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Friday, 27 April 2012 05:09 |
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 2012 Bahrain 2 - Friday Feature Race driver quotes
Giedo van der Garde
"I am very pleased with the progress we have made this week we have improved our set-up for qualifying, which is such a big thing over a race weekend. We got some points for pole position as well as for third place so I am happy about that. I got a very good start this afternoon and pulled away from the others, we made a good choice to pit when we did and my race pace afterwards was very competitive, but we still have an issue with the tyres. The DAMS team have a very good race car so we have some work to do tonight to try and understand what happens to our tyres so we can be consistently competitive during both qualifying and the race."
Rodolfo Gonzalez
"First of all, well done to Giedo for scoring our first podium this season. Unfortunately for me it was a frustrating race after such a positive qualifying session this morning. I got a good start from P7 on the grid but lacked some grip and I wasn't able to defend my position. After the pit stop the car felt great the pace was there and I managed to fight and gain some positions back. It looking like I would finish 12th but with just two laps to go a car one lap down turned into me and caused us both to spin off the track so I lost two positions. It seems I also improved under a yellow flag, so I have a 20 second penalty for race two. Hopefully tomorrow can be a better race for me."
Fabio Leimer
"It finally worked out! We really deserved a podium finish in Malaysia and also during the last weekend in Bahrain, but there was always some kind of problem keeping us from it. Today I am really happy with my podium finish in second position. There is still some potential to come and I am pretty sure we are one of the best teams at the moment. I have seen again today that I can manage my tyres really well and make them last longer. Starting from P1 might have brought a different result, but from P3 to second place is also good and I obtained quite a lot of points. Tomorrow we will see what's possible. The goal is definitely to score more points. Starting from 7th is risky. I will try to have a safe first lap and then we see how the race develops. But today was a great day. The entire team delivered a superb job with a good pit stop. Today everything worked out really well."
Nathanaël Berthon
"I am really disappointed with today's race. I had an incredible stint before I came into the pits for my pit stop. I overtook many cars, but our strategy didn't work as planned and after the pit stop I had to overtake many cars again. One of them was Crestani and when I was behind him, he didn't keep his line. I was at the same time defending my position from Gutierrez, and turning into corner 8, Crestani braked too early and I slightly touched his car. I dropped back to 18th and recovered to finish the race in 12th position. But I am very disappointed as I could have finished the race in the top 8 and tomorrow could have been a very good day."
Luiz Razia
"We didn’t do too many laps in free practice, because we wanted to save tyres. The session was quite chaotic when I did venture out, because the red flag appeared to allow Jolyon Palmer’s stationary car to be recovered. I managed to get one clear lap, though, which put me third. That’s probably where I should have been in qualifying, too, but on my quickest lap I tripped over a slower car at the final corner. I think the team made the right calls in the race. We changed all four tyres at my stop, rather than just the rears, and that gave me the opportunity to pass other cars at the end. My first stint wasn’t great, because the tyres faded quite quickly, but things were much better after the stop. Unfortunately, time lost in the first part of the race cost me the chance of another podium, but we definitely had the pace to finish second or third. I’m really pleased that we have been so strong in every race so far: it underlines what a good job the team is doing and I hope to prove the point again tomorrow.”
Simon Trummer
"Like Luiz, I stayed in the garage for the first half of free practice and didn’t do much running. I bedded in some new pads, but didn’t have much feel for the brakes, and there wasn’t time to make many changes because we had only a 50 minute break before qualifying. The car seemed pretty quick in that session and my best sector times were close to those of Luiz, and even faster on some laps, but I didn’t manage to put them all together at the same time. I started the race quite well and decided to pace myself, to nurse the car and see how things unfolded. After my tyre stop everything felt really good and I think my lap times reflected as much. I was 17th when I rejoined, but was able to catch the group ahead quite easily. I then had a minor incident with Brendon Hartley, which left me with a damaged front wing, but I was able to hold my position for the final five laps. I’m pleased with my race pace, but need to work on my qualifying performance. As for tomorrow, I’ll just push as hard as I can and see what happens.”
Julian Leal
“I see today as a positive day for us. First of all, the work done regarding the starting procedure paid off, and after all the issues I suffered in the previous races, I finally managed to gain some positions. In the race we had a really good pace in the early stages. Then a progressively worse understeer took over and the front tires started to wear out. We have a lot of data to analyze, we know how we can improve and I think that this weekend will turn out to be a valuable one for the rest of the season."
Stephane Richelmi
“The circuit has changed a lot compared to last weekend. We decided to turn as little laps as possible in practice, and in qualifying i did a run with hard tires before moving to softs. Unfortunately, that has remained my best mark. When I exited the pits I saw that our set-up wasn't well-suited for oft tires and I also had to pass several slower cars. As a consequence, I had to take-off from the 12th row and my start wasn't good. I recovered well and tried to manage our tires. I went into trouble after many others but at that time I was too far away from the top-10. I hope to get back on the right track in race 2 as happened in Malaysia."
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