GP2 Asia Series. Carrera Dubai 1.2. ART.Nota de prensa (inglés)
Enero 25, 2008 – 4:00 pm | por admin |
Press release - Dubai
Qualifying
After four days of testing, qualifying was a very close fight between the top contenders and in the dying moments, Bruno was just beaten to pole by the ART car of Grosjean. Karun brought his car into a very competitive fourth place despite suffering from a fever and feeling below par. So a pretty good start to 2008 for the iSport team.
Race 1
The start light sequence was very confusing and seemed to catch a lot of drivers out. Bruno maintained second into the first corner but Karun lost a place in the confusion, however they both made it safely through the first couple of corners. During that first lap, Soucek managed to pass Bruno, which started a battle that would last for most of the race. The pit stops failed to change the order so Bruno had to keep up the pressure until an opportunity opened up. Meanwhile, Karun was keeping pace with the leading bunch until his pit stop, when he spun on his out lap on cold tyres, this and a further spin when attempting an overtaking manoeuvre dropped him from contention for a podium.
Bruno continued to apply pressure to Soucek and eventually made it past him for second place. By now, Grosjean was too far away to mount a challenge but Bruno demonstrated the potential by setting fastest lap near the end of the race. Karun settled in to a good pace in the end and was vying for the fastest lap point as well, so both drivers have good potential. In a last minute twist Karun moved up to 7th as a result of a technical infringement on Buemi’s car. Overall, a good start to the series with both cars on the pace and in the points.
Bruno Senna
“I started on the dirty side which gave Grosjean and Soucek the advantage but once the race got going my pace was there. I was faster than Soucek but he was quick on the straights so I just took it easy, knowing I could take advantage when his tyres wore off, which they did a few laps before the end. I’m a bit disappointed not to get the victory but it’s still a good start to the season. The track is improving as the weekend goes on and as it’s becoming more of a challenge I’m enjoying it more. I’ll start seventh for the race tomorrow, so there will be the usual problems of the reverse grid but I hope to have an even better result than today.”
Karun Chandhok
After a tough race, Karun retired early to the hotel to try to shake off the heavy cold that has afflicted him all day and hopes to be in better shape tomorrow so that he can fight for a podium finish.
Fuente: ART
