For Nathanaël Berthon both Free Practice and Qualifying were all about continuing to learn about driving a GP2 car and the Frenchman showed just how quickly he is adapting GP2 when by the end of Qualifying he had set the tenth fastest time, just two tenths of a second behind Clos.
For tomorrow’s race both drivers can look forward to the chances of a very good result, Dani Clos will be looking for a podium place at the least and he must be considered a good bet for the win. For Berthon it will be a case of looking for a strong finish as well as gaining a good grid position for Saturday’s race.
Team Comments
Dani Clos:
This was a positive session. We have worked a lot these last weeks. Today's free practice didn't go exactly as we hoped, but we continued with our work dynamics and, well, we were very calm and concentrated for qualifying. Things went well. We have a good starting position for tomorrow's race and we will do our job the best we can.
Nathanaël Berthon:
We worked really hard during the tests and I was on the back of the timing sheets, but it was really a big job for me to get used to the GP2 car. GP2 is really different compared to World Series and I had to change my driving style. Additionally, there are a lot of very experienced drivers in GP2. For me, after 2008 in Renaults 2.0, 2009 was my first real racing season and now I am in P10 in my first Gp2 qualifying. I am really confident and know the hard work paid off. I am happy with today's results and now we need to concentrate on tomorrow's race.
Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, president of Racing Engineering:
Fantastic job from both boys. Even though they both picked up traffic, it is great to have Dani and Nathanaël in the top 10. Everyone did a fantastic job and we have lots of work now to get ready for tomorrow's race. It seems as if Grosjean's testing with Pirelli this winter might have helped, but we will work hard to catch him. So, let's see what tomorrow's race brings.Timetable
Friday 11th February
16:40 Pit Lane opens
16:45 Pit Lane closes - Grid
16:55 Formation lap
Saturday 12th February
16:50 Pit Lane opens
16:55 Pit Lane closes - Grid
17:05 Formation lap |