01/07/2007
NEWS STORY
Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) Winner - Everything went very well, we were running steadily and always with some margin ...it has actually been quite a relaxed race! At the beginning it was a bit difficult to follow right behind Lapierre as I couldn't push as I wanted. Once he had made his mistake I could get past him and start to really push and lap something like 7 tenths quicker. At the end it started to rain slightly so I had to slow down a little bit but I still had some speed margin in hand in case it should have been necessary.
Luca Filippi (Super Nova International) 2nd - From starting 16th yesterday to 2nd today is really, really pleasing! At the beginning I was definitely quickest, but when I got to the top two, I just couldn't pass, and didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. The championship is now even tighter so it is really open. Our pace is good everywhere, so we just have to try to be on top again at Silverstone.
Lucas Di Grassi (ART Grand Prix) 4th - The French weekend was tasty! Not that the results in themselves were that great, but I secured some good points. My aim was to catch up with Glock, which I did. Race 1 was tricky as always when the safety car is out, but we managed to leave the pits in second place and then the car was really good, which helped me save the rear tyres. Race 2 was a bit of a mess with the rain. The track was damp at the start and I did not get a good start. There was a lot of traffic at the hairpin and I lost positions trying not to hit anybody. Once things cleared up my pace was very good and I could gain several positions to finish P4. Another good weekend like this and we'll be closer to Glock. The next step is to climb on the top step of the rostrum.
Bruno Senna (Arden International) 7th - I have mixed feelings about today. I made a good start and it was a good race but I'm sorry because I hit my team-mate, which wasn't the best idea and I'm not happy about that. I have already apologised though and I hope he is okay. When I went off on the second lap, it was because I touched some water on the kerbs - I managed to catch it but I hit another kerb and it was gone and I lost many positions there. I'm pretty sure we had the pace to stay third because the car was good. After that I had a decent comeback race but then when I tried to go past Petrov I knew Nakajima was behind and would try something. Petrov was quite slow and he just stopped on the hairpin. I hit him, my car went into second gear and Nakajima went past. So yes, today I have mixed feelings.
Andy Soucek (DPR) 10th - Today was less eventful, although a little bit of rain did make the track very slippery. Others made a few mistakes, but I just wanted to maintain my pace. I started to have the same tyre wear problems as yesterday and even though the car was more consistent I was still not able to run at the pace of the cars ahead. We need to look at the tyre wear and work at maintaining our performance level throughout both races.
Christian Bakkerud (DPR) 12th - I'm clearly pleased to have finished today's race after all of our troubles yesterday and 12th position is okay but not where I would like to be. The good thing is that I really got to race today and improved my lap and sector times throughout the 28 laps. I know I'm good with conserving my tyres and had the race been slightly longer I'm sure I could have improved a bit further.
Michael Ammermüller (ART Grand Prix) 19th - To be back in the race after so many weeks away from the track was a real pleasure, unfortunately this was spoiled by the first lap crash when Viso hit me heavily from behind. I am happy Ernesto is doing well, but I am not too happy that I could not take part in the race. Taking the start dead last on Sunday, the odds were not good, but the lap record showed that we have the potential to secure very good results.
Mike Conway (Super Nova International) DNF - Unfortunately the hydraulic pressure caused my car to stick in fourth, which is a real shame. However the car was really consistent. I preserved the tyres well, and was really catching up to Petrov before I had to retire I am looking forward to Silverstone.
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