Podium for Racing Engineering’s Dani Clos in Monaco

Racing Engineering’s Spanish driver Dani Clos finished third today in the feature race in Monaco, round 2 of the 2010 GP2 season. German driver Christian Vietoris, who startes from eighth position on the grid, managed to finish 14th, after a difficult race in which he had to start from the pit lane.

Cool temperatures and a cloudy sky with a timid sunshine welcomed the GP2 drivers in Monaco for this morning’s feature race. Dani Clos was starting from pole position, whilst Christian Vietoris, ninth fastest yesterday, was promoted to 8th position on the grid after Davide Valsecchi was handed a five position drop penalty after qualifying.

At the start, Dani suffered from too much wheel spin was overtaken by Pérez and Maldonado, whilst Christian had to start from the pit lane due to being unable to start his engine on the grid, rejoining the pack on 18th position. The three leaders continued their battle from yesterday’s qualifying session, and started to score fastest laps one after each other, with Dani setting the provisional fastest lap on lap four of the race.

Although the gaps were small, none of the first three were attacking each other. Dani came in for his pit stop on lap 15. At that point, Ho-Pin Tung had a crash at the Swimming Pool, which brought out the Safety Car.  The race was neutralized for four laps and then Perez and Maldonado started a timid fight for the victory, while slowly pulling away from Dani. The Spanish driver intelligently chose to take care of his car and tyres and secure third place, defending the advances of Bianchi.

Thus, the Spanish driver achieves his second podium of the season. Meanwhile, Christian had a complicated race at the back of the pack and, despite having good speed and due to the almost impossibility to overtake in the twisted Monaco track, still managed to escalate positions to finish in 14th position.

For tomorrow’s sprint race, the reverse grid rule means that Jerome D’Ambrosio will start on pole, with Dani Clos on 6th position, and Christian Vietoris on 14th. The race is programmed for 16:10 CET.


Dani Clos: “I am satisfied with today's race. It was really good. It's a shame about the start, but I had too much wheel spin. Perez and Maldonado overtook me at the start. I had a good rhythm and was able to put pressure on them, but it's hard to overtake here.

I maintained my position, not wanting to take unnecessary risks. I am happy we scored again, which means we’ve done it in all three races so far and we already obtained two podiums. Let's keep going like this.”


Christian Vietoris:”We couldn't start up my engine on the grid and I had to start from the pits. Starting the race from the back is difficult and overtaking impossible. Our speed was ok, but I encountered traffic and there was no chance to overtake. It's a pity, but there is nothing we could do about it.”


Alfonso De Orlèans – Borbón, President of Racing Engineering: “It's a pity about the start for both of them. But with these fantastic results for Dani we are all pleased, although I think he had the pace to win. Thanks to the entire team, to all the mechanics and engineers for the fantastic job done. Now we need to prepare tomorrow's sprint race and take it from there.”
    

- Racing Engineering -