22/06/2008
NEWS STORY
ART Grand Prix - Luca Filippi (3rd) Romain Grosjean (DNF)
ART Grand Prix left the Magny Cours circuit in France this weekend with one podium finish, a tenth place and two retirements. After setting the track alight in Friday practice, local hero Romain Grosjean qualified in second place behind Bruno Senna, however, both races failed to yield the expected results for the Frenchman. After a strong run and an early pitstop, Grosjean was looking good for the win in race one, embroiled in an intense battle with Giorgio Pantano until he suffered with an hydraulic gremlin which allowed Pantano through for the win. Starting from the back in a wet race two, Grosjean changed to slicks but unfortunately ended up in the gravel trap after pushing hard in an attempt to enter the top 6.
For teammate Luca Filippi, who qualified eleventh, a tenth place finish in race one was disappointing, however he came through in the chaotic wet race two to take a brilliant third place and give the team some very valuable world championship points.
Luca Filippi: Qualifying and race one did not go that well. I don't have a lot of confidence with the car the way it is set-up and I can't push hard in the fast curves. We were fast at the end of race 1 but together with the team we have to figure out how to be better placed on the starting grid. We have to keep working hard to be more efficient in the fast curves because it will be crucial at Silverstone.
We made the right decision on Sunday. The ten first laps were tricky with slick tyres on a damp track but I stayed calm because I knew my time would come later. I didn't make any mistakes and I waited for the latter stages to push hard. I was the fastest man on track at that time and the podium was a good reward for everybody's work in the team. This result is very good motivation. It was essential to show the engineers and mechanics that I can deliver and do a pretty good job.
Romain Grosjean: Even though the results are extremely disappointing, we have to look at all the positive aspects of the weekend. Our performance level was excellent. It proved that we worked in the right direction at the Castellet circuit and that we made a step forward. The first row was my best qualifying result so far and our strategy was very good too because it allowed me to close the gap with Senna and overtake him. Everything was just perfect and the win was in my grasp until the hydraulic pump ruined all our work. The next day we decided to start on rain tyres thinking another shower would come. But, this was not the case and we changed our tyres to wets. I was the first one to do so but I think the timing was right. I had no choice but to attack to the maximum if I wanted to have a chance of scoring some points.
Frédéric Vasseur: There is nothing to say against ART Grand Prix in Magny-Cours. The team was en route to win on its home soil. Our level of performance and strategies were the best of the weekend and it's a shame that an incident we had nothing to do with prevented us from getting the laurels we deserved. On another note, the positive thing is Luca's first podium. His competitiveness was rewarded at last and I hope he will never look back because we will need our best assets for the rest of the championship as we can't afford to make even the smallest mistake.
iSport International - Bruno Senna (5th) Karun Chandhok (DNF)
Bruno Senna took his iSport Dallara to fifth place in the GP2 Series sprint at Magny-Cours - an excellent result from 23rd place on the grid, but disappointing in view of the technical problems that stifled his charge.
Denied a likely victory in Saturday's feature event, when his clutch failed, the Brazilian today opted for slick tyres on a damp track and stormed through the field as conditions improved. He was set for a strong third place when a gear selector problem slowed his progress and dropped him to fifth. He remains second in the championship, seven points behind Italian Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering).
Karun Chandhok struggled to get away cleanly from the front row of the grid and slipped to ninth after a first-lap spin. After changing to dry tyres, he was making his way back through the field when he was caught up in a chain-reaction accident that prompted his retirement.
Bruno Senna: "I could feel that grip was beginning to improve on my final reconnaissance lap, so I thought we could be in good shape. I took things very gently at first and gained a few places as others made mistakes. It didn't take too long before dry tyres came into their own and after that I made rapid progress. It was difficult, but I'm usually very quick in tricky conditions and once the race settled down I was fairly confident that a podium finish was achievable. Unfortunately, the gear selector then began to play up and I also lost full throttle. Fifth is obviously a good result, because I started a long way back, but it is also frustrating because a podium result was within my grasp and I lost it for reasons beyond my control."
Karun Chandhok: "I bogged down at the start and dropped to fourth almost immediately, which wasn't great, then I spun when I caught the white line at the track's edge. That put me back to ninth. I started on wets because that's what everybody else at the front chose to do - I was just covering myself against them, although that obviously turned out to be the wrong call. As soon as Bruno started setting fastest sector times, I dived in for dries and started to make my way up through the field. Unfortunately, I arrived at one of the chicanes at the back of a group of cars and the guy at the front was unbelievably slow. Everyone started diving left and right to miss him - and each other - but unfortunately I ran into the back of Giorgio Pantano. I apologised to him, but he was fine about it. He almost crashed into one of the other cars, too, so he understood exactly what had happened."
Trident Racing - Mike Conway (6th) Ho Pin Tung (14th)
Both Trident Racing cars took the checkered flag in the second race of the GP2 Mains Series race at Magny Cours. Weather played an important role today, as all the teams were forced to make an initial tire choice on variable conditions. Mike, who started on rain tires, was forced to stop and switch to slicks like happened to all the other drivers on the same rubber. The Brit managed to end up into the points zone, making his way to 6th place. Ho Pin had an opposite choice, but paid the price of a set-up that didn't match the on-track conditions. He had to content with 14th place.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director: The early stages were heavily conditioned by weather today, altering the values shown during Race 1. In the pre-race, all the top-9 drivers opted to start on rain tires, as some wet was still present on both the braking zones and on the faster chicanes. The use of slick tires in that case was really risky, but in the end it paid off, as shown by all the top finishers. Mike ended up in 6th place, taking home points for the 6th straight time and showing an impressive pace by keeping among the fastest men on-track. After his pit-stop, he managed to control experienced Pastor Maldonado and, in the end, Lucas Di Grassi was the only wets-starter to stay in front of us. Ho Pin Tung had a rough day: we tried to conduct some set-up experiments for the next race, and it all didn't work out right. I want to express my appreciation towards Charlie Whiting, who allowed teams to change tires on the grid after evaluating the situation in the installation laps. It was a good call, oriented to increase safety.
Mike Conway: My race was - of course - conditioned by the track's conditions, as the choice to start on slicks proved to be the right one. All the top starters elected to take off on rain tires, and it would have been dangerous to differ while starting on pole. I managed to stay in the lead in the initial laps, until a pit-stop became necessary. I'm glad to have made it to the points zone, as I'm looking forward to my home race at Silverstone, hoping to have a good weekend there.
Ho Pin Tung: We had to make a bid at the start, and we made the right choice with slicks. Unfortunately, the modifications made to my set-up penalized me, especially in the initial damp track conditions. Something improved when it became to dry out, but it was too late to recover, and I couldn't go beyond 14th place.
DAMS - Kamui Kobayashi (9th) Jérôme d'Ambrosio (26th)
DAMS had a difficult morning on the Magny-Cours circuit in the 2nd GP2 Series race, one of the curtain raisers to the French F1 Grand Prix.
The event was run in tricky conditions as a shower fell just before the start making the track very slippery.
Jérôme d'Ambrosio's 3rd place on the grid raised the team's hopes of a rostrum finish but his race ended abruptly. He made a great start and then collided with another car almost immediately. He was lying second at the time and was unable to continue retiring with a broken steering arm.
Kamui Kobayashi did his best but starting from far back on the grid a points finish seemed out of the question. The Japanese, however, made a fighting comeback clawing his way up to 9th place, and set the fastest lap of the race with a few minutes to go to the chequered flag earning him a point.
DAMS scored 4 points this weekend and is now concentrating on the next round of the GP2 Series Championsh ip at Silverstone in 2 week's time.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "We've scored points this weekend but not as many as we should have. Kamui was unlucky in qualifying and he paid dearly for that. Jérôme drove a superb race yesterday but did not get very far today. To sum up, we had what it took to get on the rostrum twice, but circumstances decided otherwise. That's racing!"
Kamui Kobayashi: "There was little to hope for in the short race given my place on the grid. But at least I set the fastest lap and scored a point. It's some small consolation, and this performance shows that we had what it took to play a leading role this weekend. A pity."
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "I had a chance of getting onto the rostrum today and score a lot of points. Unfortunately, a collision put paid to my hopes. The track was very slippery and it was easy to make a mistake. I'm very disappointed by this premature end to my race. I'll have to do with my three points yesterday and remain positive saying that I've opened my score in the drivers' championship this weekend."
Racing Engineering - Javier Villa (10th) Giorgio Pantano (DNF)
It was a disappointing day for Racing Engineering in today's Sprint Race with Giorgio Pantano retiring and Javier Villa finishing 10th as all the teams struggled in very difficult conditions.
It had been raining as the cars lined up on the grid for the 28 lap Sprint Race and with a further threat of more to come there was a lot of indecision as to whether to opt for wet or dry tyres. The majority of the drivers opted for wet tyres including Giorgio but several drivers nearer the back of the grid with little to lose, including Javier, chose slicks which proved to be the correct strategy.
It was a clean start for all the cars although Javier lost several places as the car in front of him was slow away and at the end of the first lap Giorgio had gained a place and was up to 7th but Javier found himself pushed back to 19th. Giorgio gained another place on lap 2 as he chased Maldonado and he quickly pulled away from Nunes.
On lap 5 Giorgio dived into the pits and the Racing Engineering team quickly fitted a set of slicks and sent the Italian driver back into the race. Javier had been making progress up the race order as several cars ahead pitted for slicks and by lap 10 he was running 9th while Giorgio was 14th after his pit stop.
Giorgio was looking to move up to the points scoring positions and on lap 14 he tried to pass Petrov as the two cars entered the Adelaide Hairpin, the Racing Engineering driver made his move on the inside line but the Russian driver left him no room and the two cars made heavy contact. It was immediately clear that Giorgio had suffered suspension damage and he pulled into the pits at the end of the lap to retire.
Javier continued to push as quickly as possible in the very slippery conditions but on lap 18 he ran wide into a corner and lost two places to Zuber and Kobayashi. The young Spaniard continued to push over the remaining laps as several cars in front had mechanical problems or spun out and at the finish he claimed 10th place.
Although today did not provide the results that Racing Engineering was looking for, the Spanish team have shown once again that their cars are very competitive and are potential race winners at all the tracks. Additionally, once again, they have shown great reliability with three finishes and the only non-finish the result of an accident.
The GP2 teams now move to Silverstone in two weeks time and once again Racing Engineering will be looking to win.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "After yesterday's celebration it's been quite a disappointment and we didn't achieve the results today. Both cars were in perfect condition and the boys did a great job. Sadly Giorgio's race was ended by contact with Petrov."
Javier Villa: " It was a difficult race. The track was completely wet, but we know that after a few laps, it would dry up. At the end of the race I went very quickly and I enjoyed the race. I didn't have a good position, but this is also due to the conditions."
Giorgio Pantano: "The conditions this morning were very difficult. I decided to start on wet tyres and to take advantage of the wet track. When it dried up, we switched to slicks and it was too late then. Then I had the contact with Petrov that finished my race."
Fisischella Motor Sport Intl - Marko Asmer (11th) Roldan Rodriguez (16th)
Fisichella Motor Sport International endured a difficult weekend in France as the team came away from the Magny Cours rounds of the GP2 Series with no points. For round four of the championship, Marko Asmer joined the team to race alongside Roldan Rodriguez, who has competed in each race for FMSI in 2008. However, the team leave France with plenty of data to work on ahead of the next round, where they will aim for strong points finishes.
The weekend began on Friday morning when teams had a free practice session on the undulating 4.411km Magny Cours circuit. Thirty minutes were available for FMSI to optimise car set-up on the challenging circuit, which features many fast corners and chicanes mixed with slow turns, making finding the correct balance difficult. ART Grand Prix's Romain Grosjean topped the practice times with a lap time of 1:22.676. Rodriguez completed 19 laps and set the seventh fastest time, five tenths of a
second behind Grosjean's time. Amser clocked a fastest time of 1:24.918 after his 12 laps of practice.
Rodriguez and Amser suffered a difficult qualifying session, with the Spaniard setting the 20th fastest lap and the Estonian the 23rd quickest time, securing tenth and twelfth row grid slots for the FMSI team for Saturday's feature race. In the 41-lap race Asmer brought his FMSI car home in 17th position, completing his first race distance in GP2. Unfortunately Rodriguez failed to finish the feature, retiring eight laps before the chequered flag due to a clutch problem and putting him at the
back for Sunday's shorter race. In the 28-lap sprint, both drivers made the finish, with Asmer crossing the line in 11th, after running as high as fifth during the race, and Rodriguez finishing in 16th position.
Round five of the 2008 GP2 Series, which will host races nine and ten of the season, will take place at the Silverstone circuit in Great Britain on 5 and 6 July.
Paolo Coloni, Team Principal: Although we didn't get the results this weekend, we got a lot of information during every session and we know exactly what we need to do for Silverstone for both drivers. I am confident we can run in the top eight at the next race. We didn't have much luck with Roldan yesterday with the clutch problem in the race, but it was good to see Marko running as high as fifth. However, we ran a safe intermediate set-up for him, which wasn't the best for his position, but we didn't want to take any risks and we wanted him to finish the race. We got good and consistent feedback from both drivers this weekend so we now look forward to Silverstone, where it should be easier for us and we should be able to put in a much better performance.
DPR - Michael Herck (15th) Diego Nunes (DNF)
Diego Nunes and Michael Herck returned to the Magny Cours track in France today, racing with David Price Racing (DPR) in the second of the two GP2 races supporting the French Grand Prix. Mixed weather shaped the race, but it was ultimately technical problems that forced Nunes to retire. Herck drove well to finish in 15th place, while still recovering from his wrist injury, which had put him out of the Series until this weekend.
Nunes had a strong start to his weekend yesterday with his best qualifying and Feature race performances of the season. From an 11th place finish, Nunes lined up in this position for today's start. Prior to the start it was raining in Magny Cours, so all the teams had to make a late call on tyre choice. Alongside most of the grid, DPR opted to begin the race on wet tyres, and Nunes made a good start on these tyres, moving up to eighth place by the end of the first lap and into seventh by the third lap.
Herck had been forced to retire with his wrist injury yesterday, so he lined up in 24th place for today's Sprint race. He remained calm and avoided tangling in the melee of the start to move up to 23rd by the end of the first lap.
Both drivers were called in for dry tyres as soon as the track conditions were suitable and although slippery they were able to rejoin and return to a good race pace. However a number of cars had started the race on dry tyres, so had not needed to pit, handing them the advantage and dropping the DPR cars back down the order.
Nunes, lying in 15th place, had a strong pace until the closing stages of the race when he was forced to return to the pits to retire from the race with an electronics problem. Herck demonstrated his determination and fortitude surviving a tough race to be rewarded with a 15th place finish after 28 laps of hard running. Despite not being at full fitness due to his wrist injury, the young Romanian-born driver was putting in consistent lap times, completing the first GP2 race of his career.
David Price, Team Principal, summed up the race, and the weekend, saying, "We started on wet tyres as the track seemed just too damp and slippery for drys, as quite a few drivers showed. However a few of them managed to cope with the conditions on the slicks and they ultimately won through. We might have made the wrong tyre choice, but in the end it didn't matter which tyre we were on with Diego as we were struck with another technical problem. When these things happen it's tough, but we're a strong team and will bounce back for Silverstone.
"Michael ran well today and took his first GP2 chequered flag, so he gained experience and at this stage it is track time and racing that he needs to develop in the Series. While other drivers fell off the road he persevered and reached the finish, and now we can build on this start as we progress into the season." The DPR team return to the UK today and prepare for their home race, with the GP2 Series supporting the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, in two weeks time.
Super Nova Racing - Alvaro Parente (19th) Andy Soucek (DNF)
It's been a frustrating time for the Super Nova team in Magny Cours this weekend. Both cars demonstrating the speed they are capable of, yet unable to finish in the points.
In yesterdays feature race Alvaro Parente drove his heart out to come from the back, after a grid penalty for failing to sufficiently heed to a yellow flag in qualifying, he battled through to finish an impressive 9th place just missing out on a point. This morning the Portuguese was running in a good 3rd position and looked capable of winning the race until he spun coming out of the last corner. He continued for several laps, but hit a curb and experienced an electrical relay problem which sadly forced him to retire just four laps before the end.
At the start of the race today around 70% of the grid opted to run wet tyres as the track was damp, although the rain had stopped. Super Nova decided to run both drivers on slick tyres, and took the advantage when cars had to make the change to slicks as the track dried out. Unfortunately the conditions were slippery and as Andy Soucek pushed through turn one he came off onto the gravel and ended there, just three laps in.
Full race classifications to follow
Team Principal David Sears "At the beginning of the race today it was very slippery, so we told both drivers to be carefully out on slicks tyres, as we believed it'd dry out. Lots of the drivers who had started on wets had to come in & change, but unfortunately as they did Andy went off into the gravel and that was it for him. Ironically at the time he was ahead of Sebastien Buemi who went to win today.
Alvaro Parente was looking at a firm to win today, but an electrical relay broke, one of several this weekend, which ultimately ended his race and took away the chance of some well deserved points. The team are now looking forward to next round on home soil in Silverstone."
Andy Soucek "I'm very sad really, it's a big shame that I spun, because I was the first guy out on slicks today, Sebastien Buemi was a few seconds behind me at the time, & he ended up leading the race today.
After a few laps the track dried, & I was quickest out there. But in turn one I tried to get too much out of the car and spun. We have the pace, I just need to be more consistent to get the results. The team will be well prepared for Silverstone, with lots of valuable knowledge, so I am positive that we can do good there."
Alvaro Parente "What can I say. It's so frustrating, especially today, we could have finished easily on the podium, and we all deserved it after a tough few days. On Saturday we were back on the pace, & I just missed out on a point and pole for today. I know that every point in this championship is important, so today when something broke on the car it was just so annoying! But we just have to look forward now to Silverstone, which is a track I know, and like."