12/09/2009
NEWS STORY
iSport International - Giedo van der Garde (1st) Diego Nunes (10th)
iSport racer Giedo van der Garde showed maturity and skill in difficult conditions to claim his first feature race victory at the Monza Autodrome in spectacular style. As the cars lined up on the grid the heavens opened causing a thirty minute delay and a safety car start. When the safety car came in Van der Garde pressured leader Vitaly Petrov for most of the race until the iSport racer pitted with 3 laps to go. A lightning pit stop and Van der Garde's out lap was enough to jump Petrov to take the chequered flag and the top step of the podium. Where Van der Garde had a perfect race his iSport team mate Diego Nunes was less fortunate. After running third early on he dropped back through the field as his engine over heated due to debris from the track building up in his side pods.
Giedo van der Garde: "It was a fantastic result. We had a problem for the first few laps, there was water in the engine so I think I had less cylinders. But after five laps it cleared up I could close the gap (to Petrov) from five seconds to a few tenths. I was quick and all over him but it was a good pit stop, we overtook him and won the race. It is a really great result and I have to thank the team for doing a great job".
Diego Nunes: "All the rubbish on the track got into my radiator in the first two or three laps and the engine over heated from the first or second lap until the pit stop. I was racing in safe mode all the time so I was losing four seconds a lap on the straights. I managed to do a good start, by the third of fourth lap I was third already but I was too slow and I couldn't hold the position, it was disappointing.
Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Lucas Di Grassi (3rd) Dani Clos (15th)
Against all odds, and after a great drive from beginning to end in today's GP2 feature race at the Autodromo di Monza, Fat Burner Racing Engineering's Lucas di Grassi scored another podium for the Spanish team this afternoon. His teammate Dani Clos, on the other hand, finished 15th after suffering an engine problem from the very beginning of the race on.
Lucas and Dani were more than ready to face today's challenge at the Italian track where they had to start the feature race from 15th and last respectively due to a 10-position grid penalty received in Spa-Francorchamps two weeks ago. But both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers had to wait longer than expect to show their skills around the legendary Italian track as the start of the race was delayed several times due to the heavy rain that started just minutes before the scheduled start.
After 40 minutes of waiting on the grid under heavy rain, the 32 lap race finally started behind the safety car. The first lap already produced the first casualties of the afternoon when Valerio and Villa slipped off the track, which helped Lucas to move up to 13th and Dani to 23rd. When the safety car left at the end of the 5th lap, the Brazilian was already in 12th and the Spaniard 22nd. The difficult conditions on the track produced various incidents during the following laps, but the Spanish Team's drivers managed to stay away from them to gain ground and positions.
Lucas had a good fight with Rodríguez for P5 and once he overtook him, he quickly reduced the gap to the cars in front. Nunes was the next man to beat, but then Hulkenberg, who was third, went off the track and both Brazilians passed him and Lucas was fourth. The two countrymen battled for P3, and it was Lucas who gained the upper-hand. From that moment on, Lucas had to fight off Parente's attacks which came to an end when the Portuguese was handed a drive through for missing the chicane on more than three occasions. With two laps to go, Lucas did his compulsory pit-stop. The fast work of Fat Burner Racing Engineering's pit crew was good enough for the Brazilian to return to track in third place and cross the line in a better position than expected at the beginning of the race.
Dani Clos was once more a victim of the conditions. Although starting last on the grid, the young Spaniard was very optimistic for today's race. However, a problem with his engine from the start of the race put all possibilities to shine, just like his teammate, on a halt. Dani suffered from a lack of power from his Renault engine which misfired, possibly caused by water entering during moments before the start. So he was not able to participate in today's race at the same level as his competitors. Nevertheless, Dani fought until the end and was able to finish in fifteenth position.
Lucas Di Grassi: Everything went fine. We started behind the safety car and I was overtaking several cars until I ran in third. The car was good under these conditions. We had some issues with the engine temperature because of leaves in the radiators, but this was the only thing that was out of the norm. It was a good race since from fifteenth, I finished third. Tomorrow I will start 6th and I hope for a good race and more points.
Dani Clos: I am really disappointed today. I think Lucas has shown what could have been possible. However, from the very beginning on, I suffered from a problem with my engine. We still need to look into this properly, but it's very likely that this was caused by the heavy rains before the start. I am sure we could have obtained a much better result that 15th.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, Team President: Fantastic race from Lucas. Starting 15th was not easy, but he showed a great pace throughout the whole race. He definitely deserves this podium finish. Dani, on the other hand, was once more extremely unlucky. We still need to analyze the engine problem in detail when the car is back, but water most probably caused it. I am sure that Dani could have had just as a fantastic race as Lucas if his engine ran at its best. Fantastic work also from all the boys in the team. I am very happy their hard work is being rewarded with a podium finish today.
Trident Racing - Davide Rigon (9th) Ricardo Teixeira (16th)
Davide Rigon and Ricardo Teixeira ended the first race of the GP2 Series weekend at Monza respectively in 10th and 16th place. The race has been conditioned by an heavy rainfall started with minutes from the start, forcing the teams to quickly adapt cars to the changed conditions. The start was then postponed by more than 30 minutes, with the first six laps being turned behind the safety car. When the pack took off on green flag conditions, the following laps were marred by many off-track exits and by extremely poor visibility. Trident Racing decided to call both drivers to the pits, anticipating the regular stop also due to the high engine temperatures brought by leaves clogging the cars' radiators. The move costs some time in the closing stages, when the deteriorated tires prevented Rigon and Teixe ira from pushing to the limit. Teixeira improved his pace lap-by-lap, but was penalized with a drive-through after cutting the Roggia chicane three times. Rigon slightly missed the pole spot for Race 2, and ended up in 10th. The final race of the weekend will be starting tomorrow at 10:30, and is set to be telecasted by national TV RAI 2 and by Satellite channel Sky Sport.
Maurizio Salvadori, Team Owner: "Today we witnessed a really strange race, conditioned by heavy rain. We had to anticipate the pit-stops of both drivers due to engine overheating. We even faced the risk of having to come back again for slicks but, even though we've been penalized by tire wear, we ended the race without more stops."
Davide Rigon: "The engine wasn't working well at the start due to the water fallen on the grid, and it wasn't the only engine with the same issues. Then we had an overheating issue caused by leaves, but the team fixed the problem at the start. I haven't been lucky with the set-up choice as the heavy rain set-up proved not to be ideal when the track started to dry out. I hope to score some points tomorrow, unlike what happened today."
Ricardo Teixeira: "It's been one of the toughest races of my entire career. On the first laps visibility was absolutely zero, and finding the ideal line for braking was almost impossible. I went straight for three times at Roggia, and I got a drive-through penalty for that, sending me to the last spot. Today's race has ben even tougher than at Spa, because the asphalt wasn't draining at all and the drivers behind the pack couldn't see anything".
Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (11th) Karun Chandhok (19th)
The first race of the GP2 Main Series on the Monza circuit today saw a very unusual event with the sudden arrival of rain on the formation lap which forced the race to begin under safety car conditions.
Starting 17th on the grid, Alvaro Parente faced the adversities head on, driving an exceptional race on a damp track and working his way up to third place. Unfortunately, two penalties saw him drop back to seventh then 11th place by the time he eventually crossed the line. The first penalty was handed out for short cutting the circuit on three occasions during the first lap, the second for speeding in pitlane during his compulsory stop.
Alvaro had succeeded in drawing perfection from his single-seater and winning all his on track battles, but the end result left him with a bitter taste in his mouth because instead of securing well deserved points and starting on the 1st row of the grid for race two, he is forced to start from row 6 with no points to his name from the opening race. "It was a tough race because of the atmospheric conditions, but a great one in terms of performance," the Portuguese driver analyses. "I was 3rd and I was closing the gap with the leaders when I was handed a drive through penalty for cutting the chicane three times because of aquaplaning against which I had no control. I lost a lot of positions and the podium was not on the cards anymore, but 7th position was a promising quantum of solace for the second race. However, the 25 second penalty I was handed after the race made me fall back to 11th position. The last penalty was two really because without the last safety car neutralisation I would have lost only one position. There is still the satisfaction of having an excellent race but on the other hand the result is frustrating."
19th at the start, teammate Karun Chandhok saw his race compromised by leaves, which due to the pouring rain, had fallen from the trees overhanging the track. They made their way into his radiator air intake and made the Indian's engine temperature climb dangerously high, forcing him to pit so that the team could clean them out. As the pit stop was carried out behind the safety car, Karun was forced to set out again in last place... "After that I had a drive through penalty and I had to push really hard to make up for lost ground. But the track was damp and it made things harder. In the last stage of the race I had an off track excursion and I had to retire. It was not a good day for me and the second race will be hard too."