Round 3, Spa-Francorchamps
A grey day for DAMS!
For the second consecutive weekend DAMS met with little success in Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The French squad left Belgium with 15th place in race 1 as its only result. However, despite this unproductive weekend in typically grey Spa weather, DAMS has every reason to see the return of sunny days in the not too distant future.
The only ray of sunshine was Arthur Pic's performance in the first race. The DAMS team leader made a very good start after setting the tenth-quickest time in practice. He fought his way up to fifth place and caught Kevin Magnussen at La Source where the two cars collided. Although Arthur was able to restart it was the end of his hopes of a good result. His rotten weekend continued as his DRS went on the blink in the second qualifying session and he had to start from 18th place on the grid: he retired in race 2.
Lucas Foresti didn't have much luck either and retired in both heats. The Brazilian rookie wasn't spared by circumstances, especially in the second race run in pouring rain.
Jean-Paul Driot, CEO: "First of all I'd like to congratulate the whole team that had a lot of work this weekend, which it did with its usual efficiency. Although we didn't have much success we've got the speed as Arthur Pic showed in the first race. We're competing in a very-high-quality championship, almost the same as F1, as proved by the fact that there have been five different winners in five races. By working as only we know how we can add our name to this list."
Arthur Pic: "A very frustrating weekend. But I want to look on the bright side. Things got off to a good start in the first race and I was fighting my way back to the front until my collision. It's a great pity as I was quick enough to finish in the first four. It proves that we're where we should be in terms of pace. I'd also like to say thank you to the team who did a great job, and I hope I'll reward them with a good result in the next round."
Lucas Foresti: "I'm really very disappointed. First of all for the team that I'd like to thank for its work in preparing and repairing the cars. For myself too as I was never able to get into the right rhythm. I'm still learning and each race gives me more experience. I hope it'll finish by paying off in the near future in more clement weather conditions."
Next round: the Nürburgring, 30th June-1st July 2012
