04/08/2007
NEWS STORY
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Adam Carroll took his second win of the year with a storming drive, and a fortuitous pit call, in race one at the Hungaroring, holding on despite constant pressure throughout the second half of the race applied by Kazuki Nakajima and Andi Zuber to claim the win by just seven tenths of a second.
The victory came as a result of the Ulsterman leading the field as a result of pitstops by other drivers as a huge accident on the front straight involving Luca Filippi allowed his FMS team to make a phenomenal pitstop and cycle him back on track in the lead.
The start of the race was delayed for one lap as a result of Sebastien Buemi's stall on the grid, but when they got started pole-sitter Timo Glock was able to easily cover fellow front row starter Zuber, although by doing so he gave faster starter Lucas di Grassi a clear run around the outside to lead the field into turn one.
Giorgio Pantano almost followed the Brazilian through but had to give best to Glock, slotting in behind the German but just ahead of Pastor Maldonado, who had slid inside Zuber to take fourth place, with Carroll, Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre rounding out the top eight as they made their way back around to the front straight. One man who wouldn't be joining them there was Mike Conway, who spun off at turn five, giving himself a short walk home.
The iSport teammates were soon hounding their immediate rivals, with Glock pushing di Grassi hard for the lead while Zuber was all over the rear of Maldonado. The next time by Nakajima was in for what is fast becoming his traditional early stop, changing the rears and heading back out into clear air, albeit back in 19th position.
Back on track a couple of triumvirates soon formed, with di Grassi/Glock/Pantano easily pulling away from Maldonado/Zuber/Carroll, but the tight nature of the circuit meant that it was almost impossible for anyone to get through without someone making a mistake. Zuber, however, was determined to force a mistake from his rival, almost running into the back of the slowing Venezuelan at the final turn before jinking to the outside next time by, inching past along the final straight before kinking right to give his rival the big don't argue as he took fourth position into turn one.
Glock was clearly learning from Nakajima, realising that he needed some clear air to make some time over his title rival and coming in for his stop on lap six. Unfortunately for the German there was a problem with the right rear wheel nut, causing a big delay which cycled him back on track in 19th, seven positions behind the Japanese driver.
Di Grassi came in next time around, but Nakajima had him covered as the Brazilian came out right on his tail, and it looked as though the Japanese driver had done enough to claim the win: with Maldonado throwing his car into the wall, Zuber slotting inbetween Nakajima and di Grassi, and Carroll in the temporary lead just 17 seconds ahead, there looked to be nothing that could keep Nakajima off the top spot.
And then Filippi hit the wall, and everything changed.
The Italian was having a solid race and looked on for more points until he came into the final turn where his left rear suspension collapsed, pitching him luridly into the tyre wall before bouncing off and spinning around and around as he came back down the front straight, shedding pieces of his car everywhere, before finally coming to a rest against the pitwall. Vitaly Petrov and Xandi Negrao were out on the spot, but more importantly Filippi was able to climb straight out of the debris, remarkably looking as fresh as a daisy.
The safety car boards were out immediately, and the front of the field consisted of Carroll, Borja Garcia, Ho-pin Tung and Karun Chandhok: the first three sprinted around to make their pitstops while the field was slowed behind Chandhok due to debris and yellow flags: remarkably Carroll could get four tyres changed and back on track just ahead of the Indian, who had Nakajima on his tail but was ahead of Garcia, who slotted back into the line in fourth, much to the chagrin of Zuber.
By lap 17 the track was clear and the race was live again, and Nakajima was determined to make the most of it: he easily slid inside Chandhok at turn one to take second place and set about closing down Carroll. Zuber soon made short work of Garcia and Chandhok, but his teammate was struggling to make headway, stuck as he was behind Adrian Zaugg in eleventh position. The German was determined to salvage something from the day and dived for a gap when his rival ran wide, but Zaugg came back across the track and tapped Glock into a spin that dropped him down to last man on the lead lap in 17th position.
The battle at the front was ferocious, with Nakajima looking everywhere for a way through Carroll while a few fast laps put Zuber into the fight as well. Behind the trio Pantano was also gaining ground after disposing of the Durango pair, with di Grassi finally able to get by as well but unable to keep up with the Italian.
Further back and a train had formed behind Zaugg, who was unable to push his car but unwilling to allow anyone by despite the constant pressure from behind. Ho-pin Tung soon learned the same lesson as Glock when he went for the inside line: a small touch pushed the Chinese driver wide and the train ran right on by.
With five laps remaining Pantano was up to the tail of Zuber but then disappeared, reappearing in the pitlane with a terminal problem destroying another great drive for the Italian, but with the tyres running down and no mistakes on offer the top three positions were filled by Adam Carroll, Kazuki Nakajima and Andi Zuber, who crossed the line separated by just 1.5 seconds.
Lucas di Grassi was the next man to cross the line, eleven seconds behind and with Borja Garcia on his tail, with Roldan Rodriguez making the most of a strong but lonely drive to claim sixth position. Adrian Zaugg held on for seventh position, just ahead of Javier Villa, Ho-pin Tung, Timo Glock and Kohei Hirate, while Sebastien Buemi finished four laps down after a nightmare race with fastest lap in his pocket. His nightmare continued however as the point will go to Karun Chandhok, as Sebastien started the race from the pits.
But it was Carroll who was all smiles on the podium as he celebrated his second win, and the first in the main race, since making his return to the series in France: the only people in the pitlane who were disappointed with the result were the men on either side of him, both of whom drove equally masterful races but wouldn't have the big trophy to show for it.
Provided by the GP2 Series Media Service
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