DAMS score 2 points in Bahrain

1st March 2010

This weekend, DAMS raced in the third round of the 2009-2010 Asian GP2 Series in Bahrain on the Sakhir circuit used in F1 for several seasons. The cars were driven by the two team regulars, 20-year-old German Christian Vietoris, and 21-year-old Edoardo Piscopo from Italy.

The team, which won the 2009 title, had a poor weekend in Abu Dhabi, and was determined to get back among the front-runners in the battle for the podium in Bahrain. Both drivers had a good free practice session and Edoardo and Christian set the seventh and eighth-quickest times respectively. DAMS's aim was to get into the top 5 in qualifying.

Unfortunately, a problem with getting the best out of the tyres prevented the French squad from attaining its objective. Both drivers were very close to the quickest times on their first run, but in their second one they were unable to fight their corner and did not improve. Christian was eighth quickest and Edoardo could do no better than twelfth.

They ran into the same tyre problems in the first race. Christian was in trouble right from the start and had to stop very early to put on new rubber. Edoardo had no understeer problems in his first stint, but in the second. In these conditions, they were unable to score points.

Yesterday evening, DAMS analysed the data collected since the start of the weekend, and decided to go for a big set-up alteration for the second race. It was the right choice. Edoardo finished fifth after starting from fifteenth. Christian was lying seventh when his car's handling went off, dropping him back to ninth.

DAMS came away with 2 points but intends to take full advantage of its understanding of the problems met yesterday to fight at the front in Bahrain on 13th – 14th March in the final round of the 2010 championship.

Loïc DAVID, General Manager: “The weekend finished better than it began. We did a lot of work yesterday evening to sort out the problems that handicapped us in the first race. The cars' handling today showed that we're going in the right direction. It bodes well for the next round on the same circuit on a modified layout.”

Edoardo PISCOPO
Race 1: 12th on the grid, 15th at the finish.
Race 2: 15th on the grid, 5th at the finish.
“After the disappointment in qualifying and the first race it was important not to get downhearted and to push really hard in the second. We tried to understand how to eliminate Friday's understeer, which appeared when other cars took to the track and put down a different kind of rubber on the asphalt. Today's result shows that we did a good job. Now, we're all determined to end the season on a high note.”

Christian VIETORIS
Race 1: 8th on the grid, 14th at the finish.
Race 2: 14th on the grid, 9th at the finish.
“It's been a weekend to forget for me even though it began in an almost perfect manner. I was on the pace in free practice and I was at the front in qualifying until I did my last flyer. Unfortunately, there was a fall-off in the car's performance right from the start of the first race, and this handicapped me for the rest of the weekend. Things improved today, but the problem wasn't fully solved on my car. I'd like to thank the team for having done its best to turn the situation round.”
 

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