Di Grassi in the points at Magny-Cours
Lucas di Grassi scored a point for sixth place after leading
the early stages of the Magny-Cours sprint race on Sunday,
while an engine problem cost fellow Renault Driver Development
squad member Jose Maria Lopez a good result after he set fastest
lap.
Having finish seventh in the Saturday race Lucas started
from the front row. He made an aggressive start and took the
lead with a great move at the Adelaide hairpin. However the
Durango car simply wasn't as fast as those pursuing him, and
he gradually fell down the order as he found it harder and
harder to defend his position at the hairpin. Nevertheless
he was happy to score points for the second time in the weekend.
After pole and third place on Saturday Jose Maria started
from sixth spot with the Super Nova entry. He got away well
and was running fourth when an engine problem stopped him
on only the fourth lap. He had in fact set the fastest lap
of the race on the previous lap, but because he was not a
classified finisher, he misses out on the bonus point. His
total for the season now stands at 21.
Action resumed at Hockenheim in two weeks' time, and both
men are confident that their improved form in France will
be carried over to the next event.
Lucas di Grassi: ‘We've been struggling
this year, and this race showed that we don't have the pace
of the front running teams. The start was good but not good
enough to overtake, but afterwards I overtook at the hairpin.
After that I couldn't keep the pace of the other cars. With
more overall grip you can brake later, and we didn't have
enough overall grip. It's a shame, but I'm not unhappy because
it was the first weekend I scored points in both races, and
the team did a good job. I know Hockenheim from F3, but I
don't think that will make a lot of difference. We just need
to improve the car.'
Jose Maria Lopez: ‘I had a good start
and passed Premat when he went out on the first corner, and
then straight away I passed Negrao. I was feeling great and
the car was good. I did a lap record and was catching Piquet
really quickly. But when I arrived in the fast chicane on
the fourth lap I had some problem with the engine. I saw a
lot of alarms on the steering wheel, and that was the end
of the race. It didn't give me any signal before that. It's
disappointing because we had a very good car this weekend,
and I can ever say we were able to win two races here, because
we were really competitive. We were a little bit unlucky.
The car is looking good, but you never know how it's going
to be at Hockenheim. I just hope we can keep going like this.'
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