Bad luck at Silverstone for RDD boys
Renault Driver Development squad members Lucas di Grassi
and Jose Maria Lopez were both out of luck in Saturday's GP
race at Silverstone.
Di Grassi was on course for his best result of the season,
having qualified the Durango car in seventh. He made a good
start and a well-timed pit stop brought him out in what would
ultimately have become at least fifth place.
Unfortunately as he approached Copse at the start of lap
17 the rear wing parted company with the rest of the car,
and Lucas was pitched into a spectacular spin, fortunately
without hitting anything. The team is still investigating
the cause of the problem.
Ironically the same corner had earlier claimed Jose. He struggled
to extract sufficient speed from the Super Nova car in qualifying,
and started 18th. After getting off the line well he had to
take avoiding action to miss a car that had spun at the first
corner. Unfortunately he was pitched into a spin of his own
after a nudge from the car behind, and could not continue.
Sunday's race is going to be a tough one for both men, with
Lucas starting 22nd and Jose right at the back!
Lucas di Grassi: ‘For the first time
we really had a car to finish in the top five. The rear wing
just flew off, and I don't know why. I didn't have any kind
of contact, front or rear. Just before the corner the car
felt loose, then the rear slid away from me and I spun. The
car was very good, and the team is improving, so it was a
real shame. It will be very hard starting 22rd tomorrow. There's
nothing much we can do in a short race, but I'll try my best.'
Jose Maria Lopez: ‘I qualified 18th,
and there's no doubt it's not me, and something's wrong with
the car. We checked everything last night, and today I was
just focussed on finishing the race. I did a good start and
passed Yoshimoto and Negrao. I arrived in the first corner
really quietly, and I didn't want to try anything there. Then
I saw Perera spinning, so I decided to go outside and pass
him. But then somebody hit me – I think it was Negrao.
I spun and the engine stalled, so that was that. Tomorrow
it's going to be tough! We need to figure out what's wrong,
because we're not getting the results.'
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