04/07/2008
NEWS STORY
iSport International - Bruno Senna (Pole) Karun Chandhok (10th)
For the second consecutive GP2 Series feature race, Bruno Senna has qualified his iSport Dallara on pole position. The Brazilian was the only driver to dip below the 1m 27s barrier in today's 30-minute qualifying session and he beat closest rival Romain Grosjean (ART) by 0.122s. Team-mate Karun Chandhok was as happy as Senna with his car's handling, but he was unable to find a clear lap around the high-speed, 3.194-mile circuit.
Bruno Senna: "I crashed at the end of my pole position lap in Magny-Cours two weeks ago and promised I'd do the job properly here, by keeping all four wheels on. I kept my word! The car wasn't handling perfectly during this morning's free practice session, but iSport is a fantastic team and knew exactly what to do. All the small changes made a positive difference and the balance felt absolutely perfect in qualifying. I adore driving at this track and managed to put a really good lap together. It was a fantastic team effort."
Karun Chandhok: "The car was pretty good, but Andy Soucek held me up on what should have been my best lap and I lost three tenths. It doesn't sound much, but around here that's the difference between fifth and 10th on the grid. The car was definitely good enough for the top five, but that's racing. I just have to knuckle down and accept that I'm in for a hard afternoon's work."
Racing Engineering - Giorgio Pantano (5th) Javier Villa (13th)
Once again Giorgio Pantano has shown why he is one of the favourites to take the 2008 GP2 Drivers Championship as the Racing Engineering driver took the fifth fastest time in qualifying, less than six tenths of a second away from Pole Position. For the Spanish team's other driver, Javier Villa, things did not go quite as well but he still lines up thirteenth in a very closely matched field.
Giorgio was quick from the start of Free Practice setting the fourth quickest time of 1m 27.746s in a very competitive session where the top eleven cars were separated by less than a second. For Javier it was a case of setting up his car to his satisfaction in order that he could get back to the high level he achieved in recent testing. The young Spaniard finished in seventeenth place with a time of 1m 28.978s.
For both of the drivers of the Repsol/Telefónica backed Dallaras the 30 minute Qualifying session was very important, for Giorgio a good grid position was vital to continue his push for the Championship and the aim for Javier was to be able to be in a position to score points in tomorrow's race.
Once again Giorgio was right on the pace and a 1m 27.487s lap was good enough for fifth on the grid and, if the Italian hadn't been forced to slow on his flying lap, a position in the top three was a real certainty. Javier's work on the car set up paid off as he set a time of 1m 28.163s, an improvement of eight tenths of a second on his morning time, which resulted in thirteenth on the grid.
With both of the Racing Engineering drivers pleased with their cars the omens for tomorrow's Feature Race are good, Giorgio will be looking for a podium position and even a win is possible and Javier will be aiming to push hard and get a good points scoring finish.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "I think Giorgio could have done better, if his fast lap wasn't spoilt, a pity, but we are confident that he will fight back tomorrow. Javi is well positioned to be in the points tomorrow. Now let's see how things turn out."
Javier Villa: "In qualifying I went a bit better than in free practice. We improved the set up, but I think we need a bigger step for tomorrow. If it's a dry race, it will be hard with the medium compound tyres as the rear tyres start graining. And if it's wet, the cards get mixed again anyway."
Giorgio Pantano: "For me it went quite well, but it would have been even better, without encountering Senna in the first sector during my flying lap. This forced me to slow down, which is a pity. Apart from that I am sure I could have done a top 3 result as everything went fine for me."
Super Nova Racing - Andy Soucek (7th) Alvaro Parente (17th)
Marking the half way point in the 2008 GP2 season, Super Nova has arrived in Silverstone in Northamptonshire, UK, this week with high hopes of a successful weekend on home turf.
Conditions were warm and bright for both sessions today, with fierce competition for the top spot in qualifying this afternoon, Bruno Senna (iSport) stylishly claiming pole position for Saturday's race.
Andy Soucek stormed through to qualify in an impressive 7th place, his best GP2 qualifying to date! Confident with the car, the team have just minor adjustments to make before the race tomorrow at 4pm.
Alvaro Parente's session was blighted with traffic, which prevented him from getting the most out of the car and tyres. With every effort of finding clear air, the Portuguese driver struggled to find the opportunity to push past and improve his lap time, ending the 30 minute session in a frustrating 17th position, nothing to lose for tomorrow.
Team Principal David Sears "In qualifying today Andy Soucek ended up in a very competitive 7th & he is really gelling with his engineer and the whole team. In fact Andy felt he could have probably qualified two or three position higher and has high expectations for tomorrow.
Alvaro Parente another disappointing session getting stuck in traffic for all but one clear lap on his first set of new tyres and not even one clear lap on his second set of tyres. Alvaro lines up 17th on the grid & probably it is likely to rain for the race, which may give him a chance to finish in the points. The team intend to adopt a different strategy for Alvaro's qualifying in the future."
Alvaro Parente: "It was a bad qualifying session for me today. I was amongst traffic the whole time & just couldn't get a quick lap. I got two laps out of my first tyres, and that was about it. Unfortunately now the rest of the weekend will be tough going, it's frustrating but we'll see."
Andy Soucek: "I am very happy! This is the best qualifying position I've made, except in GP2 Asia where I got a third. I noticed a lot of grip on the track, so I used it, & found the pace and was very comfortable. Usually there is a big difference for me between practice and qualifying, however I did it right today, and hope to continue like this. The car is never perfect, but today it felt just about perfect! I think I could get a little more out of it, but there was a lot of traffic. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I like the rain, which is forecasted. I'm looking for a top 5 finish, where we belong."
Trident Racing - Mike Conway (8th) Ho Pin Tung (20th)
The 5th round of the 2008 Main Series took off today at Silverstone. In the former airfield's historical frame, drivers hit the track for the qualifying session for Race 1. Trident Racing's Mike Conway ended up in 8th place, while team-mate Ho Pin Tung rounded out the top-20. The final results didn't reflect the post-practice expectations, as Mike took 2nd place in the initial timed session. The team's hopes to score a good result at the end of tomorrow's Race 1 keep holding up, as weather forecast predicts heavy rain. The 36-lap race will be starting at 15.00 GMT with live coverage by Sky TV.
Mike Conway: "Today's eight place doesn't reflect the potential we have on this racetrack, as proved by the second place I scored in this morning's practice. In qualifying, traffic turned out to be a real factor, conditioning the final results. With our first set of fresh tires everything went on good, and I felt I had at least three tenths of a second to shave off. Right after putting the second set on, I couldn't complete a single lap without being slowed down by other cars. It was frustrating, because I knew I could have made it to the top. I hope the weather will play in our favor tomorrow, and I think a great result would be a well-deserved reward for the team's huge job."
Ho Pin Tung: "We made some set-up changes after practice, and we really improved the car; I also increased my confidence on this extremely tecnhical and fast racetrack. Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalize from the changes due to the heavy traffic problems encountered during the whole session. In the final corners many drivers were slowing down before the start of their flying laps, blocking others who were running back to the line. It'll be hard tomorrow, but I'll take the best out of myself, as usual"
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director: "We're really disappointed with today's qualifying results, after Mike easily took 2nd place in practice. We hoped to repeat during qualifications, but heavy traffic penalized the Brit in both his stints. His best time was 4 tenths of a second slower than the ideal 3-sector lap, proving that a much better result could have been achieved with the chance to complete a clean lap. Ho Pin Tung also encountered the same problem in his stints, and was unable to express the potential of both him and his racecar, that appeared under expectations so far."
DAMS - Kamui Kobayashi (9th) Jerome d'Ambrosio (14th)
Today, DAMS competed in both free practice and qualifying for the fifth round of the 2008 GP2 Series Championship on the Silverstone circuit. Kamui Kobayashi and Jerome d'Ambrosio started their weekend by getting to grips with the very fast Northamptonshire track and finished free practice in 5th and 16th positions.
A couple of hours later they tackled qualifying. Unfortunately, it was the same scenario as at Magny-Cours two weeks earlier because neither of the DAMS drivers managed to find a clear lap. They were hindered by traffic and were unable to show their speed ending up in 9th (Kamui) and 14th (Jerome) places respectively.
These positions on the grid do not conform to the team's expectations, but it is still hoping for a place in the first eight tomorrow. Rain is forecast and DAMS will do its best to take maximum advantage of the potentially difficult track conditions.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "As in France two weeks ago our gr id positions do not reflect our potential. Kamui and Jerome both had the speed to set much quicker times today so we're rather disappointed. There's no use crying over split milk, though! We've got to concentrate on this weekend's two races and not let slip any opportunity to score points."
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "I'm a bit disappointed as by putting together my best sector times I'd have been much higher up the grid. Unfortunately, I got held up in traffic and I didn't have a clear lap. It's a pity but I'll do my utmost to take advantage of tomorrow's conditions, which look like being wet, to get the best out of the situation.»
Kamui Kobayashi: "It's Magny-Cours all over again. I had the pace and the rhythm to get into the top four in qualifying, but I was unable to make the most of them because of the traffic. It's frustrating but there's nothi ng I can do about it. Tomorrow's aim will be the podium, and with our motivation and our strategy we should be able to achieve this."