DAMS kicks off with a GP2 rostrum

This weekend Kamui Kobayashi scored DAMS’s first rostrum finish of the 2008-09 Asian GP2 Series Championship in the opening round on the Shanghai circuit. The Japanese driver who started from second place on the grid in Saturday’s race was in the lead for a long time. He lost a place after the race restarted following a safety car intervention. Yesterday, Kamui wasn’t so lucky. He made a good start and then fell back a few places when he had to avoid a spinning car. After that, he hit debris from another competitor and had to retire due to the damage this caused. He leaves Shanghai in third place in the drivers’ ratings.

Jérôme d’Ambrosio saw the flag in ninth place in Saturday’s race. The Belgian could have scored points as he was quick and consistent, but a problem during his stop lost him precious seconds. Today, he set off like a bat out of hell from ninth spot on the grid. He pushed hard and passed his rivals one after another finishing in fifth place and opening his score with 2 points.

DAMS is in 2th place in the teams’ ratings with 11 points. Next round on the Dubaï circuit on the 5 th and 6 th of decembre.

Eric Boullier, team manager: “It’s a pity we missed out on victory by so little yesterday. Kamui had the race in his pocket until the safety car came out and reduced the gaps to zero. Without this glitch he would have finished first. Today, Jérôme drove a great race and fought his way through the field to finish fifth. DAMS scored points in both of this weekend’s round. Overall, we’re happy with the way the championship’s begun for us and we’re determined to be among the front-runners in the next round.”

Kamui Kobayashi2nd on the grid for race 1, 2nd at the finish7th on the grid for race 2, retired

“It’s been a good week for me as I was fighting at the front in practice, qualifying and the race. Of course, it’s infuriating not to have won yesterday especially after leading the race for so long. But I showed how quick I was by setting the fastest lap. Today, things didn’t go off as well but it would have been difficult to score points after the first lap incident. Overall, it’s been a very positive weekend and I reckon we’ve got a good chance of winning the title this season.”

Jérôme d’Ambrosio7th on the grid for race 1, 9th at the finish9th on the grid for race 2, 5th at the finish

“The championship didn’t get off to a great start yesterday as I was in the running for points until I had a problem. I stalled during my stop and that lost me two places. Luckily, today went off much better. The car was very quick and I was able to push throughout the race. My fifth place gives me my first points of the season.”


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