Mixed fortunes for RDD boys in Barcelona Sunday race
Lucas di Grassi and Jose Maria Lopez had mixed fortunes in
the Sunday GP2 sprint race at Barcelona, although neither
Renault Driver Development man made the points.
After a disappointing Saturday race Lucas was much happier
after set-up changes improved the balance of the Durango car.
He made a good start from 12th, and was soon up to ninth,
behind Michael Ammermueller. But despite feeling that he had
the quicker car Lucas could not progress any further in a
race that was notable for an almost total lack of passing
throughout the field, as the top places remained unchanged
for the duration. Nevertheless, the performance gave him cause
for optimism about the rest of the season.
Jose suffered clutch problems from the early stages of the
race, and stopped in the Super Nova pits to see if anything
could be done. He resumed many laps later just to log some
testing miles, but then the problem caused the rear wheels
to lock, and he spun into a gravel trap. At that stage he
had no alternative but to retire.
Both drivers are now looking forward to better luck on the
streets of Monte Carlo in a fortnight's time!
Lucas di Grassi (Durango): ‘It's very
hard to overtake here, and I think it was a boring race! I
did my start and got from 12th to ninth, and that was it,
I was behind Ammermueller for the rest of the race. The car
was much better, and for the first time there were no problems
at all, and I was pretty happy with the progress we made.
I was faster than the guys ahead of me. Like I said yesterday,
we are a new team, so we are getting there. It takes a bit
longer than the other teams, but we'll get there. As for Monaco,
I raced there last year in F3, and finished fifth and sixth.
However, my best race so far was Macau F3, and that was a
street circuit too! We can have a good result in Monaco if
we find a good way and have a bit of luck.'
Jose Maria Lopez (Super Nova): ‘I
had a clutch problem from the start, and it was slipping all
the time. So I did two laps and it was too difficult. I stopped
and we tried to start the car again, but it didn't work. We
tried again and I went out just to check the balance of the
car, but the problem was getting worse. Finally the rear end
locked because of the clutch, and I went off. After that I
just came back to the pits. Monaco is a different race from
the others and you need a different set-up. The team won last
year and I really hope it's better. This weekend has been
pretty bad!'
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