Di Grassi second at the Nurburgring
Lucas di Grassi finished a close runner-up in the Saturday
GP2 race at the Nurburgring, consolidating his second position
in the championship. The Renault Driver Development squad
member led the early laps of the race, but lost out to title
rival Timo Glock after the pit stop sequence.
Lucas was fastest with the ART entry in Friday lunchtime's
practice session, before heavy rain intervened and led to
a red flag. The track was dry for the later qualifying session,
but the limited dry running time made life difficult. Nevertheless
Lucas did a good job to qualify second, alongside Glock.
‘In the morning we were quickest in the rain and the
dry. The problem is that we were only able to do two dry laps.
But the car was good, I pushed, the team did a good job. In
qualifying we had a small problem with the second set regarding
traffic, but I reckon it was OK. I couldn't complain about
being on the first row. For qualifying I think iSport was
still a little bit in front. We didn't have much time to in
practice, so I think it helped Timo Glock that he knows the
track by heart! But he did a very good lap.'
Lucas made a great start and beat Glock into the first corner.
He led in confident style despite intense pressure from the
local star, until making his pit stop after nine laps. Glock
stayed out for one more lap before coming in, and that was
just enough to ensure that he got the jump on the Brazilian.
Lucas stayed in touch with Glock for the rest of the race,
but had to settle for second. With fellow title contender
Luca Filippi failing to score, his second place is more secure
than it was.
‘I had a very good start and I led the first part of
the race with a comfortable margin. I lost in the pit stop
for just a little bit, but then afterwards there was a good
fight with Timo again for the second part of the race. I finished
just two second from him. I think it's a good result, because
it's home. The mechanics did an excellent job in the pits
and the car was very good – I had a very strong pace
until the end. I'm now second, quite far from third place,
and not too far from Timo. He's been quick all weekend, but
tomorrow is another race and I hope we can score more points.
I'm going back to work to fine tune the car!'
Lucas will start the Saturday morning sprint from seventh
place.
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