23/05/2008
NEWS STORY
iSport - Bruno Senna (Winner) Karun Chandhok (3rd)
Bruno Senna scored iSport's first victory of the 2008 GP2 season with a mature drive through the streets of Monte Carlo. Starting second in the grid, the Brazilian made a lightning start to lead into the first turn and he controlled the race from that moment on. He also set fastest lap and has moved up to second in the championship standings, just two points adrift of series leader Giorgio Pantano.
Senna's most worrying moment occurred when Pantano blocked the track at Mirabeau corner, after another driver had pushed him off the track. The iSport crew kept the leader informed about the impending traffic chaos, however, and he was able to pick his way through without losing too much time.
Senna's team-mate Karun Chandhok gained one place at the start to run fifth in the race's opening stages, but other drivers' errors later enabled him to move into a safe fourth place. With just half a lap to go, however, Mike Conway (Trident) spun off after being hit by a lapped car and Karun swept through to finish third.
Bruno Senna: "This feels great. My car had good, consistent pace throughout the race and I was able to control the gap to Pastor. He kept coming at me, but I was always able to respond. I was just trying to drive as quickly as I could without harming my tyres.
"I had plenty of warning about the incident at Mirabeau: the guys spoke to me on the radio and told me to stay left, because the track was clearer on that side. I was worried about having to stop for too long because the engine temperatures are quite marginal here, but in the end I was only delayed a few seconds. I couldn't ease up at all, because Pastor was always close, but every aspect of the race worked well and I am grateful to the team for giving me such a good car.
"I'm delighted to score my maiden victory in Monaco. Rest assured, I have every intention of adding to that tally in future."
Karun Chandhok: "There wasn't much I could do in the early stages, because I was penned in fifth and overtaking is pretty much impossible around here. I passed Adrian Valles during the pit stops, but at the same time lost a place to Romain Grosjean. I clawed that back at Mirabeau, though, when Romain simply drove into Pantano's stranded car.
"After that I thought I'd probably have to settle for fourth - I couldn't believe it when I saw Mike's car off the road at the end. I allowed myself a chuckle during the final half-lap. I feel sorry for Mike, but we were probably due a little luck.
"Achieving a podium finish in Monaco is really special - anybody who doesn't enjoy coming here really shouldn't be a racing driver: it gives you a buzz unlike any other circuit."
Super Nova - Alvaro Parente (5th) Christian Bakkerud (10th)
Super Nova are celebrating two well deserved top ten finishes here today in the first ever Friday GP2 race in the Principality of Monaco!
Glorious sunshine spilled onto the legendary streets as all twenty-five cars got through the ruthless first turn unscathed. Bruno Senna made a brilliant start for iSport, taking the crucial lead from the grid ahead of polesitter Pastor Maldondado.
Alvaro came into the pit lane ahead of his team mate Christian, where Super Nova executed two great stops, gaining valuable time. Both drove solid clean races, on a circuit renowned for its incredibly narrow roads, high curbs and unforgiving crash barriers.
A massive traffic jam threatened to cause mass destruction on lap 27 when Pantano and Buemi came together and blocked off the entire road, causing serious congestion! Several cars were too damaged, and retired thereafter. Finally after 45 laps seventeen cars finished, Alvaro P5 and Christian P10, collecting 4 points for the team.
Try as he might Maldondado was unable to catch up with the iSport car, who stole the show today 0.6 seconds ahead of the Piquet Sports car. Senna not only won, but took fastest lap & was joined by his team mate on the podium Karun Chandok in third.
Team Principal David Sears: "What a great race today with Alvaro Parente finishing in a fine 5th place, supported by Christian Bakkerud finishing in an excellent 10th place. Alvaro starts on the 2nd row of the grid, for the reverse top 8 grid tomorrow, & has moved back up to fourth in the drivers championship. Christian has a real chance to finish in the point. Bruno Senna drove a faultless race to win, & iSport are at the top of the teams' championship again."
Alvaro Parente: "I got a good start and managed to pass one car. I had traffic all around, so it was tough throughout the whole race. I got past Pantano though, that felt good! We had a good pit stop, where I think we gained some time. It's a shame we couldn't pass Valles but there is just no room here. But I'm pleased with the result"
Christian Bakkerud: "I'm really pleased to finish top ten, with no problems! My back has been fine, so that's something. The start was alright. I lost a place but gained it back again. It's a shame Pantano spun in front and held everyone up, as I think I could have got P8, but its Monaco, its an amazing circuit & enjoyed every lap! Starting from P10 tomorrow, anything can happen. Its hard to overtake so I'm hoping a few will drop out."
Trident Racing - Ho Pin Tung (7th) Mike Conway (8th)
The first race of the GP2 Main Series weekend at Monte Carlo left a bitter taste at Trident Racing, although the team was able to score points with both cars. The 45-lap long race held today in Monaco featured an excellent performance by Mike Conway, who constantly stayed in the top-3 and managed to increase his margin thanks to great pace and a perfect strategy. The Brit's race came to an unexpected end with just a handful of corners to go, when lapped Spaniard Javier Villa made a colossal mistake at port chicane, outbraking himself and wrecking into the back of Mike's car. He was classified in 8th despite not having been able to cross the line, while Villa was moved back 10 positions on tomorrow's starting grid. He'll be partnered on front row by Ho Pin Tung, who rebounded from his qualifying misfortunes to score points after starting in 20th. Thirty-lap long Race two will start at 16:00, GMT+1.
Ho Pin Tung: "I'm very satisfied with the outcome of today's Race 1. As I told yesterday, a points finish was my goal, and I'm glad to have made it on an hard racetrack like Monte Carlo. I had a very good start, but Petrov slightly touched my right rear at the first corner, changing something in the car's handling. Fortunately, the problem disappeared after the pit-stop, allowing me to keep a good pace all-race long. I have to thank the team for both the fast pit and the great strategy. Ending up in 7th after taking off from 20th is great, and I hope to end the weekend on an high note tomorrow, as I'll be starting from front row"
Mike Conway: "I'm really really disappointed for what happened today. After driving a great race, making a great stop and running on a perfect strategy, it's quite tough to see such great work being completely destroyed by an unacceptable behavior kept by a lapped driver. It's really hard to imagine how someone can commit such a huge mistake with a few corners to go, and nothing to fight for. I only can look forward to Race 2, where I'll be able to start on pole, even though I would have preferred to take a really deserved trophy back home today."
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director: "The great race disputed today by Mike, greatly supported by all our staff was completely blown off by an episode happened at the last lap. After an extremely positive qualifying session, and thanks to a great team effort, we were running with both cars in the points zone, and with Mike close to a podium finish. The crash caused by Villa deprived us of a deserved result, and we were surprised by the light penalty assessed to the Spaniard. That said, we must remember all the good work done before the event in order to finally show our full potential. We'll have an all-Trident Racing front row tomorrow, and I hope our two drivers will be able to defend their position and end up 1-2. It'd be the right way to repay Mike and the team of today's big disappointment".
DPR - Andy Soucek (13th) Diego Nunes (15th)
David Price Racing (DPR) brought home both its GP2 cars today, competing in the first of the two races at the third round of the Series, at the infamous Monaco street circuit. Andy Soucek, back in the DPR car this weekend to assist the team whilst regular driver Herck is injured, showed strong pace during practice, but an incident during qualifying prevented him from showing his true potential in today's race, crossing the line in 13th place. Diego Nunes made his debut at the tight and twisty Monaco Circuit, with a solid drive to bring his car home in 15th place.
On Soucek's return to the DPR team he quickly resumed the strong pace that he had shown at the end of last season and in the GP2 Asia races. He ran well during practice, posting a fourth fastest time in opening practice. However Soucek didn't have the chance to show his capabilities during qualifying, as during his first run out he ran too close to the barriers, which ended with him losing his rear wing. This put an early end to his qualifying session and resulted in him starting the Feature race right at the back of the grid. Nunes who was continuing his GP2 learning curve, completed the qualifying session without incident and landed a 20th place grid spot.
Under sunny conditions and track temperatures up to 24ºC, the GP2 cars lined up on the grid for the fifth race of the season. All of the cars made it cleanly through the first corner at Ste Devote, and the DPR drivers put their heads down to improve on their start positions. As the race progressed other drivers fell foul of the demanding street circuit, hauling Nunes and Soucek up the order. Soucek pitted early and after a clean stop rejoined in 18th place, Nunes also had a good pit stop from the DPR team and returned to the track with new tyres to continue pushing hard for position.
From then on both drivers successfully stayed out of trouble, avoiding a multi-car incident and avoiding the perils of the close barriers and high kerbs which line this unique track. Soucek finally took the chequered flag in 13th place with Nunes close behind in 15th position.
David Price commented after the Feature Race, "Before qualifying we were quite optimistic ahead of the race. Andy was really quick in practice and we knew he had the car underneath him to get the job done. Unfortunately on his first qualifying run in his efforts to make the most of a clear track, he was a little bit hasty on the cold tyres and pushed too soon, so ended up damaging the car in an incident putting him out of qualifying. We should have had a top five start for the race, but it didn't happen, and that impacted on today's race for Andy.
"We have to take the positives though; both drivers reached the chequered flag unscathed on a circuit which is renowned for incidents. We are always quick out of the box here at Monaco, but we just don't seem to be able to turn it into results. We are in a good position for tomorrow's race though, and hopefully we can get some points."
For the first time since its inception, GP2 has a second race in Monaco, and the GP2 cars will once again line up tomorrow for the Sprint Race. Soucek will start 13th with Nunes a few grid slots further back in 15th.
Racing Engineering - Javier Villa (14th) Giorgio Pantano (DNF)
Neither of the Racing Engineering drivers could avoid the usual incidents and traffic problems so typical of any race held at Monaco. Both Giorgio Pantano and Javier Villa were left without the chance of a good result, the Italian after being victim of one of the several clashes that were part of a really action packed race, and the Spaniard due to his position at the back of the grid that made it nearly impossible for him to get a better finish.
Oddly enough, the start that is usually the moment where every year there are problems was incident free with the 25 cars going through the narrow Sainte Devote without major problem. Giorgio, who started fifth, lost a couple of places as a result of being pushed against the barriers by Chandhok which meant he had to lift, whilst Javier, starting 18th, passed Roldán Rodríguez. Given their very different qualifying positions, the tactics for both drivers regarding the mandatory pit stop were quite different, with Javi being bought in first in order to look for a clean track ahead for as many laps as possible, while Giorgio was hanging on in the front group trying to pit when most of his rivals had already stopped.
Initially everything went as planned; with Villa doing his tyre change in the opening laps and immediately starting to lap faster once back on the track without traffic ahead. However soon things went wrong for the Spanish team, when the Repsol and Telefónica liveried Dallara of Giorgio was hit by the Arden car driven by Sebastien Buemi spelling the end for Racing Engineering's driver who was forced to retire when he had really good chances of getting a good result and also a favourable starting position for tomorrow's Sprint Race.
Javi meanwhile continued although he was soon delayed by a lot of traffic ahead which stopped him from going at his own pace and to further progress in the classification He finished the race in 14th place but, after making contact with Conway in the final laps, he was penalised by ten places on the grid for the Saturday race.
All in all it was a disappointing day for Racing Engineering although, fortunately at least, the damage to the cars isn't too bad so the mechanics will be able to get them ready for tomorrow's race. Then it will be really tough fighting for good results given the starting positions near the back that today's race has doomed both Telefónica and Repsol backed cars to. Nevertheless the two drivers will be certain to give their best hoping that the luck they lost today will be on their side tomorrow allowing the Spanish outfit to keep the leadership in the driver championship that's still in the hands of Racing Engineering's Giorgio Pantano after today's race.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "Its a real pity. Our boys did a great job, but Giorgio's race found a sudden end due to the overeager overtaking maneuver of Buemi. Trying to pass where it isn't possible meant an early finish for him, Giorgio and three other drivers. I really hope Buemi's move doesn't prejudice us in both the driver and team championships lead."
Javier Villa: "I started well, at the beginning I passed Roldan and I was pushing for a couple of laps and then stopped for my tyre change. Then I had 3-4 clean laps until I caught up with the group ahead. I was going quickly and I was feeling happy with the car but it was a difficult race, full of incidents."
Giorgio Pantano: "The start was not perfect. I had bit too much wheelspin and Chandhok pushed me towards the wall, so I had to lift. Then it's difficult to pass, I was most probably faster than some cars ahead of me, but there was just no way to pass them. Then Buemi hit me and I went off, which is a shame as I ran in a good position, more than anything also keeping in mind tomorrow's race."