02/08/2008
NEWS STORY
iSport International - Bruno Senna (3rd) Karun Chandhok (4th)
Bruno Senna overcame a fourth-row start to rise to third place during today's GP2 Series feature race at the Hungaroring, Budapest. At one of the tightest tracks on the calendar, where overtaking is notoriously difficult, the Brazilian made a fantastic start to gain four places on the opening lap. Progress was mildly less spectacular thereafter, but a fast, consistent drive netted third place, his fifth podium finish of the campaign. He remains second in the championship and has closed to within nine points of series leader Giorgio Pantano.
Team-mate Karun Chandhok was one of those passed by Senna at the start, but the Indian fought back and drove a strong race to finish fourth. He moves up to sixth in the points table and has helped the team consolidate its comfortable lead in the championship for teams.
Bruno Senna: "I'm pleased with that. I got good traction off the line and was able to pick up the slipstream from at least three cars on the run down to Turn One. I opted for the outside line and swept past Mike Conway, Giorgio Pantano and Karun in one move.
"After that I struggled a little bit on the first set of tyres, but the team called me in at exactly the right time and the car felt much better balanced on the second set. In the second stint I just focused on looking after the car and keeping the tyres in good shape. It was one of those days when I simply had to get as much as I could from the race and I really don't think I could have done any more."
Karun Chandhok: "I got too much wheelspin at the start - the clutch map seemed to have reset itself and I just didn't get away as cleanly as I would have liked. I then found myself boxed on the inside at Turn One, but the important thing was to get through the corner without touching anyone so I didn't take any chances.
"I had a little bit of understeer prior to the tyre stops, but felt I was closing slightly on Bruno, then we fitted fresh rear tyres and the understeer got worse! After the stops I just stroked it home, really. The car was good enough for a top-four finish but I just needed a little bit more if I was to challenge for the podium."
Trident Racing - Mike Conway (6th) Ho Pin Tung (DNF)
Today's Race 1 at the Hungaroring was kind of double-faced for Trident Racing. Mike Conway took a very valuable 6th spot, at the end of an extremely hard race due to the on-track battle and to the hot weather. The British driver scored three points in the series' standings, and will be starting Race 2 from the third spot. Ho Pin Tung had a very disappointing day: the Chinese driver saw his chances to shine disappear after being hit from behind by Alvaro Parente. Trident Racing will be aiming for a strong finish on the 28-lap Race 2, scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30.
Alessio Alunni Bravi, Managing Director: "Trident Racing experienced a mix of feelings today during Race 1. Mike had a great race, reacting to an unfortunate start that cost him a couple of positions. We scheduled an early pit-stop, so we called him in sooner than possible, allowing him to push on a clean racetrack. The laptimes were great, and Mike managed to recover two spots on his main rivals. We knew that in the end, with older tires, he might have some troubles, but the Brit managed to keep Sebastien Buemi behind and take 6th place. We're very sorry for what happened to Ho Pin Tung. He made a great start as usual, taking 12th place, but was hit from behind by Alvaro Partente in the opening lap, despite the yellow flags waving for a contact between Pantano and Grosjean. We're sure the Chinese driver would have been able to fight for a really deserved points finish without that incident".
Ho Pin Tung: "I had another great start today, managing to move from 17th to 12th. During the first lap I came to turn 5 and saw the yellow flags due to the incident happened between Pantano and Grosjean. At that point, I felt an impact from behind and found myself turned around, with my car stalled. I was hit by Parente a few seconds after the start, and I don't know what to say: I think such manouver was really unprofessional. At that point I was in front of Sebastien Buemi, and I'm sure to have lost a concrete chance to score some extremely important championship points".
Mike Conway: "It was a tough race, really. My start was not perfect, but thanks to the good pace I kept after the early pit-stop, I was able to take a couple of spots back. In the closing stages, I have to resist on some very deteriorated tires. I knew that any little mistake would have allowed Buemi to move on, but I stayed focused and kept 6th place. I'm now fully concentrated on Race 2: I'll start from third, eyeing a podium finish".
Super Nova International: Andy Soucek (8th) Alvaro Parente (16th)
Andy Soucek put in a solid effort for Super Nova this afternoon, to take home eighth place, a championship point and pole position for tomorrows reverse grid sprint race!
Typical hot Hungarian conditions set the scene, as another thrilling GP2 feature race got underway at 4pm. All cars got away off the grid incident free, Andy making an impressive recovery to sit 10th. After pitting for two rear tyres, he confidently rejoined swiftly claiming eighth place. The Austro-Spaniard fiercely defended his position for 17 laps despite intense pressure from Jerome D'Ambrosio in the DAMS car behind.
Unfortunately team mate Alvaro Parente suffered damage to his car early on when he made contact with Ho-Pin Tung while trying to overtake. Forced in for repairs, a frustrated Alvaro had to endure a long pit stop, replacing the front wing and four new tyres. In his hast to recover lost time, Alvaro was issued a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which did not help his cause at all. Out on the track the Portuguese driver demonstrated how quick he is, setting some impressive sector times, but sadly the leaders were too far ahead, and so he finished out of the points in 16th place.
Lucas Di Grassi took the lead from pole sitter Romain Grosjean at the start, to go on to win today's 42 lap race. Andreas Zuber came in second, followed by Bruno Senna. However it was Pastor Maldonado who caused a stir, the Venezuelan who started 26th on the grid stormed through to finish 5th at the flag.
Team Principal David Sears "In an action packed race here today in Hungary several drivers were making mistakes including championship leader Giorgio Pantano. Unfortunately Alvaro made contact with another car and caused damage to his front wing, so he was one of the first drivers to pit on lap six. The team did a good job, but still he lost about 16 seconds. In his frustration he exceeded the limit in the pit lane, getting a penalty and he finished 16th. However his race pace was extremely impressive.
Andy Soucek lost three places in the opening laps when he was pushed wide by Grosjean, however Andy recovered really well & got up to 8th place at the flag, gaining the last point and so he will start on pole position for the race tomorrow."
Alvaro Parente: "I was trying to overtake Tung when we collided, and bent my wing. It was destroying the tyres, so I had no choice but to come in. I had recovered some places and was in P9 when I went into the pits, but there was no chance of me catching up afterwards so we used the rest of the race to test, and gather more info for the engineers. It's a shame because we could have finished in the points today."
Andy Soucek: "Our aim today was to finish in the points, so I am very pleased with the result. The car felt really good, an improvement from yesterday, and we are making a few changes for tomorrow, so I'm a little cautious but also confident. We have high expectations for tomorrows race."
DAMS - Jérôme d'Ambrosio (9th) Kamui Kobayshi (11th)
Today, the DAMS team competed in the first of the 2 races counting for the seventh round of the 2008 GP2 Series Championship held as curtain raisers to this weekend's Hungarian F1 Grand Prix. After a qualifying session marked by traffic and yellow flags Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Kamui Kobayashi started from 9th and 10th places on the grid.
The Belgian driver made a good getaway, and looked on course for a points finish until he ran into a wheel nut problem during his pit stop losing him precious seconds. He rejoined in 9th place and that was where he finished. The Hungaroring is notorious for its lack of passing opportunities.
Kamui almost stalled when the lights went out and went into the first corner in 17th place. Thanks to an excellent strategy based on an early pit stop, the Japanese fought his way back up through the field and crossed the line in 11th place, but outside the points.
Eric Boullier, team manager: "As it has been the case too often recently we finished outside the points even though we were quick enough to mix it with the front-runners. It's all very frustrating. Jérôme was well on the pace today, and he would have finished in the top eight without the problem during the pit stop. Kamui again put on another of his amazing fight-backs but finishing the first lap in seventeenth place effectively scuppered his chances."
Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "I made a good start and I was able to match the pace of the leaders without problems in the opening laps. We decided to do the pit stop fairly early on and it was the right decision, but I lost five seconds because of a jammed wheel nut, which ruined my race. It's very frustrating to finish just outside the points and only one place off tomorrow's pole. But that's racing."
Kamui Kobayshi: "Our aim was to score points today and to start from a good place on the grid for tomorrow. We didn't achieve it. Once again I had a problem at the start and that spoiled my race. I'm going to analyse the reasons for this with the team this evening and make sure it doesn't happen again. I reckon we can still score some points, though."
DPR - Diego Nunes (12th) Michael Herck (DNF)
The Hungarian stop on the GP2 calendar began well for the David Price Racing (DPR) team with Diego Nunes having a solid first practice session, while team mate Michael Herck also showed improvement as he continues to play catch up after starting his season three events into this year's championship. Nunes posted his best qualifying performance of the season so far yesterday, taking 14th place for today's Feature race, and he ran well, at a track renowned for limited overtaking, to finish 12th, his second best Feature race finish this season. Herck was forced to retire after an off track excursion which caused suspension damage.
The DPR team had already suffered drama before the crew even reached the circuit today, with six of the team members involved in a car crash on the motorway en route to the Hungaroring. Three of the crew were taken to hospital, but luckily escaped injury and were able to return to the hotel to rest and are expected to be back for the Sprint race tomorrow, while the other three were able to take up their duties trackside.
Although both Nunes and Herck both made good starts, in the fight through the opening sequence of corners they lost a place a piece, to lie 15th and 23rd respectively after the opening lap. Nunes fought back to regain 14th on the second lap, and was then up to 13th after three laps. Further back Herck was also moving forward and was up to 19th by the end of lap three.
The pits opened on lap six, with most of the teams keeping their cars out on track initially, but before long the front runners began pitting, while DPR opted to keep both cars out on the first set of tyres slightly deeper into the race.
Nunes made his pit stop with the DPR crew working fast so that he was quickly back out on track to battle for a top ten position. Herck pitted on lap 12, but the young DPR driver had a brush with the armco at the tight pit entrance as he headed towards the pits, which damaged the front left suspension of the car, forcing Herck into retirement.
With new tyres Nunes continued to chase down Kobayashi, but with limited overtaking opportunities at this Hungarian track, it was a tough job for the young Brazilian. He made a number of moves on the Japanese driver but couldn't make any of them stick, the pair closely matched in their GP2 machines. Vitaly Petrov retired from further up the order to promote Nunes to 12th, and with nine laps to go all of Nunes' hard work hounding Kobayashi paid off, as he made a clean move to take 11th place from him. Sakon Yamomoto was the Brazilian's next target, but with only a few laps remaining, attempted to take Yamomoto, but ended up running wide, dropping back behind Kobayashi to lie 12th, his finish position at the chequered flag.
David Price, Team Principal, said at the end of today's race: "Our day didn't start well today and we're thankful that there were no serious injuries. "We'd hoped to make it into the top ten today and although we didn't quite do it, we're not far outside it, so we're hoping to move further forwards in tomorrow's race with Diego. Michael was driving well this weekend, but was just caught out with the tight pit lane entrance, which was disappointing, as he'll now be starting at the back for tomorrow. We'll have our full crew with us tomorrow and we'll be ready to make it into the top ten with Diego."
Racing Engineering - Javier Villa (13th) Giorgio Pantano (14th)
It was a very difficult day for both of the Racing Engineering drivers in today's Feature Race at the Hungaroring as Giorgio Pantano was involved in an early race incident and Javier Villa was hampered by his poor grid position following his problems in yesterday's Qualifying. Despite his problems Giorgio still leads the 2008 Drivers Championship by 9 points.
The 42 lap race started cleanly with all the cars getting away without incident, Giorgio made a good start from 8th on the grid and gained two places despite some gentle contact with another car on the opening lap. Giorgio found himself behind his great rival from the Hockenheim round, Romain Grosjean, the Racing Engineering driver immediately began to put heavy pressure on the ART car and it looked to have paid off as Grosjean ran wide and onto the run-off area. The Italian quickly took advantage to sweep ahead but as Grosjean regained the tarmac he made contact with the rear of Giorgio's car spinning the Racing Engineering Dallara around. It was some moments before Giorgio could find a gap in the traffic to resume the track and he found himself back in 22nd place behind Asmer.
The Racing Engineering team opted for an early pitstop to allow Giorgio a chance to find some empty track and to give him the opportunity to make up as much ground as possible. The Repsol and Telefónica supported car was immediately flying and by lap 4 Giorgio was up to 20th and closing on Herck. By lap 10 Giorgio was challenging Filippi for 18th and on the next lap the Arden driver ran wide and Giorgio took the place. Within 6 laps the Italian was lying 16th and running just behind his team-mate Villa. Realising that he was holding Giorgio up Javi made no effort to block the second Racing Engineering car and on lap 18 the number 12 car was 15th. Giorgio now began to chase Rodriguez and was soon ahead and pulling quickly away but he now found himself too far behind the cars ahead to gain any more places and he had to settle for 14th at the flag as he dropped behind Javier in the closing stages.
For Javier Villa it was a similarly disappointing race, starting from 18th on the grid Javi lost four places at the start as he was both boxed in by a car ahead getting away slowly and he found that, as yesterday, his clutch was functioning incorrectly, however he was quickly back up to 19th by the end of the second lap and by lap 4 Javi was 18th and chasing Filippi hard.
The Racing Engineering team had opted for the early pit stop strategy for Javier as well as Giorgio and a typically efficient stop saw the young Spaniard quickly on his way. Javi was now in hot pursuit of Rodriguez who was running in 14th and on lap 13 he was only 0.38 seconds behind. A slight error on lap 17 saw Javi run wide without losing a place and he now found himself closely followed by his team-mate and on the following lap Giorgio demoted Javi to 16th. For the next 7 laps Javi did all he could to pass Rodriguez and on lap 25 Rodriguez broke under pressure and spun allowing Javi up to 14th. Javi was now in the same position as his team-mate, he was too far behind to gain any more places and so he concentrated on bringing his car home to finish 13th as he gained a place at the end at the expense of his team-mate.
For tomorrow's Sprint Race both drivers will be starting in the middle of the grid and both will be trying to make up as many places as possible on this track where overtaking is so difficult. Both men have the consolation that, as expected, the Racing Engineering cars have been totally reliable as once again the Spanish team brought both cars to the finish.
Alfonso de Orleans Borbón (team principal): "I am upset about Grosjean's move. I know it was a race incident, but it left Giorgio without any chances in this race. Javi did a good job during the second half of the race, but also he suffered from problems and could not make up the positions he needed to get into the points."
Javier Villa: "Again we suffered from problems with the clutch. In the formation lap the clutch already started to slip and I had to cool it down, not being able to prepare my start properly. As a consequence my tyres were not up to their temperature and I lost a lot during the beginning of the race. As so often this year, we have a well balanced car, which could be seen during the second part of the race, but facing so many problems, there is little we can do."
Giorgio Pantano: "We did a great start and I moved up. I passed Grosjean as he made a mistake, but he hit me in the back, this caused me to spin and I found myself at the end of the field. I kept pushing, but no more was possible."
Durango - Davide Valsecchi (DNF) Alberto Valerio (DNF)
This afternoon's race has been quite a frustrating experience for all the Durango personnel. The good Alberto Valerio, once more, has been targeted by a technical problem being forced to leave his car just few minutes before the start. Different story for Davide Valsecchi who was driving really well being able to recover ten positions in six laps. So he was sixth and still recovering when he made a mistake under braking finishing his race in the barrier. Not all the above being enough, a wasp punctured the team manager Luca Zerbini exactly when Alberto was forced to retire. Let's hope tomorrow will get a little bit better.