Hockenheimring - July, 18th, 19, 20th 2014Air Temperature 27/33° / Track Temperature 50/33°
Car 23 - VICTOR CARBONE
Victor's weekend was as always very difficult at the beginning but then improved. An electronic problem to the engine prevented him to take advantage of the 45 minutes of the free practice session and where he was not able to gain confidence with the car with soft tires on a track he was not familiar with. Qualifying was therefore very difficult and unfortunately ended only in the 25th position that obviously conditioned the rest of the weekend. Both in Race 1 and Race 2, the lap times were always in improvement getting closer to the average lap times of the driver mid way through the classification. For Victor, this is all experience with regards to the accumulation of important kilometers for the next races in addition to the use and management of the Pirelli tires.
DRIVER'S QUOTE:"Hockenheim is a really exciting track and I had a lot to learn here. We struggled to stop the car's under braking and I had a poor qualifying session. As far as both Races, the tire degradation was massive to everyone and we have to work for a better set up for the next weekends. It was a really difficult race weekend but I have learned a lot as always".
Result Race 1: P23Result Race 2: P20
Car 24 - ROMAN DE BEER
Roman's weekend began with very good positioning in both free practice and qualifying. Considering the driver's lack of experience on this track and the traffic that obstructed him during qualifying Saturday morning, the 12th position for De Beer was an excellent result. Unfortunately however, the positive weekend trend did not last very long since the track conditions, where the set up of the car was analyzed and developed, changed a lot bringing an excessive and unexpected ware to the tires forcing Roman to end Race 1 and Race 2 in the 21st and 17th position.DRIVER'S QUOTE:"The car was very good in free practice and qualifying but unfortunately we caught some traffic which ruined a good result in the Top 6. We struggled a lot in the races with the tires and now we have to work on the problem because we are more capable with respect to today's result. It is a pity we had these problems with the car. Thank you to everybody for the support".
Result Race 1: 21Result Race 2: 17
Car 25 - MITCH GILBERT
This weekend can finally be considered a debut weekend for Mitch's GP3 car where he was able to achieve a good fifth position in qualifying and therefore third row on the starting grid of Race 1. Unfortunately right after the start, Mitch's car went into safety mode preventing him to use all the engine power and making him lose several positions. In addition, right after, an excessive over heating of the tires was identified that brought a loss of traction and a serious ware of the soft tires making him close the race in the 14th position. The weekend's unforeseen circumstances however continued into Race 2 where during the formation lap, Mitch's first gear broke and forced him to start from the pit lane making him lose numerous positions and above all the possibility to finish the race. Mitch in fact retired during the 12th lap in order to avoid ulterior damage to the gearbox. During these 10 laps however he was able to gain experience with regards to the car configuration with low downforce load, as well as collect important data for the set up.
DRIVER'S QUOTE:"The weekend was really good. I qualified in P5 which was really strong for my first time with the soft tyre. In race 1, we had massive tire degradation but still finished 14th. Unfortunately also Race 2 was not so great with regards to results because we had problems with the gear box. After starting from the pit lane, we had a really good pace. Better than the leaders! But the gearbox broke. In any case, we learned a lot for Budapest and I think we will be really strong there".
Result Race 1: 14Result Race 2: RETIRED
