3rd PLACE FOR FILIPPI, ONIDI 7th
Scuderia Coloni experienced a very good Friday in Monza: on home soil the team boasted a great performance in Qualifying as Luca Filippi and Fabio Onidi closed the session in 3rd and 7th place respectively.
The driver from Mondov, at his comeback in the series after nearly one year without driving a single-seater, immediately found the right pace posting the third quickest time in the morning Practice session. Then, in qualifying, he managed to do the same despite being hampered by a small throttle glitch: an issue with the throttle damper meant that the engine was still getting a 20% input even when Filippi had completely released the pedal, a big disadvantage in the braking zones. Luca had to come back into the pits and nearly half of the session was lost in order to solve the issue. Anyway, when he got back on track he made the most of the little amount of track time that was left: he immediately posted the fifth quickest time and then improved it twice up to the 132165 that gave him 3rd place. It was a great performance, especially considering that his laptime could have been even better if he didnt have to abort his last flyer due to a spin by Chilton in the Parabolica that brought the yellow flags on track.Fabio Onidis Qualifying was also very good: the 132388 he posted was worth 7th place and so a 4th row start. Fabio had been in good shape right from the morning Free Practice, when his laptime was just 2 tenths off the top 8. In Qualifying Fabio was quick straight out of the box and closed the first try in P8. Then with the second set of tyres he managed to improve and he could have been even quicker if it wasnt for a slower driver that was sitting right on the racing line at the Roggia chicane.Luca Filippi: Im really happy with our performance in Qualifying. We were quick straight out of the box and the car was so fast and balanced that even losing half session wasnt such a big issue for us. The two tenths we are missing from pole could just come from the fact that I had no slipstream in my lap and a good tow can really make a difference in Monza. Anyway the starting position for tomorrow is great, Im ready to give my best for myself and the team.Fabio Onidi: The car was really good today, we were quick right from the first lap and I felt at ease even when I was pushing really hard. When I came into the pits to get fresh rubber I asked the team to make some set up changes in order to get rid of some oversteer and it worked well, so in the last available lap I managed improve. Its a pity that I found a slower driver on my line in the second chicane because, but tomorrow there will be plenty of room for some overtaking.
