NORISRING, 27-29TH JUNE 2008,
ART Grand Prix left the Norisring after a semi successful weekend in the seventh round of the 2008 F3 Euro Series, claiming fourteen more valuable points to strengthen their second place in the championship.
The first day of action saw triple success for the team when Nico Hülkenberg led his teammates, Jules Bianchi and James Jakes in a clean sweep of the top three places in Friday practice with the fourth team member, Jon Lancaster in eighth. The following day Nico continued to shine by taking pole position ahead of his 28 colleagues, his third this season with James Jakes fourth and Jules Bianchi fifth on the grid.
Race one saw Nico claim the teams second win of the season, crossing the line over six and half seconds clear of second place. This victory saw him move into second place in the driver’s championship.
Meanwhile, teammate Jon Lancaster finished fifth despite a moment toward the end of the race while Jules Bianchi and James Jakes were caught in lap one in one of the many traditional incidents that occur at the Norisring. James was hit by behind and was pushed into the car ahead, destroying his wing. He came into the pits to change it, but his race was ruined.
Jules and James were the fastest men on track in race two and climbed from the back of the grid to finish 13th and 9th but it was not enough to recover from the crashes in race 1. James found his way into the top ten, but another incident in turn one dropped him back to 13th. Meanwhile, Nico suffered a mechanical gremlin that took him out of the running while Jon Lancaster lost a battle with Robert Wickens, who eventually finished second.
Nico Hülkenberg:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: Pole position Result: Winner
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 8th Result: DNF
Position in the championship: 2nd, 25 points
"The weekend was perfect until the start of race 2. I secured my 3rd pole position in four attempts and I won race 1 with no concerns whatsoever. The team gave me a perfect car and the experience of ART Grand Prix rules at the Norisring where it has been undefeated since 2005.
Unfortunately the starter of my car broke at the start of race 2. I am still motivated and determined to fight because we know we are extremely competitive. I just hope lady bad luck will leave me alone soon so I can enjoy a perfect week-end from A to Z."
James Jakes:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 4th Result: 25th
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 25th Result: 13th
Position in the championship: 9th, 11 points
"It was not the weekend I would have dreamt of, even though it started well with good practice, qualifying and start. We were very competitive but we were also the innocent victims of some too optimistic drivers who ruined our weekend."
Jules Bianchi:
"To race at the Norisring is more difficult than what one would think initially because to make a difference is not easy on such a short track. I felt at ease right from the start but I did not get a tow in qualifying and this is a key ingredient here. I made a good start but a driver lost it in turn 1 and I could not help but hit him. My weekend was ruined, but the next day after I proved that I can climb up in the ranking and I had a lot of fun doing it, coming from P27 and finishing P9."
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 5th Result: DNF
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 27th Result: 9th
Position in the championship: 11th, 9 points
Jon Lancaster:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 9th Result: 5th
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 4th Result: DNF
Position in the championship: 10th, 10 points
"Well it was a good weekend on the whole, despite missing a good twenty minutes of the practise in Friday! Saturday’s race we were good, at the beginning we weren’t quite on the pace, it took us a bit to get going, but as soon as we got the car and tyres right, we were some of the quickest guys out there! We closed down ohn the pack in about ten laps, made a bit of a move, and unfortunately the car slid off, and I lost quite a bit of ground with only a few laps to go. It was a good race, we showed some good competition and walked away with a few points.
Yesterday’s race started off okay, I was up on the inside of Wickens coming into the hairpin, but someone was trying to come up around me and I had nowhere else to go, and drove off, and that’s why he went around and broke my front wing! Fortunately there was a red flag which gave us a chance to fix the front wing.
It was as very good restart, we stayed in fourth for a couple of laps, and I passed Wickens and some other car and into second, but Wickens and I kept fighting for second, he got the slipstream on me, but I pushed him over towards the wall, but someone came flying up the inside and took me out! I want to give a big thank you to team, and a bit of an apology too, because they worked so hard but a mistake from me cost us the race."
Frédéric Vasseur:
"With 4 pole positions ART Grand Prix is undefeated in qualifying and Nico’s demonstration in race 1, with the fastest lap in race, was brilliant. Once adapted to the track and conditions Jon was extremely fast too but the points he got did not do him justice. All in all our level of performance was excellent as underlined on a miserable Sunday where Jules and James were the fastest on track.
But the lack of realism prevented the team from benefiting from its true potential because when you have four drivers who are able to secure a podium and you leave the Norisring with just one, it means there have been several blunders."
- Sandrine FOIX-
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