NEWS
Charouz scores more points for P1
2010-06-05
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P1 Motorsport’s Jan Charouz drove a superb race at his home round in Brno, to finish seventh and best overall rookie, scoring more points for the British team. Charouz’s team mate Walter Grubmüller Jr finished just outside the points in 14th place.
Qualifying around the Czech Republic circuit saw the P1 Motorsport duo of Charouz and Grubmüller Jr set the eighth and 18th fastest times respectively.
At the start of the race, Charouz struggled to get off the line and subsequently lost several positions into the first corner. By the end of lap one, the Czech driver had regained one spot to 10th position, and as he started lap three, Charouz successfully managed to climb back to eighth place. Battling past International Draco Racing’s Nathanael Berthon, Charouz finally made it into seventh position, where he remained until the chequered flag.
Team mate Grubmüller Jr gained an impressive four places during the race, around the Brno circuit that is known to be tough for overtaking, to bring the P1 car across the line in a solid 14th place.
Commenting on the race, Charouz said: “Unfortunately I did not have a good start. I got too much wheel spin and as a result, my getaway was slow. Fortunately I managed to fight back and moved up to seventh and for the rest of race I was following Sten Pentus (Fortec Motorsport). I was faster in the first part of the track but he was quicker in the middle sector, before I then gained back some ground in the last one. I never got close enough to try overtaking move, so I just tried to keep my position until the end. Tomorrow we will use the mandatory different aero package which felt good in the practice, so I hope it will be shown by the result.”
Charouz, one of the Renault F1 Team reserve drivers, also got to demonstrate Renault F1’s 2009 race car in front of his home crowd: “The chance to demonstrate the R29 here in Brno today is something that I have been looking forward to all season. Driving an F1 car is always special, but to do it in my home country was great fun. The performance of car felt amazing and it’s not very often that the Czech fans get to see an F1 car at our local track, so I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. I would like to thank the home fans – there were so many of them here today, and I really appreciate their support.”
Grubmüller Jr said: “Both Friday’s practices went well and I set 5th and 8th fastest times. I felt confident going into qualifying, but I was not able to get a good run on my second set of tyres. In the race, Brno is difficult to overtake on, and I needed five laps to get past Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi). I then fought for position with Filip Salaquarda (ISR) – he overtook me but I was able to take back the position. My focus has shifted to tomorrow’s qualifying, where I of course hope for better result. It would be nice to leave Brno with some points in the bag.”
