19/09/2009
NEWS STORY
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Lucas Di Grassi (3rd) Dani Clos (9th)
The Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers had to endure very different outcomes at today's feature race at the Autodromo do Algarve. Lucas Di Grassi gave another podium to the Spanish team, after finishing third, while Dani Clos had to settle for eleventh.
After having qualified second and fourth on Friday, both Dani and Lucas were all geared up to try and get the best possible result for the Spanish Team during today's feature race But things did not go according to plan as the Barcelona driver lost three places at the start. His teammate, on the other hand, gained one position slotting just behind Petrov and Hulkenberg. The safety car was deployed after an incident at the first corner of the race, which brought the field close together. Dani, who had been hit by another driver earlier on, reported a little glitch with his car's steering, but nevertheless, he continued to race and tried to recover the lost ground. After the safety car period, the Spanish driver had a good battle with Maldonado for seventh, while Lucas, at the front, was starting to put some pressure on Hulkenberg for second.
At the end of lap 8, Dani did his pit-stop and eager to make up for the lost places, chased Maldonado to try and improve his 13º position. But both drivers came in contact when the Fat Burner Racing Engineering tried to overtake the Venezuelan, causing some damages to the front wing of his car. That did not stop Dani, who was pretty determined to score his first points of the season. But things were not meant to be for him, and after spinning on more occasions, which resulted in him losing more positions, he had to settle for eleventh.
Lucas' race was a very different story. After keeping up with the two leading men, the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver went into pits at the end of lap 12. A good pit stop, together with a well planned strategy, gave the Brazilian the opportunity to overtake Petrov when returning to the track, and get in behind Filippi, who now was following Hulkenberg. He then tried to catch and pass the Italian driver, but Filippi kept his place safe from Lucas whenever he made a move. The last couple of laps saw the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver fending off the attacks from Petrov, but he managed to cross the line safely to secure third place.
Lucas Di Grassi: The start was good and during the first laps I was fighting with Nico and Petrov . Yesterday I was upset fort not having taken pole as Dani's and my car were very similar. The car was very good today and I knew I was fast. When Nico pitted, I was pushing and came in a bit later, allowing me to jump Vitaly Petrov in the pits. But then Luca Filippi, who is very difficult to overtake, was in front of me, and he didn't make a mistake today. Additionally at this track, you also lose a lot of traction in the mid-speed corners when you are to close to a car in front. Therefore, an overtaking attempt would have been too risky. We have another podium which I think is good as we also secured third position in the team championship. The team did a good job and another podium is always good.
Dani Clos: My start was not that good and I was overtaken by a few cars which pushed me back to 5th. On the first lap another driver crashed into me and because of that I lost yet another position. When the safety car was deployed, I felt that something was not right with the steering and when I tried to accelerate in the fast corner, I just could not. Then I spun several times and as a consequence lost more places. I do not know how contact with another car at the start affected the balance of my car, but something was not right. I tried to follow the guys in front, but I felt that I could not catch them. I hope that tomorrow everything goes better as the aim is still to score some points.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, Team President: What a fantastic race for Lucas! I am very happy with his result as he managed to finish on the podium. As for Dani, it´s a pity what happened since he was in a very good position to score his first points of the season. We missed a great opportunity to have both drivers on the podium. However, we still have tomorrow, when we will try to end the season on a high note. I would also like to thank the team for their efforts. As always, they have done a magnificent job and I just hope that tomorrow we can reward them with a great result.
iSport International - Diego Nunes (12th) Giedo van der Garde (19th)
Starting from ninth and tenth iSport racers Giedo van der Garde and Diego Nunes both got away well and came through the difficult tight first corner scrum unscathed at the Autodromo do Algarve. After a safety car period Nunes got the jump on Dani Clos at the restart to take fifth place closely followed by team mate Van der Garde in sixth. However this was short lived as Nunes was adjudged to have overtaken earlier in the race under the safety car and was forced to serve a drive through penalty relegating him to the back of the field. Van der Garde continued on but was thwarted by a hydraulic pump failure on lap twenty-two ending iSport hopes of any points in the first ever GP2 race at the Portimão circuit.
Giedo van der Garde: I think we had a quite reasonable start. I was eighth after the first lap. We had a really good safety car re-start and I was I think seventh or sixth. We had the pit stop and the pit stop was a little bit slow so I think I dropped to tenth. Then in the middle of the race I had a problem with the hydraulic pump when I was in front of Valsecchi and he was eighth so it was a bit disappointing".
Diego Nunes: "We were quick enough to be on the podium for sure. The car was perfect and I did one of the quickest laps of the race. But again I have a black cloud around me. I was fighting to get into the top eight and Kobayashi hit me in the back and I spun and had to start again so it was a shame".
Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (DNF) Karun Chandhok (DNF)
Ocean Racing Technology lived through a difficult afternoon on the Algarve International Motor Racing circuit today where neither of its two drivers managed to finish the first race of the GP2 Main Series at Portimão. Setting the sixth fastest racing lap, Alvaro Parente once again showed that Ocean Racing technology has the pace to compete with the best of the field.
Starting last on the grid due to a gear box problem, the Portuguese driver was right on the attack and was knocking on the door of a point scoring position, when, with 14 laps to go, he made contact with Sergio Perez and points and pole position for race two quickly disappeared with his retirement. "It is definitely not a happy ending. It was impossible to take this turn with two cars side by side and contact was unavoidable. It is a pity because the car was very fast and I could have secured points," Parente regretted. "The disappointment is worse because it is the last round of the season and we are racing in Portugal, but these things happen. It seems that bad luck is not leaving us alone here in Portimao. We won't give up and we will try to make it into the top 10 for the last race of the season."
For teammate Karun Chandhok, bad luck hit even earlier. The Indian carried out just one lap before his engine broke, an unforeseeable situation that was terribly frustrating... "There's not much to say. We're living a nightmare and the entire team is disappointed. It is always frustrating when you have to end your race because of a problem nobody could foresee. Ocean Racing Technology is racing at home and we had hoped to secure a better result for our faithful fans who have supported us since the very beginning. Tomorrow the race will be tough as I will be starting from the back of the grid. But we will give it our all to try and catch up."
Tiago Monteiro and Jose Guedes' team can count on a cloudy sky with temperatures of 22°C for Sunday. The start of the race will be at 14:00 and the event can be followed on Eurosport. The Algarve International Motor Racing circuit is expecting 40,000 spectators for the final race of the season.