16/07/2008
NEWS STORY
David Price Racing (DPR) heads to the Hockenheim Circuit in Germany this weekend for the sixth round of the 2008 GP2 Series. Romanian-born Michael Herck and Brazilian Diego Nunes will be back behind the wheel and anticipating another tough weekend, with weather forecasts predicting plenty of rain to spice up the racing.
At the previous round supporting the British GP with the team's home race at the historic Silverstone circuit, DPR's rookie drivers Nunes and Herck bought home their cars in 17th and 23rd places respectively during the Feature race. Heavy rain shaped the outcome of the Sprint race, with DPR one of many victims to fall foul of the tricky conditions. The weather caused start line havoc for the whole field as the wet track made visibility almost impossible. Michael Herck, set to race in only his fourth event of the Series, was unable to take the green flag after a small error on his out lap ended with a slide into the tyres at Copse. Then a first lap incident ended Diego Nunes' day, with the Brazilian driver slipping into the gravel and unable to rejoin the race.
The German Grand Prix is shared between the Hockenheim and Nurburgring Circuits with the Formula One championship and GP2 Series alternating between the two venues each season. This year Hockenheim plays host to the two prestige motor racing Series and is set for a sell-out weekend. Herck has racing experience at the track from junior formulae, while Nunes will make his Hockenheim race debut this weekend. Situated in the Rhine valley, the circuit is almost completely flat, with very little change in elevation. The original 4.2mile layout of the Hockenheim Circuit was changed in the early 2000's to make the track shorter, the new design was created by famed track designer Herman Tilke and is now only 2.8 miles long.
Team Principal David Price commented ahead of the weekend, "We head into the second half of the season with the motivation and determination that we have each weekend. Although we haven't seen the finish results that we want, we have certainly been making progress. Diego is improving each weekend as he gains from the experience of racing at this high level and working with the engineering team to develop his race craft. Michael has only recently returned to racing and is just back to full fitness, but he knows this track, so that will help him this weekend.
We've started investing heavily into our technical team because we want to be up at the front fighting for race wins, so that's a clear goal for us. With the wet weather forecasts we'll also be working on race strategy, as that can often be key when it's unpredictable conditions."