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With Adam being knocked out of a podium finish yesterday there was little expectation at Racing Engineering of a points paying finish in race two at Magny Cours, and so it proved - with no ability to improve their positions through strategy Adam Carroll and Javier Villa were unable to move up enough to bring home any reward for the team's hard work in the scorching heat in the heart of France.
Adam started from twentieth on the grid, with Javi four places further up the grid, and the team gambled on some changes to the set up overnight to try and give their drivers something to work with. Their starts were different to each other - Adam had some problems, while Javi got away well - but their races took a similar turn after everyone had got away.
Adam was able to push for a number of laps but was eventually stuck in traffic, just unable to force his way through a train of drivers who were running nose to tail in front of him. After a long race Adam came home fourteenth. Javi was also unable to make the car come to him, struggling with it throughout the race. He finished the race in sixteenth, well behind race winner Giorgio Pantano.
A disappointed team principal Alfonso de Orleans Borbon reflected thus after the race: "To be honest I'm not too happy with the result today - we started a long way back, but I was hoping for a bit more at the end of the race. Both drivers did a good job under the circumstances, and the mechanics have worked very hard all weekend in the heat, but I was disappointed that we didn't have the car to compete more today, especially after we should have been on the podium yesterday. I guess racing is like that sometimes, but I hope we have a much better performance next time."
Adam Carroll shared his boss's opinions, noting: "It wasn't a very good race. I didn't get a good start because it went with the clutch still in, so that was a bit strange, and then I lost a few places because I couldn't go properly. We tried something different today and it didn't really work out. I think qualifying was positive and we could have been even further up, but then race one we unfortunately got a smack up the back, so starting twentieth today was a bit of a lottery anyway. On to the next one."
Javier Villa had little more to add, stating: "It was really difficult today - the start was good and I went to the right side but there were a lot of people there, and the car was good but we had the same problems as yesterday. The car is close, but we need to work a bit more and push a bit more. I passed a few drivers but I couldn't push so much, so it was a tough race."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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