Saturday Race
Roldán Crashes out
Xandi makes no impact from back of grid but does get 1 point for the
team with fastest lap finishing 17th, 1 lap down.
Roldan Rodriguez had
climbed up to 9th position when he pitted for tires on lap 14. On his
out lap he ran wide onto the dirt in the tunnel and hit the armco
barrier shattering his front suspension.
Report to follow
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Maldonado Trident Racing 1h06:49.495
2. Pantano Campos Grand Prix + 8.439
3. Glock iSport International + 10.936
4. Filippi Super Nova International + 11.302
5. Di Grassi ART Grand Prix + 14.286
6. Petrov Campos Grand Prix + 15.059
7. Buemi ART Grand Prix + 16.622
8. Pizzonia FMS International + 18.104
9. Zaugg Arden International + 18.714
10. Nakajima DAMS + 23.139
11. Senna Arden International + 23.526
12. Hirate Trident Racing + 42.152
13. Tung BCN Competicion + 45.834
14. Soucek DPR + 68.405
15. Negrao Minardi Piquet Sports + 1 Lap
16. Garcia Durango + 5 Laps
17. Jimenez Racing Engineering + 5 Laps
Not Classified:
Driver Team Laps
Bakkerud DPR 28
Tahinci FMS International 26
Villa Racing Engineering 23
Lapierre DAMS 16
Rodriguez Minardi Piquet Sports 14
Yamamoto BCN Competicion 9
Conway Super Nova International 6
Zuber iSport International 0
Chandhok Durango 0
Fastest lap: Negrao, 1:22.584 on lap 44
Friday Qualifying
Roldán qualifies 16th but Negrao does not take
part due to damage in the practice session.
Pastor Maldonado has thrown the cat among the pigeons
by claiming pole position for tomorrow’s race in Monaco at this
morning’s dramatic qualifying session, taking the top spot just
ahead of Giorgio Pantano and Andi Zuber. The Venezuelan set a time
of 1:20.820 in the tenth minute of the session, and the usual Monaco
madness allowed him to keep the top spot for the remainder of
qualifying despite the best efforts of his rivals. Pantano,
Zuber and Timo Glock all set fastest times early in the session,
with the latter looking exceptionally quick throughout but have
bitter luck with traffic before Maldonado claimed the top spot and
then sat there. As expected there were a number of yellow flag
periods throughout qualifying: Kohei Hirate went too deep into St
Devote, managing to stay off the wall but stalling as he tried to
get back on track, while Vitaly Petrov set the then fifth fastest
laptime before going backwards into the same corner, removing his
rear wing in the process. After taking on
new tyres everyone was out and pushing hard once again: a little too
hard in some cases, as Lucas di Grassi and Mike Conway tangled at
the hairpin, while a number of drivers were missing their braking
points into the nouvelle chicane. The cause of their woes was soon
clear: Luca Filippi had a big blow out as he ran through the tunnel,
unfortunately leaving a long trail of oil behind him as he tried to
get his car off the track, prompting the red flags to come out with
seven minutes remaining. The marshals were doing their usual
magnificent job, but with safety at a premium there was no way to
rush the process of clearing the oil. In any event the stoppage had
little effect on the final results, as all of the drivers were on
their second set of tyres, which were already past their best. With
so much traffic on track once the drivers were released once more
there was no chance of any movement at the top, and an ecstatic
Maldonado was greeted with a hero’s welcome from his Trident team as
he came back to the pits. Behind the top three debutant Sebastien
Buemi did an incredible job to claim a second row start for
tomorrow’s race, ahead of teammate Lucas di Grassi, Vitaly Petrov,
Luca Filippi, Timo Glock, Bruno Senna and Mike Conway. With some
unexpected names at the sharp end of the grid, tomorrow’s race
promises to be yet another classic in the Principality.
Pos Driver
Team
Time
Laps
1. Maldonado Trident Racing
1:20.820
17
2. Pantano Campos Grand Prix
1:21.158 + 0.338 17
3. Zuber iSport
International 1:21.273 + 0.453
17
4. Buemi ART Grand Prix
1:21.387 + 0.567 17
5. Di Grassi ART Grand Prix
1:21.541 + 0.721 16
6. Petrov Campos Grand Prix
1:21.579 + 0.759 8
7. Filippi Super Nova International
1:21.659 + 0.839 11
8. Glock iSport
International 1:21.684 + 0.864
17
9. Senna Arden
International 1:21.827 +
1.007 18
10. Conway Super Nova
International 1:21.971 + 1.151 17
11. Zaugg Arden
International 1:21.986 +
1.166 18
12. Pizzonia FMS International
1:22.070 + 1.250 17
13. Lapierre DAMS
1:22.089 + 1.269 17
14. Villa Racing
Engineering 1:22.290
+ 1.470 15
15. Chandhok Durango
1:22.348 + 1.528 18
16. Rodriguez Minardi
Piquet Sports 1:22.370 + 1.550
18
17. Soucek DPR
1:22.392 + 1.572 17
18. Nakajima DAMS
1:22.503 + 1.683 18
19. Bakkerud DPR
1:22.729 + 1.909 17
20. Garcia Durango
1:22.781 + 1.961 12
21. Jimenez Racing Engineering
1:22.866 + 2.046 17
22. Tung BCN
Competicion
1:23.598 + 2.778 18
23. Yamamoto BCN Competicion
1:23.645 + 2.825 15
24. Tahinci FMS International
1:23.996 + 3.176 13
25. Hirate Trident Racing
1:24.350 + 3.530 3
Friday Practice Xandi
out with a bang! Roldan 14th
The ART duo of Lucas di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi
set pulses raising in the pitlane by claiming the top two positions
in this morning’s free practice in the closing minutes of the
session in Monaco. The iSport duo of Timo Glock and Andi Zuber got
out of their cars with five minutes remaining after setting the then
top two times, but two minutes later series debutant Buemi claimed
the top spot, just before teammate di Grassi pipped him by less that
a tenth with a time of 1:21.573. In an eventful session Xandi
Negrao literally started with a bang, running too fast through
the swimming pool complex and finding the wall on his first lap out
of the pits. While Glock was already setting early fastest laps
Ho-Pin Tung was also in the wars: his line into Rascasse was too
sharp and, although he kept his car off the wall, a stall meant that
he was also out of the session. Bruno Senna
was trapped behind him on track, but some quick thinking by the
Brazilian meant that he kept his engine idling until he could get a
push backwards to get by the immobile Chinese driver. Once the track
was clear the times started tumbling, with Pastor Maldonado, Andy
Soucek, and Karun Chandhok all putting in competitive times to Glock
and di Grassi, while Buemi looked as though he’d been in the series
for years as he sliced his way around the tight track. A quick tyre
change and a clear track gave the iSport pair exactly what they were
looking for: Glock put in a lap 1.2 seconds faster than the previous
best of the day, and when everyone else came back out of the pits it
looked as though no one would be able to better their efforts. But
the ART duo knew better and squeezed by at the top of the
timesheets, with Glock finishing third fastest and just two tenths
off di Grassi’s best time. Behind him were Maldonado, Luca Filippi,
Andi Zuber, Antonio Pizzonia, Nicolas Lapierre and Javier
Villa. With just an hour between free practice and qualifying there
will be little time to find any last minute tweaks ahead of the
vital qualifying session.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. di Grassi ART Grand Prix 1:21.540 15
2. Buemi ART Grand Prix 1:21.628 + 0.088 18
3. Glock iSport International 1:21.740 + 0.200 12
4. Maldonado Trident Racing 1:21.914 + 0.374 17
5. Filippi Super Nova International 1:21.971 + 0.431 17
6. Zuber iSport International 1:22.017 + 0.477 16
7. Pizzonia FMS International 1:22.302 + 0.762 17
8. Lapierre DAMS 1:22.708 + 1.168 19
9. Villa Racing Engineering 1:22.751 + 1.211 15
10. Soucek DPR 1:22.762 + 1.222 17
11. Conway Super Nova International 1:22.801 + 1.261 18
12. Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1:22.966 + 1.426 17
13. Zaugg Arden International 1:22.998 + 1.458 17
14. Rodriguez Minardi Piquet Sports 1:23.235 + 1.695 20
15. Bakkerud DPR 1:23.251 + 1.711 17
16. Chandhok Durango 1:23.284 + 1.744 16
17. Senna Arden International 1:23.311 + 1.771 17
18. Pantano Campos Grand Prix 1:24.055 + 2.515 16
19. Yamamoto BCN Competicion 1:24.137 + 2.597 17
20. Hirate Trident Racing 1:24.160 + 2.620 16
21. Nakajima DAMS 1:24.417 + 2.877 19
22. Garcia Durango 1:24.839 + 3.299 15
23. Jimenez Racing Engineering 1:25.724 + 4.184 9
24. Tahinci FMS International 1:26.516 + 4.976 16
25. Tung BCN Competicion 1:38.310 +16.770 3
26. Negrao Minardi Piquet Sports no time 2
Thursday
Pastor Maldonado has set
the pace in first practice session in Monaco
Pastor Maldonado has set out his Monaco stall by
claiming the top spot in first free practice session in the
Principality, just ahead of Timo Glock and Giorgio Pantano. The
Venezuelan set a time of 1:23.320 just before the end of the session to
put himself ahead of Glock, while Pantano crossed the line just as the
clock ran out, a slightly slower third section just denying him bragging
rights ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session. Andy Soucek and Bruno
Senna were swapping fastest laps early in the session, with the Spaniard
running right on the edge all over the circuit, narrowly missing an
impact at St Devote seemingly on every lap.
It wasn’t until halfway through the session that the
others started to show their hands: Lucas di Grassi, Glock and Pantano
joined the fray at the top of the timesheets at that stage, with the top
spot swapping between them on every lap. With five minutes remaining in
the session the German looked to have it sewn up, much to the delight of
his team on the pitwall, setting a best time of 1:23.416. Soucek
was still pushing hard though, and failed to heed the problems of Adrian
Zaugg ahead of him on track: the South African almost lost his car at
the top of the hill on some oil before the Spaniard followed him too
fast, throwing his car heavily into the barriers and giving his team a
hard night to come. The marshals were quick to get the broken car off
the track, leaving Maldonado just enough time to set the fastest lap of
the day. Soucek will at least take some solace from finishing fifth
fastest overall, just behind di Grassi and ahead of debutant Sebastien
Buemi, who was an impressive sixth in his first time in the car. The top
ten was rounded out by Andi Zuber, Antonio Pizzonia, Kohei Hirate and
Bruno Senna, but the biggest smiles in the paddock seemed to be
emanating from the iSport pit, where cryptic comments about fuel loads
were followed by knowing smirks between them.
Minardi drivers Negrao and Rodriguez finished 13th and
24th respectively
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Maldonado Trident Racing 1:23.320 15
2. Glock iSport International 1:23.446 + 0.126 16
3. Pantano Campos Grand Prix 1:23.472 + 0.152 19
4. Di Grassi ART Grand Prix 1:23.677 + 0.357 19
5. Soucek DPR 1:23.820 + 0.500 14
6. Buemi ART Grand Prix 1:24.288 + 0.968 20
7. Zuber iSport International 1:24.455 + 1.135 19
8. Pizzonia FMS International 1:24.588 + 1.268 18
9. Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1:24.769 + 1.449 19
10. Hirate Trident Racing 1:24.986 + 1.666 19
11. Senna Arden International 1:25.004 + 1.684 19
12. Lapierre DAMS 1:25.035 + 1.715 19
13. Negrao Minardi Piquet Sports 1:25.146 + 1.826 18
14. Filippi Super Nova International 1:25.199 + 1.879 19
15. Garcia Durango 1:25.418 + 2.098 17
16. Chandhok Durango 1:25.420 + 2.100 17
17. Villa Racing Engineering 1:25.804 + 2.484 16
18. Bakkerud DPR 1:25.846 + 2.526 19
19. Yamamoto BCN Competicion 1:26.052 + 2.732 19
20. Tung BCN Competicion 1:26.369 + 3.049 19
21. Nakajima DAMS 1:26.508 + 3.188 19
22. Zaugg Arden International 1:26.554 + 3.234 17
23. Jimenez Racing Engineering 1:26.627 + 3.307 18
24. Rodriguez Minardi Piquet Sports 1:27.055 + 3.735 19
25. Conway Super Nova International 1:27.142 + 3.822 17
26. Tahinci FMS International 1:27.291 + 3.971 17
Roldan talks to minardiblog.com
Monaco - 23 Wednesdays May
I hope to get good result this weekend in the most difficult GP of the year.
Monaco is a very special track where you cannot do any mistakes. Monaco is
the circuit where you need a very high physical and mental level as well. I
think I am fit in both aspects so I hope that will not became a problem
during the race.
I think the most important thing to take a good result in
the race is at least finish the race… because there are a lot of accidents
so if you can avoid them, the points will be very close at the end of the
race.
I have arrived to the track on Tuesday, so I have had some time to prepare
the race with the team and engineers.
At least I have learn something about the track with Play
Station, is not the best way, but…Is the only way.
I run the Macau Gran Prix the last November which is a city track as well,
so this is not the first time in this kind of circuits for me. I hope all
the experience I got there could help me this weekend.
Un saluto, Roldan Rodriguez
www.minardiblog.com
Preview - By GP2 Media
Two rounds down in 2007 and the stats look
like this: four different drivers on the top step of the podium including
one rookie; four different teams taking top honours; 15 drivers scoring
points, seven of them rookies; nine teams scoring points with the champions
yet to finish higher than third... at this early stage of the season, you’d
be hard pressed to argue that 2007 was shaping up to be anything but truly
competitive. With a motivated field of 26 of the most talented young drivers
in the world all aiming to add their names to the 2007 winners list and
mount a challenge to follow our past champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico
Rosberg into Formula One, this weekend sees the GP2 Series contest the
single most prestigious race of the season in Monaco.
Turn The Page: The streets of Monte Carlo always throw up an exciting race.
Whether it’s a game of tactics, a race of attrition or sheer blinding
brilliance by one man, Monaco always delivers. This time last year we
arrived in Monaco with Nelson Piquet Jr at the top of the championship
table. An almost perfect weekend from eventual champion Lewis Hamilton,
however, turned the tables well in the Englishman’s favour. With just the
one race on the streets of the Principality, the Monaco winner can savour
his victory perhaps more than at any other track of the year, and as is
traditional, will take his place by Royal Invitation alongside the winner of
the Formula One Grand Prix at a gala dinner on Sunday evening.
With Monaco holding its own as one of the truly individual circuits in
global Motorsport, it is perhaps unsurprising that the weekend format has
been slightly tweaked for this race, allowing more track time but an
absolutely miniscule margin for error. Thursday sees one half hour practice
session at midday, before the insanity of Friday descends. It’s all go as
the Series contests a half hour practice at 09:00 with qualifying taking
place at 10:30. With only an hour between sessions, a millimeter mistake
could end your weekend before it’s even begun.
On Saturday it is business as usual with a 16:00 start for the 45 lap race.
As in 2006, all sessions will be run on Bridgestone’s soft compound Slick
Potenza tyres. On a track whose characteristics change not just by the day
but by the minute, grip on the narrow streets is essential and on top of the
levels of adhesion created by the Bridgestone rubber, the new 2007 aero-kit
will also be called on for increased levels of downforce.
Championship Overview: We arrive in Monaco with Timo Glock leading the title
race on 31 points. As the only driver to have finished every 2007 race on
the podium, Timo is already showing the kind of form that was predicted by
many pundits before the season began, as he and his iSport International
team have carried their phenomenal 2006 momentum through into the new
season. The British squad leads the team standings at present, with Arden
International second and Super Nova third. Their lead drivers occupy the
same positions in the drivers’ standings respectively, with Bruno Senna an
impressive second so early in his rookie season on 18 points, with Luca
Filippi third on 16.
Time Table
Thursday 24th May - Practice 12noon to
12.30pm
Friday 25th May - Practice 9am to 9.30am
Qualifying 10am - 10.30am
Saturday 26th May - Race 4pm
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