Points for Lopez at Hockenheim
Jose Maria Lopez overcame several obstacles on his way to
a hard-earned seventh place at Hockenheim.
The Renault Driver Development squad member picked up two
points, and will start the Sunday sprint race from the front
row. Meanwhile Lucas di Grassi didn't even get to start after
suffering a last minute engine problem.
Jose made life difficult for himself by going off early in
qualifying. He got back to the pits and the Super Nova team
repaired the car, but when he went out at the end of the session
to record a time he had a gearbox problem. He didn't do a
flying lap, and thus had to start from the back of the grid.
He made up for that by getting off the line well, only to
be punted into a spin at the first corner, which put him to
the back once again. He made his compulsory pit stop at the
earliest opportunity on the second lap, and with a set of
tyres that had to last him the distance, got his head down
and began a charge.
He put in some great lap times, and by the time his rivals
made their stops he had got up to eighth. The last lap retirement
of Nelson Piquet gave him an extra point, but deprived him
of pole for Sunday's race!
Lucas had a spin late in qualifying, but his previous lap
earned him a promising seventh on the grid. Alas he was not
able to take up the position as he suffered engine problems
even before the start, and the Durango car was in the pits
when the rest of the field took off. He will thus have to
start from the back on Sunday.
Jose Maria Lopez: ‘I think it was
a very good race. We started last so we knew it was going
to be difficult to be in the top eight. I'm disappointed about
my mistake in qualifying, but in motor sport you always pay
for mistakes. I had a very good start, but again somebody
hit me! At Silverstone I went wide, so this time I went inside
just in case there was a mess at the first corner, and I still
got hit. We pitted early and my pace was very good. I had
to do all the race with my tyres, so I paid a little bit towards
the end. I'm very happy to be on the front row tomorrow.'
Lucas di Grassi: ‘In qualifying I
had traffic and yellow flags on my first set, and with the
second set I had one quick lap and then after I was trying
to improve and I spun. It's normal when you're trying to find
the limit. Today I did one lap before the grid and I had problems
with oil temperature, so I didn't go to the grid. They tried
to fix it, but they have to change it for tomorrow. When you
start seventh with as much action as there was today you have
a good chance to get some good points, so it's very frustrating.
If you do the most conservative and responsible race you can
finish in the top five.'
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