Renault boys in the wars in Monza
Renault Driver Development squad members Jose Maria Lopez
and Lucas di Grassi both lost potential points scoring positions
after being innocent victims of other people's accidents in
the Saturday race at Monza.
Having qualified the Super Nova car 14th Jose was involved
in a bump at the first corner, but subsequently he moved up
the field. He looked set to finish well inside the top eight
until on the 18th lap he was hit from behind by Timo Glock
at the entry to the high-speed Parabolica corner. He managed
to continue, but damage to the exhausts and rear wing meant
he had no choice but to call at the pits and retire.
It was a similar story for Lucas. From 21st on the grid he
decided to stay out and make a late pit stop, eventually coming
in during a safety car period having got into the top five.
That left him 10th, but soon afterwards a tangle between two
other cars at the first chicane damaged the front wing of
the Durango entry. After a pit stop he continued and was able
to salvage 10th, but he would have been in the top six without
the incident.
The Sunday sprint race will be the final chance of the season
to score points. Lucas will start the race from 10th place,
and Jose from 16th.
Jose Maria Lopez: ‘My start was very
good actually, but at the first chicane Ammermueller braked
a little bit too much, so I hit him with my nose. So since
the start the car wasn't really great. I was slowly moving
up in the field, and I was a bit quicker than Glock, so I
passed him. When I arrived in the last corner he braked really
late and hit me like he didn't slow at all. I don't know if
he was watching the mirrors or missed the braking point, because
it was quite a big shunt. It's always the same story, I've
been a bit unlucky this year. I really, really wanted to finish
in the top eight to have a decent race tomorrow.'
Lucas di Grassi: ‘The problem I had
in qualifying was fixed and I had good pace in the race. Everything
was going well, and people ahead of me were crashing like
I've never seen before, so I was overtaking them! After the
safety car and the pit stop I was 10th, just behind Jose.
Then Bruni and Monfardini collided and they took my front
wing off. I stopped, changed the wing, and came back and finished
10th. Starting 21st and finishing 10th is not a bad thing,
but it could have been a lot better. We still hope to score
a few points tomorrow.'
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