Racing Engineering - Christian Vietoris (4th) Dani Clos (7th)
Racing Engineering started the 2010 GP2 season on a very good note, after a satisfactory qualifying session in Barcelona. Christian Vietoris achieved the fourth position overall, making his GP2 debut from the second row of the grid. Teammate Dani Clos finished the qualifying session in seventh position, thus underlining Racing Engineering's excellent form during the first qualifying session of the season.
The Spanish track of Montmelo welcomed the GP2 field for the first official day of the 2010 season with a cool temperature and overcast sky. The free practice session was used by the drivers to familiarize themselves with the track conditions and prepare for the afternoon. Racing Engineering's Dani Clos finished the morning session in sixth place, while Christian Vietoris set the eleventh fastest time.
The overall conditions had cooled down when qualifying started, and Christian and Dani set the first and fifth fastest times after just three laps. Like usual, the GP2 drivers pass by the pits halfway through the session to pick up a set of new tyres and have some adjustments made to their cars in order to improve their lap times. Once the entire field had completed their first run, the Racing Engineering boys were in fourth place for Vietoris and seventh place for Clos. But a cooling down track during the second half of the session meant that no significant improvements on the timesheets took place. Christian saw his attempts to set a faster time hampered by traffic, whilst Dani encountered a yellow flag at a crucial point during his fastest lap. With just three minutes to go, and with most of the field on track, a spinning Bianchi resulted in another yellow flag hindered the drivers from clocking better times.
German rookie Christian Vietoris claimed the fourth fastest time for his Racing Engineering team, whilst Spanish driver Dani Clos will start his home race from the seventh spot on the grid.
Christian Vietoris: "During free practice I encountered a lot of traffic and also made a mistake. Therefore, the eleventh position wasn't what I expected. We made a few changes in the car ahead of the qualifying session, which worked very well. Bianchi was very fast today and fourth position isn't bad, but I know that more was possible. I struggled as I found a lot of traffic on the track and I think second position was within reach today. Tomorrow we have the feature race, which will include a pit stop, and my target is to definitely be on the podium. I also think that a win is not impossible."
Dani Clos: "I think it has been a very positive day, as I have been very comfortable with the car. I encountered a lot of yellow flags, and it was difficult to be constant during the qualifying session. We had a very good setup but, on my best lap, I had a yellow flag in the third sector, and I had to lift my foot off the accelerator. When we put on the second set of tyres the track changed, and we couldn't improve the times. But I'm happy with the car and the team, and I'm hopeful for tomorrow."
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "I'm very pleased with today's results as both drivers have been very consistent. It's very good for the team to have both cars in the top 10. Everyone in the team has done a fantastic job, and the boys have shown great progression. Looking at tomorrow's race, I'm very confident with both drivers and think they are able to achieve good results."
iSport International - Oliver Turvey (5th) Davide Valsecchi (10th)
The GP2 Series kicked off the 2010 season in Barcelona today at the Circuit de Catalunya. Davide Valsecchi was the first of the iSport cars to set a flying lap to put him a solid seventh, with his team mate Oliver Turvey following suit and signing the fifth fastest time. With track conditions deteriorating and a late yellow flag for the spun car of pole sitter Jules Bianchi, none of the front runners were able to improve their times leaving Oliver Turvey a solid fifth on his GP2 Series debut and a disappointed Davide Valsecchi P10.
Oliver Turvey: I was fifth which I am quite happy with. The car felt good and we were competitive so we should be in a good position to challenge for a podium tomorrow. The track lost some time as the session went on so I set my fastest time on the first run. We should have a good car for the race so if I can get a good start and stay out of trouble on the first lap we could get some good points and a podium.
Davide Valsecchi: Not a great day for us. I was not fast enough to fight for the top. It's a shame because I really wanted to be quick enough to be there to fight tomorrow for something important, but I was not fast enough to stay at the top, I was always, eight, ninth, tenth. Anyway, I hope for a good race tomorrow but we cannot fight for the victory or the podium, we have to fight for something less than that and try and get some good points.
Super Nova - Marcus Ericsson (8th) Josef Kral (18th)
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