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Racing Engineering- GP2 Valencia - Race 1 |
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Saturday, 29 September 2007 |
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Neither of the Racing Engineering drivers started as high up the grid as they, and the
Team, had hoped for following a 30 minute Qualifying session that was interrupted by
red and yellow flags. Javier Villa eventually lined up 15th whilst Marcos Martinez finished
19th following a spin at the final corner which left his car beached on the kerb and
requiring a helping push from the marshals.
The Feature Race began under cloudy skies with light rain falling on the track which left
many teams in a quandary as to their tyre choice and the grid showed the indecision with
some cars opting for wets, others for slicks. Both of the Racing Engineering cars started
on slicks, a decision that was immediately shown to be the right one. Javier made a
clean start but the getaway from Marcos was nothing less than sensational, from 19th on
the grid he was 8th at the end of the opening lap!
Marcos continued to progress through the field and by lap 3 he was 5th and driving
superbly. Conditions soon became very difficult as the rain started to fall in increasing
amounts and several drivers spun off or visited the gravel traps. Both Marcos and Javier
were driving very composed races, gaining places were possible but staying out of
trouble and by lap 11 Marcos was 4th and Javier 7th. Lap 12 saw Javi, who was involved
in a tight battle with Pantano make his mandatory pitstop to be quickly followed by
Marcos as the rain began to fade and the track soon began to dry.
Marcos continued to run in 4th place behind a distant Nakajima but quickly pulling out a
big gap to Filippi, Javi was lying 11th chasing Tung and ahead of Hernandez. The
positions now remained static for several laps until lap 24 when Tung went wide on the
exit of a corner and into the gravel and before he could regain the track Javi was through
and up to 10th. Marcos was now having a very lonely race in fourth and he gradually
opened the gap over Filippi to 32 seconds by lap 32. Javi was now closing in on the
Russian driver Aleshin and on lap 36 he out-braked the ART car to take 9th. As the last
few laps ticked away Marcos continued his superb run in 4th whilst Javi was suddenly
promoted to 8th when Filippi spun on the exit of the last corner and finished in the gravel
trap.
Once again the Racing Engineering team have delivered on the day with a superb run
from both drivers in their Repsol/Telefónica Dallaras under very difficult conditions. For
tomorrow’s Sprint Race Javi will be starting from pole position, a position from where he
has won more than once this year. Marcos will start from 5th and he has shown today he
is more than capable of running at the front of the field.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon (team principal): “I am happy with both of our drivers in
the points and Javi will be starting from pole tomorrow. A big thank you to our crew who
have done a very good job today.”
Javier Villa (driver car 14): “This was a difficult race, especially at the beginning there
were moments when we were faster than those on rain tyres. Towards the end of the
race, when things calmed down a bit, I had a very good race rhythm and this can help
me tomorrow.”
Marcos Martinez (driver car 15): “We took a risk and started on slicks. After a good
start I was able to run in a top position, when it started to rain heavily. However we
decided to stay out on dry tyres, which was the right decision. After some 10 difficult laps
the track dried up and I had to keep a fast rhythm in order to keep my position. I would
like to thank the team for the work they've done andI hope that tomorrow I have a good
race.”
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