09/05/2007
NEWS STORY
David Price Racing (DPR) with drivers Andy Soucek and Christian Bakkerud will be aiming high in Barcelona at the second round of the 2007 GP2 Series this weekend. A top ten finish for Soucek in Bahrain at the first race of the season was a good start for the team and the drivers expect to be able to improve on their performances in Spain. DPR is competing in the GP2 championship for a third season. Spanish driver, Soucek and Austro-Dane Bakkerud debut in the Series having graduated from the World Series by Renault and British F3 championships respectively.
Soucek is keen to return to his DPR GP2 car in his home race and says, "It's special to be racing in front of my home crowd, although the pressure on me is nothing like that of Fernando (Alonso). It's like playing a home-game football match: the surroundings are familiar, but it's a different atmosphere with the adrenalin pumping harder and motivation high from the support you are given.
"I'm feeling very positive for Barcelona. After the Bahrain weekend we had an in-depth debrief of our performance - reviewing the data, watching replays of the races and analysing every aspect of it. We learned so much from the weekend, not just about the car. I could see that my driving style can be changed to help as well, so we'll be using all this information to make further progress in these next two races.
"I know the track well, and I'll be looking to qualify no lower than 12th or 13th, so that we give ourselves the best chance of moving forward in the race, and certainly into the top ten."
Bakkerud is also looking forward to his next GP2 outing, saying, "We've made plenty of progress since arriving in Bahrain for the first race. Racing is always the real test and that was a good learning experience. Now that the first event has been completed I know what to expect, particularly the handling of the car with a full fuel load and how the tyres wear over the course of the race. We've tested at Barcelona and it was a good session, so we should be able to use this to good advantage and continue to improve as we gain track time with the car."