The French team has got its 2011 season off to a flying start thanks to Romain Grosjean's pole position on the Yas Marina circuit.
The second pre-season test session ended on a low note for DAMS as Grosjean got caught up in a collision. His car was badly damaged, and left the team with a huge workload to put it back into running order. It was a race against the clock as the mechanics had only two days to do the job. Grosjean gave them a great reward for their pains!
Today, after a fairly hesitant start to free practice, the engineers found the right setup tweak halfway through the session. From then on, Grosjean was always among the front-runners and he finished practice in fourth place (1m 37.570s). Pal Varhaug continued his apprenticeship setting the twenty-third time (1m 38.570s).
The year's first qualifying session went off like a dream for Grosjean and DAMS. He dominated right from the start and his pole lap was 4/10s quicker than his closest rival, Frenchman Jules Bianchi. Pal finished twenty-fourth, only a second off the second-fastest time.
Loïc Duval, General Manager: “It's a tremendous satisfaction for the whole team, especially after the huge repair job carried out between the end of the tests and the first free session. We were able to find a good setup, which Romain exploited to the full in qualifying. We're very proud to have scored pole for the first race of the season, in particular with the new GP2 car.”
Romain Grosjean: P1 (1m 36.041s) “A huge bravo and thanks to all the mechanics and engineers. They've been quite simply fantastic! I felt in the groove immediately in qualifying and the pole followed naturally. I'd like to dedicate it to everybody in the team, and also to Robert Kubica. Now I just have to confirm it in the race, and I'm feeling pretty confident.”
Pal Varhaug: P24 (1m 37.832s) “Learning the ropes in GP2 really isn't easy. I've got to improve my understanding of the tyres. I'm not happy with my grid position, but the gaps are very small and I'm not that far off the quickest. I'll try and move up during the race.”
First race Friday 11th, and second one on Saturday 12th February. Results: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m36.041s 2. Jules Bianchi ART 1m36.448s + 0.407s 3. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m36.501s + 0.460s 4. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m36.614s + 0.573s 5. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m36.658s + 0.617s 6. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m36.659s + 0.618s 7. Max Chilton Carlin 1m36.693s + 0.652s 8. Josef Kral Arden 1m36.724s + 0.683s 9. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m36.741s + 0.700s 10. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m36.825s + 0.784s 11. Sam Bird iSport 1m36.830s + 0.789s 12. Michael Herck Coloni 1m36.863s + 0.822s 13. Oliver Turvey Ocean 1m36.875s + 0.834s 14. Charles Pic Addax 1m36.961s + 0.920s 15. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m37.047s + 1.006s 16. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova 1m37.129s + 1.088s 17. Julian Leal Rapax 1m37.145s + 1.104s 18. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m37.305s + 1.264s 19. Stefano Coletti Trident 1m37.329s + 1.288s 20. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean 1m37.345s + 1.304s 21. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m37.426s + 1.385s 22. Michael Aleshin Carlin 1m37.535s + 1.494s 23. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m37.572s + 1.531s 24. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m37.632s + 1.591s 25. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m37.669s + 1.628s 26. James Jakes Coloni 1m37.741s + 1.700s
