24/08/2008
NEWS STORY
DAMS - Jerome d'Ambrosio (2nd) Kamui Kobayashi (6th)
Sunday's short race was the second in the 8th round of the 2008 GP2 Series Championship held on the Valencia circuit as a curtain raiser to the European F1 Grand Prix. DAMS drivers, Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Kamui Kobayashi had very different races. Jérôme was in 4th place on the grid after finishing 5th yesterday. He fluffed his start and found himself in 7th position early on. But he did not make any mistakes while those in front of him went off one after another, and he crossed the line in 3rd place. He then gained another position after the second-placed driver was penalised. It was his first rostrum finish in the GP2 Series and he added 5 more points to his tally bringing his total to 12. Kamui made an awesome comeback from 25th on the grid to 7th and also moved up a place due to the penalty scoring the point for sixth.
Today, DAMS is in 9th place in the teams' ratings with 22 points. Next round in 2 weeks on the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "It's been a good day for DAMS thanks to Jérôme's rostrum finish. It's a great reward for the whole team and all the work they've done over the past few weeks. Hats off to Kamui who made a fantastic comeback and was rewarded with the point that goes with 6th place. This weekend's result shows that when we start race one at the front of the grid everything's easier and we've scored points in both rounds. What we've achieved here with our cars, we'll be putting all our efforts into repeating in the next two races on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit."
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "My start wasn't as good as I'd hoped and I lost several places. Nonetheless, I was very quick and my consistency paid off and I gradually worked my way up the classification. I've got onto the rostrum at last and I've managed to confirm the progress we've made over the last few races. In two weeks we'll be at Spa -Francorchamps and I'll be out to achieve good performances and shine in front of my home crowd."
Kamui Kobayashi: "It was sure that starting from so far back it was impossible to score points, but I pushed like crazy and my rivals made a lot of mistakes. Finally, I managed to score one point starting from second-last place; it's a good result and shows that if I'd qualified higher I would have been among the front-runners this weekend."
Racing Engineering - Giorgio Pantano (3rd) Javier Villa (5th)
It was a great result today for Racing Engineering in the GP2 Series Sprint Race at Valencia as both Giorgio Pantano and Javier Villa were able to score points in spite of their low starting positions, the Italian finishing third and the Spaniard fifth. Giorgio's third place allows to the driver from the Spanish team to increase his advantage at the head of the Championship standings.
The shorter race of the GP2 Series weekend on the spectacular Valencia Street Circuit was not an easy prospect for Racing Engineering, yesterday's bad luck meant that today Pantano had to start from the middle of the field, in 14th position, whilst Javi was even further behind, in 21st position. Nevertheless, from the opening meters, both of the drivers from the Spanish team showed their intentions of not giving up and, after a fantastic get away, at the end of the first lap they had recovered a significant number of places: Giorgio was eighth, having already made up six positions and Javi was running in an incredible 12th place, after gaining no less than nine positions.
One more lap and both Giorgio and Javi improved by another position when Maldonado went off at the end of the straight, so within just two laps Pantano was already about to enter the points scoring zone, running seventh behind the Belgian D'Ambrosio, while Javi was looking for a place in the top ten, sitting in 11th and putting pressure on the driver ahead, the Indian Chandhok. The Spaniard needed only three laps to pass his rival, getting 10th position and immediately beginning to close on the ninth placed driver, the Russian Petrov.
On the seventh lap, the duel for third position between Andy Soucek and Bruno Senna was resolving at one stroke with both out of the race: the Spaniard because of mechanical problems and the Brazilian spinning and hitting the wall. This meant that Pantano moved up to fifth and Villa to eighth. In addition, with his main rival in the championship out of the race, the situation was looking good for Giorgio, who already was now in a points scoring position.
The race situation was then Filippi, Grosjean Di Grassi at the front, followed after a few seconds by the second group with D'Ambrosio ahead and which included two Repsol and Telefónica backed Dallaras. When Filippi made contact with Grosjean, the Frenchman was out of the race so Giorgio and Javi were promoting one more position, now being fourth and seventh respectively on lap 11. Villa was already on the verge of the point scoring positions and soon he was entering it after overtaking Petrov on lap 12, so the two Spanish team drivers were fourth and sixth at the half race distance, positions that had seemed impossible to reach at beginning of the race. At this moment, the Safety Car was deployed when Asmer's car spun in the middle of the track, so the whole field had got close up ahead of the remaining laps before the finish.
After the Safety Car pulled in, an exciting phase of the race began for Javi Villa, strongly pressed by Petrov, the Spaniard cut one of the chicanes and had to give way to his rival. Chandhok tried to take advantage and pass both but the Indian hit the Russian, with Javi seizing the opportunity to recover the sixth position and defend it strongly against the assault from Valsecchi on the inside of the next corner.
The Racing Engineering driver dealt with the Italian and the race finished with him in a great 6th position, closing on the 5th placed Nunes, after an impressive recovery race that completed a tremendously positive morning for the Salucar de Barrameda based outfit. Two places ahead, Giorgio was holding his fourth position to the finish without problems.
Minutes after the end of the race, Filippi and Chandhock were penalised, so Pantano was moved up to third position and Villa to fifth. The final result meant that Giorgio adds four very important points to his total which allows him to further improve his advantage over Bruno Senna, who today scored no points, so the Racing Engineering driver extends his margin at the head of the championship with just two race weekends left to the end of the season.
Once again, the competitiveness and total reliability of the Racing Engineering cars, which keeps their fantastic 100 % record of races without any breakdowns, combined with the talent of their drivers, allowed the Spanish team to shine today in a much anticipated weekend for the whole team that has proved to be quite tough.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "I am very happy with the performance of both our drivers in today's race. They both had great starts, drove well and were able to score points. However, we know that many more points were within reach this weekend, so our overall summary cannot be a positive one. Like always, our boys did an excellent job and deserve a big thank you for what has been a very difficult weekend."
Javier Villa: "Not bad. It was a tough race starting from 21st and finishing 5th. I was very fast and this is positive. For Spa it is important now to be in front from the beginning to have a great race there."
Giorgio Pantano: "In the end we finished 3rd starting from 14th which is good after what happened yesterday. There was nothing more we could do. Of course it is upsetting what happened yesterday and I am happy to have at least finished third today, especially as Senna didn't score points."
DPR - Diego Nunes (4th) Michael Herck (14th)
David Price Racing (DPR) celebrated the team's first points finish of the season in Valencia today. A spirited drive by Diego Nunes was rewarded with a fifth place finish and two valuable championship points. Team mate Michael Herck was less fortunate, with Andy Zuber running into the back of him at the start, resulting in the DPR car losing its rear wing. After repairs Herck returned to the track, finally finishing in 14th place.
The DPR cars lined up in 10th place with Nunes behind the wheel, and in 12th position with Michael Herck driving. The start was chaotic in the midfield with all the drivers attempting to squeeze through the first corners. When the grid emerged Nunes had maintained position, while Herck was hit from behind by Andy Zuber, which dislodged his rear wing and forced him to tour into the pits for a replacement.
Nunes began to improve his track position, moving up to eighth by the third lap and up to seventh a few laps later, then moving into sixth after 10 laps of the 23 lap distance. Meanwhile the DPR crew had worked quickly to replace Herck's rear wing and he was able to return to the track, although one lap down on the field.
At half distance race leader, Romain Grosjean, was challenged by Luca Filippi, putting Grosjean into the tyre barrier and out of the race, promoting Nunes to fifth place. With the field strung out, Nunes was able to run in clean air, but only for a few laps. A spin by Marko Asmer, which left him stranded in the middle of the track, brought out the safety car and closed up the grid for a dash to the chequered flag.
The cars were released from behind the safety car with eight laps remaining and only sixteen cars left to fight it out. Nunes defended hard to maintain his points-paying position, and then began to pull away from the cars following, with this group squabbling over the final point available.
It was the longest eight laps of the season for the DPR team, and the young Brazilian coped well. He withstood the pressure to cross the line in fifth position, taking his first points of the season, putting DPR onto the leader board for the first time this season.
David Price, Team Principal, David Price Racing, said after the race, "Finally we've recorded some points this season. It's been a long wait, although one race weekend earlier than last year! Diego drove exceptionally well today and deserved to win some points today, I'm sure it will be the first of many. Michael was very unlucky to get punted at the start and that compromised his race, but the DPR crew did a good job to get him back out and give him some more running."
Durango - Davide Valsecchi (7th) Alberto Valerio (12th)
A good performance from both Durango drivers in Valencia race 2 at last. Alberto Valerio recovered eleven positions taking the flag at P13 after a race fought till the last corner. Davide Valsecchi has beven been able to claim a very beatiful P8, starting from P17, thanks to his spectacular and worthy drive. Ivone Pinton, Durango Team Principal, said: "For today we are happy with the nice things shown on track by our boys. Alberto drove a good race fighting till the chequered flag, as a driver he is growing, no doubt about it. Davide once more demonstrated to be a gifted driver displaying an outstanding talent. We will try to exploit all this potential in Spa, a track which means a lot for us".
Fisichella Motor Sport - Roldan Rodriguez (10th) Marko Asmer (DNF)
The brand new 5.4km Valencia street circuit was the venue for this weekend's motor racing activities as the GP2 Series took to the Spanish track in support of the Formula One World
As is usual, the drivers had just 30 minutes to learn the brand new track, which snakes through the portside city of Valencia. Roldan Rodriguez set an impressive 12th fastest time in the practice session. Both drivers completed 15 laps in the half-hour practice before embarking on Friday afternoon's qualifying. Roldan secured a ninth-row starting spot by setting with 17th fastest time, with Marko Asmer on the 11th row in 21st.
Unfortunately for FMS neither driver got past the first lap of Saturday's 34-lap race, with Roldan out after hitting the wall after a frantic start and Marko pulling into the pits after the warm up lap with a technical problem and not starting the race.
In Sunday's shorter race, Roldan was able to make up 11 places from his 22nd place starting position, crossing the line in 11th, while Marko was again unable to finish after a spin put an early end to his race.
iSport International - Karun Chandhok (DNF) Bruno Senna (DNF)
iSport drew a blank in the first ever GP2 Series races around Valencia's street circuit. Having lost fourth place when his car ran out of fuel on Saturday, Bruno Senna had worked his way into the same position during this morning's sprint - from ninth on the grid - when he spun and clipped a wall, obliging him to retire.
Team-mate Karun Chandhok made good progress from his initial 15th place, but he retired with suspension damage after a bang of wheels. At the time, he had been fighting for what eventually became sixth.
Bruno Senna: "I made a good start and the car was running really well. It isn't easy to pass here and you have to be patient - a tactic that seemed to be paying off. When Andy slowed suddenly I had to slide over the outside kerb to miss him. I rejoined the track cleanly, though, and didn't do any damage. It's possible that I got some dirt on my tyres, however, because three corners later the car simply got away from me. I had been sliding through that part of the circuit every lap, but this time it simply went too far. It was just one of those things."
Karun Chandhok: "I was biding my time, trying to pick of places where I could, and when an opportunity presents itself you sometimes have to go for it. Vitaly Petrov was just ahead of me, but I think he had an eye on his mirrors and was looking the other way. Whatever, he left an inviting gap and I dived to the inside. I simply don't think he saw me. There wasn't much contact, but it was enough to end my race. Some you win…"
ART Grand Prix - Romain Grosjean (DNF) Sakon Yamamoto (DNF)
ART GP's hopes for a win at the new Valencia street circuit were dashed by former driver Luca Filippi on Sunday, the Italian taking Romain Grosjean out of race two. The two were fighting for the lead and after the ART GP driver got past in the final turn, Filippi attempted to fight back and pushed the Frenchman into the wall in the process, leaving Romain to return to the pits on foot. Filippi was later penalized for the incident. Romain had a nice and fair fight with Pastor Maldonado on day one, the two men fighting for P3. Unfortunately, braking problems meant Romain lost the battle in the latter stages, only to reclaim third thanks to Giorgio Pantano's bad luck.
Meanwhile, Teammate Sakon Yamamoto had an even worse weekend failing to finish either race through no fault of his own. The Japanese racer was stuck in traffic during qualifying and was then hit from behind in race 1 before an electronic gremlin put a halt to his race. On Sunday, Sakon was on his way to fighting for points when his clutch gave out after just 5 laps.
Sakon Yamamoto: It was a tough weekend for me really. The lap times were not so bad and I had a good pace during the race but in qualifying, my fastest lap was hampered by the traffic in the last sector. I was P4 after sector 1 & 2 but I lost 8 or 9 tenths in the last one. With a clear lap I would have ended up P6 or something and both races would have been very different for me and the team! In race 1, my start was OK but other drivers hit me from behind, on the left side of the car. I lost the rear wing and I had to come back into the pits where the team did a great job in fixing it, but I then a problem with the ECU and the engine was gone and it was the end of my race. I had a very good start on Sunday and I could push hard. I saw the chance of getting into the points because the car was very good and I had good pace. But after 5 laps I had a clutch problem and it was the end of my weekend.
Romain Grosjean: Free practices went OK as we were P8 ,just 1 tenth of a second shy of the 2nd fastest time in a session where we needed to learn the track and where we never push hard. In qualifying, Vallés refused to let me through and I lost quite a lot of time but P4 was not too bad. The beginning of race 1 was very good but I was quickly caught out by brake problems. We had a good fight with Pastor and the 2nd time I did not expect him to overtake me but it's true I braked very early. Once P4 I had nothing to fear and I just stayed calm trying to bring the car home without making mistakes. I had luck when Pantano ran out of fuel on the last lap, I was able to climb on the podium. The next day I had a great start and I fought with Di Grassi, whom I could quickly overtake. I connected with Filippi and I understood he was ready to do everything to keep the lead as soon as I attacked him for, however, it should have been everything but pushing me into the wall so that he had the chance to get the lead back!”
Frédéric Vasseur: It is the 4th win we have missed out on after Hockenheim, Barcelona and Magny-Cours and it is very frustrating when we know what our level of performance is. Romain's start to the race was ideal but Filippi obviously decided he would not win. As the TV images show, Filippi never thought of actually taking the first turn, but just forced Romain out of the race. It is the weak way to do things but we could not hope for anything else from this driver. Sakon did not know anything about Valencia. Contrary to most of the other drivers he has not raced here and did not use the simulator. But he was very competitive and deserved better results.