Lucas finishes on podium and Dani in top 10 29.08.2009: Eventful GP2 race today at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit where both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers, Lucas Di Grassi and Dani Clos, managed to keep out of trouble to finish in third and tenth place.

Eventful GP2 race today at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit where both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers, Lucas Di Grassi and Dani Clos, managed to keep out of trouble to finish in third and tenth place.

The start of the feature race had to wait a little longer than expected after Dani's car stalled on the grid. After the formation lap, the field had to complete yet another formation lap when Perez' car went slowly on the start/finish line. Dani's little gremlin meant he had to be pushed back into the pit lane and start from there in what would be a race full of incidents. Lucas, on the other had, was well placed on his fifth slot on the grid, ready to put up a good fight.

The race started with Lucas gaining a place at the first corner and quickly passing Nunes into third behind Parente and Hülkenberg. The Brazilian driver pushed the German to the limit during the first few laps, but was not able to pass him. By the end of the 8th lap, Lucas made his mandatory pit stop and what looked like a good opportunity for him to improve his position, soon became a fight against Maldonado, who ran in fourth.

Lucas was able to fight off the Venezuelan's attacks and continued in third position. Then, with two laps left, the safety car was deployed after a heavy crash suffered by Coletti. The race finished under safety car and Lucas crossed the line scoring another podium for the Fat Burner Engineering Team.

Spaniard Dani Clos saw his hopes going up in smoke at the very beginning when his car stalled on the grid. Nevertheless, the rookie did all he could to better his position, and after his pit-stop, returned to the track in 12th place, just behind Filippi, Valsecchi and D'Ambrosio. The Italian duo had a nice fight in front of the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver, but this soon ended in drama when their cars collided. However, this meant that Dani gained another two positions and the safety car was deployed again.

When the race restarted, Dani was close to D'Ambrosio, ready to overtake the Belgian, but all of the sudden found D'Ambrosio slowing down in front of him and in order to avoid crashing into him, went wide. This meant that Dani lost three positions, but quickly, the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver overtook Panciatici for 12th, and a few laps later, he was promoted to 11th when D'Ambrosio was forced to retire to the pits. Coletti's nasty accident close to the end of the race put Dani up into 10th place.

However, after the race, Dani was handed a 25 seconds penalty for having improved one of his sector times while yellow flags were being waved. This means Dani drops back to 11th position.


Lucas Di Grassi: I had a good start and good first lap. The car behaved very well during the first half of the race. Then we lost a bit of performance and I had to fight with Maldonado. We scored good points and I am happy for my team as well. Now I am third in the championship and close to Petrov. Tomorrow I hope to score more points.


Dani Clos: Things were looking good until the first gear wouldn't select at the pre-start. My engine was on and everything worked, but no 1st. I had to start from the pits, being pushed by the mechanics to insert the gear. During the race it's been quite chaotic. I overtook several drivers and was able to avoid some nasty looking accidents.

I got up to tenth and after the safety car I was right behind d'Ambrosio and at one point in turn 10, an almost flat out corner, he made a really dirty move by braking in the middle of the corner. To avoid crashing into him and hurt myself badly, I was forced to go wide and lost some positions. After that, I tried to minimize the loss and continued fighting my way back into 10th position.


Alfonso de Orleáns-Borbón, Team President: Excellent job from everyone. Good pit stops. It's a pity about Dani's race. But we should be able to have a good race tomorrow, having both drivers in the top ten. I would also like to take advantage and wish all the best to the Trident mechanic (who had an accident in the pit-lane before the start of the race) and hope he recovers quickly.


- Racing Engineering - also photo