20/09/2009
NEWS STORY
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (3rd) Lucas Di Grassi (15th)
Fat Burner Racing Engineering finished the 2009 GP2 season on a high after its driver Dani Clos, finished third in today's sprint race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Lucas id Grassi, on the other hand, had the misfortune of being handed a drive through at the beginning of the race which ended his chances to score another great result.
After completing two warm up laps, drivers and cars took their places on the grid to start the last race of the 2009 season. But when the lights went off at the Portuguese track, a heavy accident between Herck and Petrov, whose car had stalled on the grid, red flagged the race for over 20 minutes. Once the track was cleared of all the debris, the safety car lead the field with Lucas, who had started six, running in third. Dani, who had lost one place to Valsecchi, was in 10th. At the end of the second lap, the safety car left the track slowly and created certain confusion among the drivers. Lucas, who for some unknown reason had the car's front lift briefly, lost a place to Kobayashi, but a couple of laps later he regained the lost position. Dani, meanwhile was overtaken by Villa and Perez. Villa, knowing he had passed the Fat Burner Racing Engineering under yellow flags, quickly gave the place back, contrary to the Mexican, who was later penalized with 25 second and handed third to Dani.
Things turned for the worse for Lucas when he was handed a drive through, along with five other drivers, as a consequence of the confusion with the exit of the safety car at the restart. This unfortunate turn of events pushed the Brazilian driver back to 17th place. This favored his teammate who was now running in fourth and starting a good fight with Villa for third, while holding back the attacks of Parente. Though the Spanish driver was not able to pass his countryman, he managed to keep the Portuguese at bay and cross the line in fourth position (although later had third when Perez, who finished second, was penalized), scoring his first points in GP2. Lucas, on the other hand, could do nothing to finish in the points and had to settle for 15th.
Dani Clos: At the start I lost one place and I was behind Valsecchi. I believe I could have passed him, but then there was an accident and when the race restarted behind the safety car, two drivers overtook me. These two drivers were Perez and Villa. Villa knew he had done some wrong, so he gave me back my place, but Perez did not. I think this has been a complicated race as there was a lot of tyre wear. I had Parente pressuring me during most of the race, but I was able to hold my place. Though today I have scored my first points in the GP2 championship, I am not really happy as I should have finished third, but I guess this is the way things go in racing. Although, Perez, now with a 25 second penalty, has handed me a podium finish.
I believe that this season I was not able to show what I am capable of. During the first races I had always some kind of problem and then I had to start the sprint races from the back. Maybe the races were good, as I was overtaking often, but the truth is that it was not good enough since I was not scoring points. Now I hope to be stronger for next year and that everything goes well.
Lucas Di Grassi: I had a good start to the race, improving three positions. Everything was going fine until the safety car left the track. In my opinion, what happened was a safety car mistake that cost the entire top of the field their respective positions, as we were all penalized with drive throughs. At the restart, my car actually lifted a bit, and this allowed Kobayashi to overtake me, but I quickly gained back third place. We lost an easy podium here. It is incredible that we lost third position in the teams championship, now, sadly, we are forth.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, Team President: Fantastic job everybody! Pitty about the drive through handed to Lucas, but wonderful firsts points for Dani. I would also like to take the time to congratulate everyone in the team for their fantastic work they have done this season. Now we have to improve on this results next year.
Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (4th) Karun Chandhok (13th)
Ocean Racing Technology concluded its debut season in the GP2 Main Series with a brilliant performance by Alvaro Parente, who was 17th at the start of the race and crossed the line in 4th.
Deprived of the point and 8th place, which would have secured him pole position for race two, following an accident in the first round, the Portuguese driver did the very best he could given the potential of his car on Sunday afternoon, but despite his brilliant run, Alvaro regrets not making it to the podium for the spectators in Portimão. "I tried my very best to get onto the podium but I needed just a little more. I made up more than ten places and therefore it is an excellent result in itself, which is a nice reward for the team after the disappointment of the first race. The beginning of race was very chaotic but it went very well after that. I am a little disappointed not to give the team a more positive conclusion to the weekend but our first season in the championship has been extremely positive. We won a race and gained the respect of the other teams, which were already well established in the championship," observed Parente.
Meanwhile, teammate Karun Chandhok regretted that he was unable to fight for a points scoring position. Starting from the bottom of the grid, the Indian driver finished Sunday's race in 13th place, a result which does not really reflect his true worth. "It was a very difficult and very frustrating weekend during which we didn't really have much chance. It is not the first time this season, it was often a little necessary that luck was on our side so that we obtained a very good performance, but minor problems in qualifying can compromise your entire weekend. This is racing, but our results do not reflect our true potential and that hurts."
With a victory at Spa, recorded by Alvaro Parente, and several podiums, Ocean Racing Technology became one of the leading teams in the GP2 Main Series. The team directed by Tiago Monteiro and Jose Guedes, built on the basis of the former BCN team, had to build itself up as quickly as possible. However, it was always powerful and very often mixed in with the fight for victory. Several incidents which were out of their control compromised the performances of their drivers, but Alvaro Parente finished the championship in 8th place and the team was classified 9th just 2 points shy of 5th place.
In 2010, Ocean Racing Technology hopes to be able to make use of the experience of this first season to constantly fight with the top teams in the championship, which is the best feeder series for Formula 1.
iSport International - Diego Nunes (5th) Giedo van der Garde (6th)
It was the final race of the 2009 GP2 Series. With the driver and team champions crowned there was an end of term feeling as the rest of the field aimed to finish the season on a high. It did not disappoint and a huge start line accident between the stalled Vitaly Petrov and Michael Herck brought out the red flag. As the race finally got underway iSport racers Diego Nunes and Giedo van der Garde took a big leap forward after the top six drivers were handed drive through penalties. The iSport duo have been closely matched all weekend and both crossed the finish line in tandem to take sixth and seventh with Nunes taking the last of the points.
Giedo van der Garde: "I finished seventh. It was not too bad actually we had a good start. It was a good race the car felt nice and quick so it went pretty well. I started from the back of the grid and finished seventh so it was a good result".
Diego Nunes: "I did a good start but in the second corner I had a problem, I was pushed out of the track. I won three positions on the start and then I lost four on the second corner. Then we had the red flag, and after the red flag I passed two guys and six guys got penalised so I managed to finish sixth and Giedo seventh so it was good, I got a point".
Trident Racing - Davide Rigon (9th) Ricardo Teixeira (21st)
Trident Racing closed its 2009 GP2 Main Series season at Portimao, Algarve, with a 9th and 21st spot on Race 2. Davide Rigon was slowed by a technical problem at the start, as he ended lap 1 in 19th before cruising back to 9th. In the closing stages, the Italian was the fastest man on-track, confirming a top-notch potential that could have definitely brought him to a points finish with a less troubled day. Ricardo Teixeira was even less lucky. The Angolan driver suffered from brake issues in the formation lap, and was forced to come back to the pits. He took off with an one-lap gap but brought the car to the end. Trident Racing won't stop working with the end of a long and tough GP2 Series season. The team will be entering the first collective testing session of the 2009-2010 schedule at Jerez. The team will announce the names of the drivers taking part in the three days soon.
Davide Rigon: "I had a good start, but after moving to 1st and 2nd gear the engine stalled and I lost positions. This episode really conditioned my day because the car itself was really performing. I found myself in the closing pack but I recovered well. In the final stages, after moving on D'Ambrosio I lapped on some really consistent lap-times, confirming the great potential we had today"
Ricardo Teixeira: "My chances to score a good result actually ended before the race, as a brake issue blocked my rear caliper, causing a fire principle. My mechanics did a true miracle, allowing me to take the track one lap after the start. I tried to push, but my racecar was unstable under braking, due to the earlier problems I assume. Since the gap was almost impossible to close, I decided not to take any risk".
DAMS - Jerome d'Ambrosio (10th) Kamui Kobayashi (19th)
This weekend, the DAMS team raced in the tenth and final round of the 2009 GP2 Series Championship on the new Portimao circuit in the Algarve in Portugal. The team was determined to score a good result and end the season on a high note. It seemed destined for a place on the podium until a race incident prevented it from finishing the year with a flourish.
And yet the weekend didn't get off to a bad start. Kamui Kobayashi qualified in eighteenth place for race 1 and the team decided on an aggressive strategy, which enabled him to pick off his rivals one by one and finish in seventh place. This quickly became sixth when another driver was disqualified. Jerome d'Ambrosio was less fortunate on Saturday. He started from eleventh spot on the grid and was aiming for points until a collision led to his retirement early on.
Today, Kamui started from third on the grid for race 2 and he was aiming for the podium. Unfortunately, after the race was neutralized the first 6 drivers were penalized by Race Control for jumping the start when the green light was given. He had to observe a drive through, fell down the time sheets and saw the flag in nineteenth place. Jerome, who started from twenty-second on the grid, could not hope for very much as today's race was too short to enable him to gain a lot of positions barring major incidents: he finished tenth.
And so the curtain has fallen on the 2009 GP2 Series, the fifth in which DAMS has raced since its inauguration. The French squad finished sixth in the teams' championship, which was not a bad result overall, but did not reflect either its potential or its ambitions at the start of the season.
Eric Boullier, Team Manager: The final race was an apt reflection of our 2009 championship campaign: real potential, the possibility to fight at the front but a disappointing result due to unfavourable circumstances. It's frustrating as we thought we'd put our bad luck behind us. Jerome and Kamui have what it takes to shine in this championship, and I'd like to congratulate them both on their professionalism. They put the team first before their own personal interests. A big thanks to the whole race team as well as all those working in our Le Mans base. We'll be title contenders in 2010, I'm sure of that!"
Jerome d'Ambrosio: "My position on the grid for race 1 wasn't fantastic but it gave me the possibility of scoring points and starting at the front today. Unfortunately, my hopes went up in smoke when I was hit early on in the race yesterday. But I'll have good memories of this season during which I've made a lot of progress in my approach to racing, my fitness and my driving. I'd like to thank DAMS and Gravity for helping me to show what I'm capable of this year."
Kamui Kobayashi: "There's no way I can be satisfied with my final result as my aim, after winning the Asian GP2 title, was to win the championship in the main 2009 Series. Things just didn't go our way. I made a few mistakes and did not achieve my aim. It's a pity, but my motivation is still intact. I know my qualities and those of the team, which I'd like to thank very warmly for a new season together, and I'll do better next year."
Party Poker Racing.com - Andreas Zuber (12th) Luiz Razia (17th)
Fresh from celebrating Luiz Razia's victory last weekend in Monza, PartyPokerRacing.com Scuderia Coloni had another action packed race weekend, with the GP2 team at the season finale of the 2009 GP2 Series at Portimão in Portugal.
The final round of this year's championship headlined at a brand new track for the series, the Portimão circuit in the Algarve area of Portugal. Regulars Andreas Zuber and Luiz Razia drove for the team. As a change to the normal schedule, drivers benefited from two free practice sessions ahead of qualifying.
Andreas Zuber: Strong practice sessions, finishing 11th in practice one with a lap of 1:52.941 and fourth fastest in second practice with a time of 1:33.942. Lined up on the sixth row of the grid for the feature race after setting a time of 1:31.673 in qualifying and finishing 12th in the session. He raced well on Saturday to pick up the final point for finishing eighth and secured pole position for Sunday's sprint race. It was a chaotic start to the race, with a red flag, delayed start and a safety car. Although Andreas began superbly, easily maintaining his lead, a mix up with the safety car saw him incur a drive through penalty and he finished the race in 12th position.
Luiz Razia: Finished 14th in first practice, setting a best time of 1:53.588 and 21st in the second session with a lap of 1:36.430. He set the 16th fastest time in qualifying with a time of 1:32.140 to line up on the eighth row for Saturday's race and then moved through the field to finish 10th. Beginning from the fifth row on Sunday he crossed the line in 17th place.
Paolo Coloni, Team Principal: "We are obviously very disappointed with Andreas's GP2 result today as we were flying and would have won the race by a big margin. It's a penalty that we had to accept unfortunately although I hope that people take notice of what happened with the safety car and look into that. The team did a fantastic job all weekend and we had a car that was just super fast. Luiz had an unfortunate time today as he had a touch with Nunes and had to drive the whole race with bent suspension."
ART Grand Prix - Nico Hulkenberg (16th) Pastor Maldonado (20th)
ART Grand Prix secured yet another victory in what has been an extremely competitive GP2 Main Series in 2009 with Nico Hulkenberg notching up his fifth win of the season in the final feature race of the year at the Portimao circuit on Saturday. This result saw the team secure the championship to top off an exceptional season for the French based squad.
Although Nico was disappointed to narrowly miss out on the final pole position of the season, the German racer stormed through when it counted in race one and finished on the top step of the rostrum.
Meanwhile, teammate Pastor Maldonado, who qualified in eighth place, was soon up into P6 and fighting strongly for a top points finish, however he suffered brake problems in the second half of the first race and flat spotted his tyres. Things then became even worse for the Venezuelan driver and he lost several positions by the time the race came to a close.
In race two both drivers were points contenders when the safety car was called out after the Petrov/Herck accident. However, when it was time for the safety car to come in, it went slowly into the pits and the top six runners were trapped and had no choice but to overtake it before it made it into pit lane. As a result, all six were handed a drive through penalty ending any hope of a decent result.
Nico Hulkenberg: "I wasn't happy about not getting the final pole position of the season but I caught up in the race. I made a good start and stayed calm behind Petrov because I knew we were faster and that our time would come. I dove into the pit lane a little earlier than expected, it was short notice but it worked perfectly. The pit stop was top notch and I had a very good out lap. Once in command I pushed hard to open a gap. It was great to win the last feature race of the year and I have to thank ART Grand Prix for this because once again they gave me a great car."
Pastor Maldonado: "We looked for a good set-up all weekend long. In qualifying, I came back into the pits to make two adjustments and the car behaviour was better with new tyres, but I was not entirely happy with it. The next adjustments did not go in the right direction: the grip was bad and I had some braking problems. I made a good start and I was 6th after my pit stop. I came out of the pits as fast as possible to try and get past Rodriguez but it made things worse as I locked the wheels and the problem became even worse with heavily used tyres."
Frederic Vasseur: "It was a great weekend which sums up an exceptional season. ART Grand Prix is champion and Nico was fabulous in the first race, pushing hard when it was needed or being patient when it was better to do so. Pastor's tyres were destroyed in the second part of the race; up to this point, he had the potential to bring home a very good result. On Sunday, the race of the top 6 was ruined by a drive through penalty and it is a shame to end up the season on such a weird note."