Pit delay costs Lopez win in Magny-Cours
A delay in the pits cost Jose Maria Lopez a potential win
in Magny-Cours after he had led in impressive style from pole.
The Renault Driver Development squad member recovered to
third place after some great passing moves. It was a good
day too for Lucas di Grassi, who also led the race and eventually
earned some points with seventh.
After going well in the recent mid-season test at Paul Ricard
Jose was on great form in the Super Nova car, and secured
an encouraging pole. He made a good start and led for the
first 10 laps before making his compulsory pit stop. Unfortunately
the team had problems changing one of the rear wheels, and
by the time he resumed, he had tumbled down to eighth.
A couple of cars had not yet stopped, so he regained those
places, but he lost a lot of time behind Giorgio Pantano.
He eventually found a way past at the complex at the end of
the lap. That put him fourth, and he then moved up to third
with a great move on Nelson Piquet at the same part of the
track.
Lucas started 11th with the Durango car, and adopted a strategy
of staying out for as long as possible. By lap 16 he was in
the lead, and he stayed there until finally coming in on the
22nd of the 41 laps. He did not have a perfect stop and emerged
in seventh, where he stayed to the flag. The good news is
that he will start the Sunday sprint race from the front row.
Jose Maria Lopez: ‘I'm very happy,
and I'm not blaming anyone. For sure there was a mistake in
the pits, and we have to try not to do it again. The car was
good, and it's a very good feeling to be back the way I used
to be, leading races! We had the pace to win, and we showed
everybody. In Silverstone we had a terrible race, we qualified
18th and were two seconds off the pace. We went to Paul Ricard,
and we knew we had to improve the car. It seems that the team
did a very good job. Everybody was saying Lopez is only quick
at Paul Ricard, but to come here and be the quickest and do
the race we had today is a very good feeling. So I can't complain
about finishing third. I was saving my front tyres, and when
we came in we had a problem with the left rear tyre, and a
few people passed me. I caught up Pantano and he was very
fair with me. I kept trying and trying and when the right
moment arrived I passed him, and I started to pull away quickly.
Then I caught Piquet and passed him. I have to say he was
very clean with me, and I could have touched him as well.
But the others were too far ahead, and there were only four
laps to go. I know I can pass people so tomorrow should be
a good race too. I'll try to have fun!'
Lucas di Grassi: ‘It was the first
time I led a GP2 race, and hopefully there will be more times!
We lost a couple of places in qualifying because I did only
one lap, but in the end it was OK. I finished seventh, and
it was the first race where we didn't really have any problems.
We stopped late because we only had older tyres for after
the pit stop, so I had to stay with the tyres for a very long
period. It wasn't ideal, but it's what we had to do. The pit
stop wasn't great and I lost a bit of time, which was a shame.
On Sunday I start from the front row. There are no pit stops
and it's hard to overtake here. I expect to have a good car.'
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