place to enable the team to score points in the co ming events.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "It's never very pleasant to leave a circuit on which our performance hasn't lived up to our expectations. Overall, though, it's been an encouraging weekend for the DAMS team. First of all, both our drivers have had their first taste of a race in the GP2 Championship. Secondly, they've shown that despite a difficult qualifying session, they were able to climb back up though the field: Jérôme pulled back thirteen places in the course of both races, while Kamui moved up eleven yesterday. He looked like he was going to make another good comeback today until he was involved in a collision. This event's been a good general rehearsal for us, and our aim in three weeks' time will be to open our score in the championship."
Kamui Kobayashi: "I made an excellent start and passed a few cars, but unfortunately, my race was over just afterwards due to a collision. It's frustrating as my aim was to score some points today and that was well within my capabilities. It's just a ! minor hi tch. In Indonesia, we'll be back on the pace thanks to the level of preparation of the cars, the team's professionalism and our will to win."
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "I could have scored my first points today but my car lacked just that little bit of top speed to enable me to challenge for sixth place. I finished eighth, which, given my position on the gird, is pretty encouraging. Even if the final result's a bit disappointing, the test days and the two races on the Dubai circuit have helped me to understand the car's characteristics better, and also to really get to know the team. I was third on the final test day and without a technical problem in qualifying my weekend would have been better. I still feel confident and I'm ready to really go for it in Indonesia."
Trident Racing (Tung 10th Schlegelmilch 18th)
Ho Pin Tung and Harald Schlegelmilch, the two drivers of Trident Racing in the newborn GP2 Asia Series, ended the second race of the weekend respectively in 10th and 18th position. The race itself was very complicated since the start due to the on-grid positions resulting from yesterday's final classification. Both Schlegelmilch and Tung experienced positive starts. The Latvian driver took off from 14th place, and managed to climb back to 12th right at the first corner. Then two accidents, happened on the opening lap, forced race control to deploy the Safety-Car, with the re-start taking place at lap 6. Schlegelmilch managed to clinch 8th place in the following laps, thanks to a clean and fast pace, but was later penalized by a contact with another car that forced him to come in for repairs. Once back on-track, he completed the race with no mistakes. Tung's race ended up in a pretty linear way: the Chinese driver managed to stay in the middle of the pack and turn consistent laptimes. The GP2 Asia Series, as well as Trident Racing, are now preparing for the second event of the 2008 season, scheduled for February 16 and 17 in Indonesia.
Maurizio Salvadori, Team Owner: "Schlegelmilch put together a nice race, driving in an aggressive fashion, but paid the price of the inevitable risks that a recovering driver has to take. It's a bit of a shame because even a single point would have been a great result for him on his GP2 debut. It's positive though that a good potential was clearly visible, and it'll be with no doubt a starting point for the forthcoming races. Tung was penalized by his starting position, but had a pretty decent run too. We're sure we can get good results from now on, and we're patiently waiting for the next race."