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07/09/12 Racing Engineering looking for a strong Feature Race at Monza tomorrow. Conditions were ideal for the 30 minute free practice session with sunshine, blue skies and a track temperature of 34°.... |
| Conditions were ideal for the 30 minute free practice session with sunshine, blue skies and a track temperature of 34°. All 26 cars took to the track in the opening minutes and Fabio Leimer was immediately amongst the quickest when he set the 5th fastest time and Nathanaël Berthon soon joined him when he moved up to 7th place. All the cars returned to the pits with 15 minutes remaining to make final adjustments and, in some cases, fit new tyres and with 10 minutes left all the cars were back on the track. Unfortunately these last few minutes of the session saw almost no improvements amongst the faster drivers as two yellow flag incidents meant fast lap times were impossible. Nathanaël Berthon finished the session in 9th with a time of 1:32.830s and Fabio Leimer was just 0.3s slower on 1:33.149s. The track temperature had increased to 41° for the 30 minute afternoon qualifying session and as the cars took to the track Leimer was pushing hard from the start setting the 7th fastest time within a few minutes and the young Swiss was soon up to 5th with a time of 1:32.545s. Just as the session entered its dying minutes and Leimer was on his fastest lap so far Chilton spun off the track at the Parabolica resulting in a yellow flag ruining his chance of moving up the grid. With Berthon similarly affected the two racing Engineering drivers had to settle for 7th and 17th respectively. Although both men would have preferred to have been higher up the grid, the Monza circuit offers several overtaking opportunities and their recent race pace should mean they both have excellent chances of scoring points and Leimer in particular will be looking for a podium place in tomorrow’s 30 lap Feature Race. |
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| Team Comments: Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering: “Qualifying today didn't turn as well as expected. As is usual here, track position is crucial in order not to be hampered by traffic, but at the same time drivers try to benefit from the slipstream effect on the straights. Nat has lost several tenths in sector 2 on his fastest lap due to another driver, which cost him a realistic 12th position on tomorrow's starting grid. Fabio will start from the third row, so the race should be interesting as the tyres are expected to suffer a lot here at Monza.” Fabio Leimer: “I can be satisfied with today's qualifying as I think there wasn't much more possible. Free practice was not perfect, but we improved for qualifying, so it is OK. Additionally, on my second last lap Canamasas ruined my time as he blocked me, and unfortunately on my last flying lap there was a yellow flag in the last corner. I think I could have improved my time during either of these laps.” Nathanaël Berthon: “I had traffic several times while I was on my fast laps and this really influenced my session. It's a pity as I had to lift my foot off the accelerator each time and I didn't have a single clear lap. There is little more to say as free practice went well and I expected to be higher up.” TIMETABLE: Race 1: Sat 08 Sep 2012, 15:40 (GMT+2) Race 2: Sun 09 Sep 2012, 10:35 (GMT+2) |
