25/07/2010
NEWS STORY
Trident Racing - Adrian Zaugg (3rd) Johnny Cecotto (DNF)
Trident Racing and Adrian Zaugg scored an extremely valuable podium finish at the end of the 6th GP2 Main Series round of 2010 at Hockenheim. The South African driver, who took off from the front row, ran fast and consistent in an almost flawless race, scoring an incredibly high-profile results.
Johnny Cecotto was once again less lucky, as he was slowed down in the midpack before a crash ended his race after 14 laps. The Venezuelan is set for an early revenge in a few days, as he'll be back, together with the rest of the GP2 pack, at the Hungaroring.
Adrian Zaugg: "Today's one has been one of my best this season. We worked hard on any aspect together with my engineer, and I think everything worked out great. I took the lead at the start, but I've been fighting together with cold tires. I also locked up them, damaging the tread. When Perez came behind me, I couldn't do nothing to protect myself, he was so fast, while I haven't had any problem to keep Bianchi behind. I'm glad and I feel really rewarded to have been able to score a podium finish. The job done with the team has been great too, and I'm sure we'll be in the game at Budapest too"
Johnny Cecotto Jr: "Today's race was really tough too. I took off from the back and I found myself in the middle of a multi-car battle. My car was fast, but the contact with Gonzales literally terminated my race with 10 to go."
ART Grand Prix - Jules Bianchi (4th) Sam Bird (5th)
ART Grand Prix secured more valuable world championship points at this weekend's round of the GP2 championship at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany when rookie driver Jules Bianchi finished fifth in race one and fourth in race two.
Teammate Sam Bird wasn't quite as fortunate in race one however and due to a drive through penalty finished down in fourteenth place, but a strong fight back in Sunday's sprint race saw the young Englishman cross the line in fifth place, right behind Bianchi.
Jules Bianchi: It was important to come back from Hockenheim with some good points and that's what we achieved. Qualifying was not easy with several yellows and neutralisations so I could not find a clear track at the end when the circuit was faster. I had a good start and from then on it was hard to come close to another car and I made sure I secured a good position with the second race in mind. On Sunday, I had another good start and I thought the podium was a realistic target and I was always close to it but I did not have the opportunity to attack the cars that were in front of me, especially after I damaged a tyre attacking Zaugg. After that, the car was difficult to handle and then a shock broke. The overall result is satisfying and I'm looking forward to the Hungaroring where I hope we will be able to fight for pole position and get a good place on the starting grid because it is always the key to good races.
Sam Bird: Sometimes things are against you and there's nothing you can do. The qualifying session did not go my way and I knew the first race was always going to be a tough one starting from 22nd on the grid. But I had some good fights and I fought my way back until this drive through penalty which I'm not really happy with. On the positive side, I showed that I was on par with the leaders pace-wise and I think we can be proud of what we achieved on Sunday, from P14 to P5. I can only hope that someday we will have a trouble-free race weekend and I'm confident this day we will be able to show what our full potential is.
Frederic Vasseur: Qualifying was sort of a lottery and we did not pick the right numbers. It's part of the beauty of the race! In these conditions and starting that far down on the grid I was looking forward to see how our drivers would react and I have to say their behaviour, both on and off the track, was excellent. Jules and Sam did some brilliant overtaking manoeuvres, they gained a lot of positions which helped us to secure important points for the championships. Jules is still in a good position in the drivers' championship and he has all the assets to keep on improving. Sam was unlucky because without his drive through penalty he would have been a serious contender for the win. The wheel will turn and I'm sure he will soon have the opportunity to make the most of his great potential.
Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (6th) Christian Vietoris (10th)
Racing Engineering had an action-packed race at the Hockenheim today where Dani Clos, who started from fifth on the grid, was running in fourth place for most of the race. The young Spaniard crossed the finish line in sixth position securing one more point for the drivers' championship. Christian Vietoris, who started from the last row of the grid after yesterday's early retirement, had a fantastic start, and a race always on the charge to finish in a meritorious tenth position.
Dry skies and warm temperatures welcomed the GP2 field at Hockenheim today. Dani Clos, who started from the fifth spot on the grid, made a good start and gained a position at the first corner. But then he went wide and lost his position again. The only German in the field, Christian Vietoris, had a very good start, overtaking six cars and negotiating turn 1 on the outside, to finish the first lap of the race in a fantastic fifteenth position.
On the second lap, Ericsson slowed and was overtaken by the entire field, so Dani climbed up to fourth place. The Spaniard from Racing Engineering started to lap quickly and, by lap three, he was all over Bianchi, who was running in third. However, Perez was on a charge and, on lap four, he overtook Dani. After a few laps maintaining his distances, the Racing Engineering driver started to close in on Bianchi again, managing to close the gap to just seven tenths of a second, but his tyres started to suffer from excessive wear after the tough opening laps of the race. Dani had to start to defend his position from a recovering Bird.
With just three laps to the end of the race, Dani went wide in turn 7, and Bird immediately took advantage of the opening. Grosjean saw his chance as well, but was pushed out off the track by Maldonado, ending the race for both drivers when they collided. During the closing stages of the race, Dani defended himself from Filippi, in order to finish sixth and score the final point.
Christian Vietoris continued his recovery charge through the field and had an amazing race where he finished in an excellent tenth place, which proves that the German rookie had the speed to be at the top all weekend.
Dani Clos: "I made quite a good start where I gained a position. But then Bianchi overtook me again. During the opening laps of the complicated race, quite a few incidents took place, but I was able to hold onto my position. I thought I have a car similar to the one yesterday. But maybe due to the lower temperatures the balance was a bit different. I was able to cope with the pressure from the cars behind, but Bird was able to take advantage of my position in the end. It's one more point for the championship and we need to look forward now to the next race."
Christian Vietoris: "I had a good start and was able to overtake some cars. This was the first really good race of the season and I had a lot of fun. The car was really good. On the straight we lacked a bit of top speed as we went for traction, but I am happy with this race."
Alfonso de Orleans - Borbon, President of Racing Engineering: "Pity about Dani's race. I think he did a very good job. So let's look forward to Budapest. As for Christian, absolutely amazing. What a great drive from the young German. We should see more drives like this from him this season. Well done to everyone in the team for the great work this weekend."
Scuderia Coloni - Alberto Valerio (12th) Vladimir Arabadzhiev (15th)
After a very good recovery in Race 1, Scuderia Coloni ended the Hockenheim GP2 weekend with a good second race. Alberto Valerio and Vladimir Arabadzhiev crossed the line respectively in 12th and 15th place, after an hard-fought race in the middle of the field.
The Brazilian driver was perfect off the line, but his race became difficult when he was pushed by a rival at the first corner. Valerio had to go wide and release the throttle, and doing this he lost 5 positions. 16th at the end of lap 1 he immediately started pushing, passing Vietoris on the second lap. His performance improved lap by lap and at half race Alberto was among the quickest drivers on track. This allowed him to close the gap from Ricci: he sticked to the Italian's exhaust but didn't manage to pass and had to settle for 12th position.
Also Vladimir Arabadzhiev's race got complicated immediately on the first lap because of a far from perfect start by the Bulgarian driver. On the end of first lap Vladimir was in P23, but he kept cold blood and started recovering. He passed three cars in two laps, and then started chasing Ho-Pin Tung, passed on lap 7. Thanks to a neat driving and to some mistakes from his opponents he then climbed back to 15th place, the same one he had on the grid.
Paolo Coloni: "Looking at the weekend as a whole I think we have more than one reason to be happy both for our cars and for the drivers. The performances of our cars were really good especially in Race 1, and our drivers were among the quickest of the field in some parts of the races. Obviously, when you're starting behind things get more difficult, but here in Hockenheim qualifying was very strange and luck had a big part in the results you could get. Speaking about the drivers, we are really happy of both: in Race 1 they did the best possible given the starting positions and in the second race their reaction after a bad start was really good. I'd like to highlight Vladimir's steady growth. In the second race he posted his fastest time on the last lap, showing again that he gets better and better every minute he passes in the car. We are very happy about his improving trend".
DAMS - Ho-Pin Tung (14th) Romain Grosjean (19th)
This weekend, Hockenheim hosted the sixth round of the 2010 GP2 Series Championship, curtain-raisers to the F1 German Grand Prix. Ho-Pin Tung and Romain Grosjean represented DAMS in both races.
Friday's practice was perturbed by changeable weather alternating sun and showers. The team had a promising session with Grosjean setting the fifth-quickest time and Tung the tenth.
Tricky weather conditions also upset qualifying. Grosjean was on the pace straight away and took provisional pole, which he held for most of the session. Unfortunately, after it was red-flagged, both DAMS drivers were delayed on their final flyers, and got caught up in traffic so they were unable to fulfill the promise shown in the morning.
Given that they were in thirteenth (Grosjean) and nineteenth (Tung) places on the grid, the team opted for an aggressive strategy in the first race. Romain's hopes were dashed in the first corner as he was hit by another car, and had to come in to have the rear wing changed. Ho-Pin also lost out at the start and had his front wing damaged.
The track was dry for the second race but both DAMS drivers started from far back on the grid. Grosjean made a magnificent comeback picking off his rivals one by one, lap after lap. He was in sixth place when he was harpooned again and had to retire. Tung saw the flag in fourteenth place.
DAMS is now concentrating on the next round of the championship, which will take place on the Hungaroring near Budapest in a week's time.
Loïc David, General Manager: "This weekend can be looked at from two points of view. From a negative one, we again failed to score points even though we had high hopes of doing so with the two drivers after free practice. But we prefer to look at things from a positive point of view. We were again among the front-runners on Friday, and also in qualifying. We anticipated the track conditions and we readjusted the cars' settings as a result. Race 1 was decided by collisions for which our drivers were not responsible. In race 2, Romain's speed and determination showed that we had the pace to aim for victory had we started from higher up the grid. Of course the team's disappointed with the result, but in the second race Romain produced the great fight back we were expecting. So we're leaving in a fairly reassured state of mind about our cars' performance at Hockenheim, and we hope to capitalize on this in Budapest."
Romain Grosjean: "I'm delighted to have been able to make my contribution to the team. I found a highly-motivated, very professional warm bunch of guys, and we were on the same wavelength from a work point of view straight away. I gave my maximum from free practice till the end of race 2 and I think it was the right approach. The GP2 Series is still as thrilling as ever and I'm happy to have raced in it this year. I hope DAMS ends the season on a high note - the team really deserves it."
Ho-Pin Tung: "Conditions were very difficult at the start of the weekend. We managed to make the best of them in free practice. We didn't have much luck in qualifying, and as I was stuck in the middle of the pack I broke my front wing in race 1. This meant that I started from far back in race 2, and having had so few laps on a dry track it was impossible to perform miracles. We'll do better in Budapest."
Ocean Racing Technology - Max Chilton (16th) Fabio Leimer (DNF)
For Ocean Racing Technology, the results of this weekend's races at the Hockenheim circuit were determined by qualifying. Max Chilton shone in the first part of the session which was disputed on a wet track. Best performer of the field in the opening moments, the young English driver was 4th at the conclusion of the first round of timed laps. He was in the perfect position to confirm his speed when he became a victim of the damp conditions and was sent into a spin. The engine of his contender having stalled as a result, Max Chilton was pushed by the track marshals and was forced to finish the session early. With the track drying, most of his rivals significantly improved their times and Max dropped back to 18th place on the starting grid for the first race. Meanwhile, teammate Fabio Leimer lined up on the back row of the grid following an off track excursion in the initial phase of qualifying.
Before the start of the first race, that took place after Formula One qualifying on Saturday afternoon, Ocean Racing Technology had never lapped on a dry track in Hockenheim but despite the new and unknown parameters, their drivers quickly and effectively adapted to the new conditions and at times recorded very competitive sector times. Max Chilton finished in 19th place after having to take a drive through penalty for speeding in pitlane. The 19 year old driver spent the major part of the second race behind much slower drivers and he was unable to get passed, however once again he showed that his race pace was as strong as his potential. His 16th place does not reflect its fundamental talent and Max explains "It was two intense races where I lost a bunch of time starting at the back of the grid. The car was competitive and I knew the tyre wear would be drastic but we coped really well with it and everything went smooth. I was fast in the first race but I lost a lot of time because of the drive through penalty which prevented me from gaining more positions. But the most important thing is that we had a good pace; had the rain not stopped in qualifying, the scenario of both races would have been different!"
Fabio Leimer encountered mishaps in Germany and in a championship where the smallest hindrance is costly, the Swiss driver paid dearly for his off track excursion in qualifying which greatly hindered his chances of getting into the points. Fabio completed 34 of the 37 laps of the first race before retiring and on Sunday his attempts were halted when he suffered a collision with Davide Valsecchi. Leimer does not hide its disillusionment... "It was a tough weekend for us. I had a good start in the first race and the car was really well balanced. My pace was good but a hydraulic failure stopped me before I saw the chequered flag," Leimer explained. "I had a decent start in the second race but contact with Valsecchi damaged the steering of my car. It is a shame because the car was very good, especially in its dry track trim."