GROSJEAN VICTORIOUS – CONWAY WINS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS AND CLOSES ON SENNA
Signature Plus driver Romain Grosjean, on one of his favourite circuits, dominated the fifth round of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series, crossing the line four seconds ahead of Räikkönen Robertson’s Mike Conway after 20 laps around the tight and challenging Pau circuit. “I adore this circuit, it’s one of my favourites. There is always a special atmosphere here,” Grosjean said afterwards.
The race was shortened from its original 24 laps due to a long safety car period at the start, to allow a five-car collision to be cleared from the start grid. With invitation class driver Grosjean not eligible for points, Conway claimed the full 21 points for his second place, bringing him to within 10 points of his team-mate and main rival Bruno Senna, who finished 11th after an early-race pit stop. “I was able to stay behind Romain and bring the car home,” Conway commented. “We didn’t have to go for the win.”
Signature’s Moreau crossed the line third, after a race-long battle with Carlin’s Maro Engel; three laps before the end, the French driver hit Engel in the rear, tipping the German into a spin. Engel recovered to finish sixth overall, third in Championship. After the race, the Stewards of the meeting demoted Moreau to sixth, with Engel fifth. Oliver Jarvis, originally fourth, inherited third, an excellent result for his first time on a street circuit, while Charlie Kimball finished fourth.
SENNA RETAINS POINTS LEADBruno Senna, winner of the first three races in the 2006 season, recovered from a pit-stop to finish in 8th position in the Championship points today. However, the Brazilian driver retained his lead in the points classification, which has now been reduced to 10 points. Conway is a strong second after two wins, with Jarvis third, two points ahead of Engel.
FIFTH NATIONAL CLASS WIN IN A ROW FOR T-SPORT’S GONZALEZIt was a rather diminished National class which got underway in today’s fifth round, as they were the main victims of the start-line crash, after Charlie Hollings stalled on the grid. Martin Kudzak and Rodolfo Avila were both involved, and were out on the spot, while Cristiano Morgado lost a lap. Gonzalez recovered from a poor start to overtake Juho Annala at the first corner, and never looked back, finishing 12th overall. “I am pretty happy with this, especially as it happened in a street circuit, which is a bit more challenging,” the Venezuelan said. He now has a commanding lead of 36 points over Morgado, who came in fourth. Ricardo Texeira avoided the start-line crash by inches and finished third in his Performance Racing Dallara.
RACE RUNDOWNAs Grosjean sped away from the lights, followed by Conway and Bakkerud, Kudzak, Morgado, Hall and Avila piled into the back of the stalled Charlie Hollings. Only Morgado rejoined the race, while the safety car came out to allow the carnage to be cleared from the pit-lane straight. Bruno Senna pitted, due to a broken tyre valve, rejoining down the field. The safety car stayed out until the end of lap 6, when the green flags were shown. At this stage, Grosjean led the field ahead of Conway and Bakkerud, while Gonzalez led National from Annala. On lap seven, Jelley and Reindler collided at Foch. By the end of the next lap, Grosjean had a lead of 2.317 seconds, while Senna was 16th after his tyre change. On lap 10, Duran pitted with damaged rear suspension, after hitting the barriers past Casino. Grosjean continued to pull away, while Moreau, in fourth, was closing on Engel. The gap between the two remained around 0.3 seconds for the next few laps. On Lap 14, Bakkerud went off at Goulet, from fourth position. Further back, Senna was climbing up the field, overtaking Valerio. On lap 18, Engel spun further to contact with Moreau, rejoining in 6th. Grosjean took the chequered flag after 20 laps, ahead of Conway and Moreau, with Jarvis fourth, Kimball fifth and Engel sixth. Senna recovered to 11th, with National winner Gonzalez 12th. 17 cars finished the race. Afterwards, Moreau was demoted from third to sixth for his accident with Engel.
DRIVER QUOTESRomain Grosjean – nr 63 Signature Plus Dallara F305 Mercedes“It was a good race for me. We had some doubts about the tyres as we did not know how they would respond in race conditions, but there were no problems. The car was consistent throughout and I could do a good job. I would like to thank the team who made this victory possible. I adore this circuit, it’s one of my favourites. There is always a special atmosphere here. It’s different – you are used to racing in wide open spaces, whereas here you cannot make the slightest mistake. Driving at 180 km in between the barriers is something special.”
Mike Conway – nr 26 Räikkönen Robertson Racing Dallara F306 Mercedes HWA"It's a great circuit, with lots of thrills and challenges so it's good to do well here and excellent to be at the top of the podium again after Donington. We're finding more speed as the weekend progresses and the team have put a lot of work into the car all weekend so a big thank you to them. I'm looking forward to the second race tomorrow."
Oliver Jarvis – nr 2 Carlin Dallara F306 Mugen Honda“It was a good result for me. It was my first time on a street circuit, so it was just a case of bringing the car home in one piece, getting Championship points and closing on Bruno. It’s been a steep learning curve, but I’ve been making progress throughout, and to come home second is a good result. Pau is a fantastic circuit; I’d love to do more street circuits. I hope I’ll get a chance to do Macau. I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”
Maro Engel – nr 12 Carlin Dallara F306 Mugen Honda
“I am very disappointed. Moreau didn’t try to pass; he just went straight into the back of my car. Luckily I spun round and managed to finish the race.”
Guillaume Moreau – nr 64 Signature Plus Dallara F305 Mercedes
“It was an exciting race as I missed my start, and I was fifth at the beginning. There was a big crash and it was it was impossible to overtake due to the safety car. I was following Maro, but as it is difficult to overtake at Pau, he closed the door every time. I wanted to pass, he closed the door, and I pushed him. But that was just racing. I finished third. We’ll see tomorrow.”
Rodolfo Gonzalez – nr 32 T-Sport Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda“Five wins out of five is fantastic for me in the Championship. And Morgado finished a lap down, so I think I now have a lead of around 40 points. I am pretty happy with this, especially as it happened in a street circuit, which is a bit more challenging. To win in this manner, going 5 tenths quicker than my qualifying lap, especially considering I had a slow puncture in my rear tyre, is great. The team did a fantastic job. We have been working so hard, on the data and mapping, so it’s pretty good.
Juho Annala – nr 39 Performance Racing F304 Mugen-Honda“It’s all right, especially after Donington where I didn’t finish at all. It’s been a good weekend for me, with second place. It was hot out there. I couldn’t keep up with Gonzalez’ pace, and I just tried not to make any mistakes and control my position. I thought Morgado was third, but he was actually a lap behind, so I was just trying to keep out of trouble. I got a really good start and overtook Gonzalez, but he had a nice move at the first corner and went round the outside.
Ricardo Texeira – nr 40 Performance Racing F304 Mugen-Honda“It was a difficult race, especially at the start, as I missed the accident by inches, so I was a little scared. This is a good result, especially as I swapped teams three days before this event.”
