ART Grand Prix - Nürburgring: Two races, two wins...

ART GRAND PRIX NÜRBURGRING, F3 EuroSeries – 26th and 27th july 2008

Two races, two wins, their first one two finish of the season and a total of four podiums, that is the quick summary for ART Grand Prix at the end of the Nürburgring weekend. The points accumulated means that the French based squad is now leading the team’s championship while Nico Hülkenberg, winner of race one, is second in the drivers battle.

Nico’s third season win was a straight run to the flag after taking the lead when pole sitter Christian Vietoris stalled on the grid. Nico’s win was followed up with teammate Jules Bianchi joining him on the podium after taking a strong second place.

Race two was a momentous occasion when Jon Lancaster secured his maiden victory after a very strong race around the 3.6 km short version of the German track To top off his victory, Jules Bianchi took another podium finish, this time on the third step with Hülkenberg working his way up from eighth to fourth.

Meanwhile, James Jakes stalled on the grid in race one and then crashed with Vietoris as both men attempted to make up lost ground. This made race two extremely difficult and he eventually crossed the line in 22nd place.

Nico Hülkenberg:

Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 2nd Result: Winner
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 8th Result: 4th
Position in the championship: 2nd, 39 points

 "The track was a bit different in qualifying than in the last free practice session but 2nd on the starting grid was still a good result. ART Grand Prix gave me a perfect car for the first race and I could immediately take the lead and open a gap.

Then I just controlled to secure the win. On Sunday, I scored some more points from P8 on the grid, which was the main aim. The weekend is very positive for me and the team, congratulations to Jon for his first win in the series. We have to keep up the great work in order to win others races and above all to be consistently in the big points."

"Qualifying wasn’t too bad … I couldn’t quite get my laps together, as I made a mistake in the last sector and couldn’t capitalise. I ended up at the back of the grid, and just stayed there really.

It’s a great track, it’s a shame we couldn’t use the big track, but it’s still good to race there. I’m happy for Jon, it’s great for the team, and those points will really help the team towards the end of the year."

Jules Bianchi:

Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 4th Result: 2nd
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 7th Result: 3rd
Position in the championship: 5th, 29 points

"The first free practices were a bit complicated because I did not drive that great on Friday. Plus, we had to work a bit on the car and it paid back with the fastest lap of the last free practice session. I was the fastest with the first set of tyres in qualifying but then we changed the set-up a little and I did not progress as much as the others.

I had a good start in race 1 and I was P2 at the first turn. Nico was extremely fast at midrace, I could not follow him and I decided to secure 2nd position. The day after the start decided my final position;

I had a good flair and I was lucky to avoid the action ahead of me and I was P3 at the first turn. I was faster than Breen but I did not want to take the risk of hitting him and lose everything on a track where overtaking is not easy."

"Qualifying was good, we progressed a bit, and I kind of kept to myself a bit in there which cost me a good starting position. We had the pace to be in the top four, but I misjudged my braking in a few corners which cost me three and a half tenths of a second and lost me six places and I started the first race tenth. We did what we could, we fought really hard, and we aimed to get in the top eight, which we did, we finished seventh. We had a few issues with some drivers who had drive through penalties and I was losing distance.

We easily could have gotten fifth or sixth, but seventh wasn’t too bad, it meant I could start on the front row for Sunday. No major issue, we had good speed, and we were lapping very consistently, and we sorted out the little driving issues from qualifying. We had a very good start, I didn’t expect too much on the first corner. I knew we had the pace, so I didn’t try anything stupid in the first lap. I went straight off after that, and it was very fortunate, and we were able to control the race from there on. It was a brilliant race.

A big, big thank you for the team! They’ve been waiting for me to do that all season, and we have now, so it’s a load off my shoulders. A big thank you to my mechanics, they’ve been brilliant."

"A trouble free weekend, at last! Our level of performance was the same at the Nürburgring as on other tracks and the results came by themselves in the absence of major problems. Jon’s first win and Jules’s two podiums will do them good for the rest of the season and they largely contribute to ART Grand Prix’s first place in the teams championship. James was very fast and it’s too bad a small mistake at the start of race 1 ruined his whole weekend.

One win, two fastest laps and 13 points reward Nico at last. He has stayed extremely strong mentally despite the disappointments he went through since the beginning of the season. But now we must not forget to confirm this positive trend at Brands Hatch in the next rounds."

- Sandrine FOIX-

photos on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - DTM