16/09/2007
NEWS STORY
Karun Chandhok (Durango) Winner - It's been very emotional, for sure. For this year the deal happened literally one week before the Ricard test so I went through three months of the winter with no sleep, not knowing what I'm going to do this season. To come away with a win and points every weekend since Budapest shows we are coming on strong. It builds up to a good winter.
Andy Soucek (DPR) 2nd - I'm going to be smiling for the rest of the day! It's been the best weekend of the season and I'm very pleased for everyone at the DPR team. I think we all felt that this should have come a lot sooner, but we didn't have the luck. With a points finish yesterday we were pleased, but it's even better to have topped this with a podium result.
Lucas di Grassi (ART Grand Prix) 3rd - It was a great weekend in terms of the championship. We closed the gap by nine points. It was really important to close the gap at this stage of the championship because we I think the team was really disappointed by what happened in Monza, and it was not their fault, it was just something that happened with two laps to go and we lost eight points.
Mike Conway (Super Nova International) 5th - I had a bad start this morning and lost some places. But I managed to nip into the inside of the corner, & came out clean gaining several positions back. Then I just had to move forward, because I knew I was quicker. Luca was getting a tow off Tung; I got stuck behind him and was losing a second a lap, until I got the chance to pass three laps before then end. Two more laps I'd have had it!… It was good to get the two points today! I tested in Valencia last year, which went well, so I'm looking forward to last race there.
Luca Filippi (Super Nova International) 7th - The start was nothing special, but I was up one position in 6th … Then Villa had a penalty, and I caught Tung up, & there was some fighting going on between us! Then I made a mistake and went wide. We also had a small gearbox problem, especially downshifting from mid race, so was quite difficult to manage the car. I am looking ahead to Valencia.
Bruno Senna (Arden International) 8th - To get no points for such a good race is a shame, but I did have good fun. My start was good - I wanted to make up for yesterday's stall - and that put me in a good position on the first corner. I overtook quite a few cars and then took Conway and Buemi, which was a pretty good manoeuvre. Conway took me back later on, then I overtook Petrol and started to try to catch Conway again. Unfortunately then I think I pushed a little bit too hard and my brakes started to go and I started to struggle. Towards the end of the race it was hard to control it and that allowed Carroll to overtake me when my rear brakes locked up. So, it was good fun but a shame to get no rewards.
Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) 15th - It was a real pity as I could have ended up on the podium. Winning would have been difficult but I think I could have been 2nd or 3rd without any problem. However we had to do a drive through loosing a lot of time and dropping down the order. At least we showed that we are fast, setting good lap times, next time it will be better!
Christian Bakkerud (DPR) DNF - I was pleased to be back driving again and I didn't have any problems with my back, which is good. Yesterday we had a good car, but after being punted by Rodriguez I was always going to struggle to get into the top ten. Today I struggled with the car. I'm not sure whether the tap at the start created problems with the rear of the car, but the team will have a look when the car gets back to the workshop and then we'll know more.
Marcos Martinez (Racing Engineering) DNF - I had a good start up to 16th. I was trying to keep on the pace but I spun because of oil left on track by the broken engine of another car. That was the end of my race so now we have to start thinking about Valencia.
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