ROUNDS 13 & 14 RACE QUOTES
Robert HUFF – Chevrolet, 8th in Race 1, 1st
in Race 2
“Last night the thought of being on the podium was
pretty unrealistic because I started Race 1 from 24th. But
I worked my way up to 8th and had pole. I made my best start
of the season but I was aware that Andy (Priaulx) was behind
me so I pushed and created a gap over the first few laps.
With about 3 laps to go I made a little mistake at turn 10
and Andy was on my bumper but just not quite close enough
to overtake. I didn’t think I had won until I crossed
the finish line on the last lap. I think this weekend shows
we have made some good developments on the car over the past
3 months and it has obviously paid off because we are quite
a bit quicker now as well as being consistent over the race
distance. After Mexico the team re-built my car in a week.
The only thing that remained from the original was the steering
wheel. This win is for them.”
Jörg MÜLLER – BMW Team Germany, 1st
in Race 1, 4th in Race 2
“I managed to pick up some valuable points this weekend
but Andy was in very good shape here despite the weight so
I didn’t catch him up too much. We need to work hard
on our car to get on the pace when carrying weight. I got
a great start in Race 1 but I think Alex (Zanardi) got an
even better one because he was tight on my bumper. The track
is very wide in Brno so I was a little bit scared about turn
3 because everyone was getting a slipstream and it was a big
mess. I was happy to get through it without making a mistake
and getting overtaken. It is difficult to overtake the front
wheel drive cars coming into corners so I was unable to overtake
Yvan (Muller) for 3rd in Race 2. In the same race me and Alain
(Menu) were side by side, we touched wheels and he went off.
I was lucky I continued near the front because my steering
was like a banana!”
Andy PRIAULX – BMW Team UK, 5th in Race 1,
2nd in Race 2
“This was a good weekend for me; better than expected.
We struggled in the first two sessions to find balance but
after qualifying we found a solution and the warm up was great.
Then it was a question of remaining clean and trying to finish
both races because as I have proved, winning races is not
necessarily the way to win the championship. The incident
between Gabriele (Tarquini) and I was unfortunate and I feel
sorry for him. It was one of those situations where everybody
bunched up which caused Gabriele to run very slow and wide.
I had the momentum to run up the inside and I don’t
think he expected me to be quite so fast and he went to take
the corner and I was there. I’m not going to take anything
away from Rob’s (Huff) victory in Race 2; he and Chevrolet
have done a great job. If he had made a mistake I would have
tried to win.”
Alessandro ZANARDI – BMW Team Italy-Spain,
2nd in Race 1, DNF in Race 2
“I was happy to be 2nd in Race 1 because I tried everything
I could. On the first lap I was under the impression that
I would be able to challenge (Jörg) through the distance
of the race. However, my tyres deteriorated and Jörg
was having the same problem but he either drove better than
me or he had the edge. I was making small mistakes and every
time I did he got a few metres further ahead so in the end
I waved the white flag and settled for 2nd. The Race 2 incident
between Yvan (Muller) and I is a question of opinion and something
for the stewards to decide. I am only going to say that it
looked as though it was a case of ‘since you have a
bumper you better use it’.”
Yvan MULLER – SEAT Sport France, 3rd in Race
1, 3rd in Race 2
“As for my incident with Alex (Zanardi), for once I
agree with him, it is up to the stewards now. I was pleased
with 4th place but I had to defend against Jörg (Müller)
and at the end of the straight I was surprised there was space
on the right side to overtake Alex. I have to say that anyone
in my place would have done the same thing. In terms of the
championship, anything can happen. I had some bad results
in the last two rounds so I had to be good here and score
points. It is possible to be at Macau with 5, 6 or 7 drivers
able to win the championship.”
Tom CORONEL – GR Asia, 6th in Race 1, 23rd
in Race 2
“The first race went well and the car performed very
well for me. I was just thinking about my points and of course
I wanted to be in the top eight. It was quite funny because
Menu made a mistake on purpose so he could get a front row
start so I just took 6th position, why not? In the second
race I could feel the performance of the engine going down
then I saw an alarm on my dashboard. I spoke to my team manager
who said ‘You are racing, do not stop’ but in
the end the car made the decision for me.”
Stefano D’ASTE – Proteam Motorsport,
13th in Race 1, 11th in Race 2
“The weekend started badly for us because we broke
two gearboxes. We worked hard however and solved the problems.
On the first lap the car didn’t feel good but it improved
and I was able to overtake people. In the second race I lost
some time fighting with Terting and Sharp and as a result
we lost contact with the leading cars. In the last laps I
prayed and spoke to my car for unity and the car heard me!”
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