Super Nova's Patrick Friesacher finished in the points again this weekend in Monaco for round three of the Championship. At the start of the race, Patrick maintained his grid position of sixth. He pitted for his new tyres just over half way through the 45-lap race and when he returned to the field he was in sixth but went ahead of Doornbos just a few laps later. He then caught up with fourth placed driver Gianmaria but there was no opportunity or enough laps left for Patrick to try and pass him, so he crossed the line in fifth position. Alan van der Merwe also had a clean start and had gained two positions by lap two following a spin from Guerrieri and Enge pitting. Alan took his pit stop at the end of lap 20 and when all of the cars had regrouped Alan had unfortunately dropped a position to ninth, he therefore finished just outside of the points but gained some valuable race experience.
Poleman Liuzzi won his third race in succession again ahead of Toccacelo and third placed Jose Maria Lopez. The result places Patrick equal fourth in the Drivers' Championship.
Patrick Friesacher - P5
"My start was quite ok, I almost passed Doornbos on the outside but I couldn't quite get passed and then after this I was stuck behind him and Van Hooydonk. I could have run quicker but there was no place to overtake. Also Doornbos stayed out roughly the same length as me before taking his stop, I think we may have pitted a little bit late today. When I went out again the car was very good and I was doing some really quick lap times. I'm quite happy with the result and I did one of the fastest laps so next time in Nurburgring we just have to be better prepared for qualifying."
Alan van der Merwe - P9
"It was good to finish the race and build me on a little bit physically. It is nice to have the hardest race of the season out of the way because I know we'll be quick at races like Nurburgring and Silverstone. I just needed to finish the race here, it's a pity we didn't get any points but after qualifying in tenth position you can't really expect too much from that."
Team Principal - David Sears
"The Super Nova team were very happy that Patrick Friesacher finished fifth with one of the fastest laps in the race with a time of 1:26.938. In the second half of the race, Patrick was lapping consistently half a second faster than the race leaders and hopefully his confidence will now be high for next weekend at Nurburgring to demonstrate that we can win a race as we know that both he and his car were quick this weekend in the race, he just needs to qualify on the front row.
Alan van der Merwe also drove a good race, finishing one place outside of the points in ninth position and his lap times improved throughout the race. The team thinks that he can be challenging for podium positions, especially as he has been to Nurburgring before in another category.
This was also the first race in the team's history here that the cars were not damaged at all during the whole weekend which has saved us a considerable amount of money."
