End Of Era Of Caterham Racing GP2 最新:244楼

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Barcelona Test Day Two
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 2:52am
Team AirAsia had another very positive and productive test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today, concluding the preseason testing ahead of the first race next month at the top of the time sheets! Davide Valsecchi & Luiz Razia set the pace early in the early session as the quickest duo on track for most of the morning. As the afternoon session came to a close Team AirAsia finished with both cars in the top five, Davide quickest, Luiz fifth.
New to the GP2 Paddock, this is a fantastic start to the team who are looking forward to the opening round in Istanbul in two weeks time.
Phill Spencer Team Manager “I am really pleased with how our two days of testing has gone! We have been at the top of timesheets both days, have tested a lot of different things and learnt a great deal. Both drivers are very happy and are working well together and sharing information. The car and crew look sharp so all in all I am very pleased, and this stands us in good stead and in a confident frame of mind going into Istanbul in two weeks time. ”
Davide Valsecchi (Total laps; 73 Best time; 1:29.669) “Today has been incredible! The car was good from the very beginning and strong enough to stay in the top five over the course of the two days, so I am very happy. I feel confident we are well prepared for Istanbul and everyone in the team is looking forward to racing next month. You often race where you qualify in GP2 so I will be looking to qualify well and get a good start. I really like the Turkish circuit so I am feeling confident and looking forward to the season ahead.”
Luiz Razia (Total laps; 79 Best time; 1:29.970)“We had two new sets of tyres to use this morning and out on the track it was incredibly close. It is obviously a very different situation to the race conditions but it was good to see our car is competitive and can run between P1-P8. We have a lot of data to look at for the season ahead, but as it stands we are in a good position so I will keep my head clear and looking ahead to Istanbul. We now have 10 days off to train and to prepare for the opening round – Bring it on!”
Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett “I am very happy with how things have gone this week. We completed all our programs and we have a lot data to go through but we have already learnt a lot. We have had no issues with the car. The drivers are happy and have conducted themselves very well - I can’t fault them one single bit. This is the first time we have used the hard compound tyres so we are still getting to used to the characteristics of that set and they are quite different to the medium compound. A lot of what we have tested here this week is applicable to the Istanbul circuit so I think we are in good stead for the race in a couple of weeks time. We have also been practicing our pitstops which have been very good, so overall I am very pleased.”
First race of the GP2 Main Series season: Istanbul, Turkey – 6th – 8th May

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GP2 Main Series Istanbul Preview
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 10:22pm


Istanbul Park Circuit, Turkey
Thursday 05th May 2011
Team AirAsia embarks on its GP2 Main Series race debut this weekend at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey, for the opening round of the 2011 season.  Promising test results last month in Silverstone and Barcelona have provided the team with valuable information and track time to prepare for the forthcoming season – Here in Turkey this week will also mark the first time Team AirAsia will join Team Lotus to come together for the first of many Formula One Grand Prix events.
Looking forward to the race weekend ahead is Team Manager Phill Spencer, Davide Valsecchi, Luiz Razia and Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett.
Phill Spencer; “Our preparations have all gone very well, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive -We are going into the first race in front of our all our peers in Formula One, so we need to be sharp and we need to produce some good results – but I am totally confident we can do that. We have come here on the back of a really good test and both cars are in good shape, the weather I think will play a major factor in running, with rain forecast all week, but I am really looking forward to it. This is going to be a new challenge for us – so forget GP2 Asia and testing, its starts now!”
Davide Valsecchi; “I have been here for a few days now – running, running and more running getting prepared for the start the season. It is a pity the weather is not perfect - We gained confidence in Barcelona qualifying in the dry but I feel we can now be competitive enough in all conditions. I don’t think anyone has tested here in the wet - usually it is very hot here, so it will be interesting to see how everyone performs. Although it does not have the history, the design of this track is very interesting – the fast corners and strong braking, I love it! It always produces great racing.”
Luiz Razia; “It’s been a long winter – The Asia Series didn’t go so well for me, although we did find out a lot about the car at the Barcelona test. Testing however is very different to racing itself, so I am really looking forward to seeing exactly where we sit in the timing. It looks like qualifying is going to be wet, but perhaps not for the race – it will be the same for everyone, so we will just have to wait and see and decide how to go on the day.”
Humphrey Corbett; “I am feeling quite confident going into our first race - We had some very good results in the Barcelona test, and although we will be using different tyres this weekend, we have made some discoveries we can adapt for here. This is quite a challenging circuit, turn eight is one of the most challenging corners in the GP2 calendar - It loads the front tyres up and is particularly testing for the for drivers. It’s a long fast corner taking in three apexes, with a lot of G-loading, so it will be interesting to see how our cars handle it. Both our drivers know this circuit very well and feel confident in the wet weather should it be wet, so I am just happy to back in Europe and we get to go racing. Bring it on!”
Schedule:
Friday 6th May
GP2    11.55 – 12.25 Practice Session
GP2    15.55 – 16.25 Qualifying Session
Saturday 7th May
GP2 Race 1:   15.25- 15:30 Pit Lane opens // Pit Lane closes  -  Grid  
                       15.40  Race Start: 32 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins.   
Sunday 8th May
GP2 Race 2:   11.20 – 11:25 Pit Lane opens // Pit Lane closes  -  Grid  
                       11.35  Race Start: 23 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins.

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by GP2 Team AirAsia on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:20am
Istanbul Park Circuit, Turkey

Friday 06th May 2011

Luiz Razia; P6
Davide Valsecchi; P18

Team AirAsia marked their GP2 Main Series debut with both cars qualifying top ten at Istanbul today, ahead of tomorrows’ opening race. However, following a steward’s enquiry Davide Valsecchi’s car was penalised 10 places for a breach of GP2 sporting regulations.

In the qualifying session this afternoon the team switched to a dry set up following a wet practice session earlier in the day. Both Luiz and Davide suffered with traffic, yet finished the 30-minute session with strong lap times, the highlight being Luiz P6 after a total of 11 laps. Team mate Davide finished P8 after 13 laps, but will start tomorrow’s race P18 following the penalty.

Tomorrow’s goal is to finish with both cars in the points and looking forward is Team Manager Phill Spencer, Luiz Razia, Davide Valsecchi and Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett.

Team Manager Phill Spencer; “Our expectations were very high today and we were glad to accept our P6 and P8 results. Unfortunately Davide’s penalty means he will now start from 18th place, so it will be a difficult start for him. On the other hand I am really pleased for Luiz – he had a good qualifying session at last and I think the team performed brilliantly too. My expectations for tomorrow are high - if both cars can score points I will be a happy man.”

Luiz Razia (Best time 1:34.888 / 11 laps / P6); “The car felt good in qualifying today. The setup we had this morning was not ideal for the rain, but this afternoon was really good. I think we could have fought for pole today, but unfortunately I couldn’t improve my time after changing to my second set of tyres – but fortunately I posted a fast time early on. For tomorrow, we don’t know how the tyres will behave during the race and how many laps we will get with them. But we are in a good position, and we can make the call as long as we are careful. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s race!”

Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:34.975 / 13 laps / P18); “I am really disappointed, because after a strong start we have been really unlucky. Unfortunately during the session we had a problem with the engine switching off which resulted in me making what has been deemed a dangerous manoeuvre and being dealt a penalty. It will be difficult to start from eighteenth place on the grid tomorrow, but we will see – hopefully I can get a good start and collect some points at the end of the race.”

Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett; “Luiz did a very good job today – he kept his cool, so I am very happy for him. At long last we have got him up there in qualifying where he belongs. Davide was half a second up, but got blocked on his fast lap which is a little unlucky, but these things happen. He has now been given a penalty too so unfortunately this put him back ten places for the start of the race tomorrow. However overall both cars ran well, the crew did a brilliant job and we have two cars in good shape. The drivers are happy with the balance of the cars so there will not be much changed for tomorrow. It should be an eventful race, with every opportunity for us to score points - So I am looking forward to it!”

Saturday’s 32 lap race starts at 15:40hrs (local time)

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Barcelona Race Preview
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 9:19pm


Team AirAsia returns to Barcelona after a positive test at the Circuit de Catalunya in April – drawing from valuable data and circuit information the team enter round two of the GP2 Main Series with high expectations. After collecting three points in Istanbul two weeks ago, where the team learned a great deal about the new Pirelli tyre characteristics,  a new race strategy is in place for the Spanish event. Known for its abrasive surface and physically demanding course, Barcelona looks set to be a challenging and exciting round for everyone.
Focusing on the weekend ahead is Team Manager Phill Spencer, Davide Valsecchi, Luiz Razia and Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett.
Phill Spencer: “We go into this round in an optimistic mood. We learnt a great deal from the last race in Turkey and although we came away a bit disappointed we have put that behind us and moved on and will make sure we do not make the same mistakes again. It’s nice to be back at a familiar circuit - both drivers were fast here in testing so there is no reason why we cannot continue that form this weekend. Luiz and Davide know the cars were quick so they are both looking forward to this round, and long may the nice weather continue!”
Davide Valsecchi: “During the test in Barcelona we were very competitive so hopefully we can have a weekend free of any mistakes and have a good qualifying session tomorrow. The weather is a lot hotter than it was in April, so we must adapt the car to suit these conditions. I feel if you start off well in Free Practice the weekend tends to run better, so let’s hope the team and I can put it together and qualify in the top five and have a positive weekend.”
Luiz Razia: “I am feeling very good today! We come from Istanbul with a good energy in the team, and good knowledge of the track following our successful test here in April. More importantly we did a Barcelona race simulation on a hard compound tyre, which went well, so considering we had a very bad second race in Turkey, we have a lot of useful information to help us improve. The weather is hotter than last time we were here, but overall we have a good package for Barcelona now so I really feel we can do well this weekend. This is one of the most demanding tracks on the GP2 calendar, especially on the front left tyre. There are slow, medium and fast speed corners so the mix is very tricky to engineer and set up, but all being well we will be very competitive here.”
Humphrey Corbett: “We go into this meeting with confidence after a good test here. The question has been what tyre we will be using this weekend. We now know they will be the same hard compound we used in the test so that is good. We know where we went wrong in Turkey and will not make those mistakes again. We are quite confident both drivers can qualify in the top five, so we will take in what we learnt in Istanbul and go from there. The weather forecast looks good and the temperature will play a big part in proceedings this weekend. When we tested here in April it was quite cold, so maybe the warm weather will put a new view point on tyre usage. Overall everything looks good - the cars are in fine shape, so we are raring to go!”
Schedule:
Friday 20th May
11.55 – 12.25 Practice Session
15.55 – 16.25 Qualifying Session

Saturday 21st May
GP2 Race 1:
15.25 / 15:30 Pit Lane opens / closes - Grid
15.40  Race Start: 37 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins
Circuit Length:  4.655 km
Race Distance: 172.109 km
Sunday 22nd May
GP2 Race 2:  
10.20 / 10:25 Pit Lane opens / closes  - Grid
10.35  Race Start: 26 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins
Race Distance: 120.904 km

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Barcelona Qualifying
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 4:21am
Davide Valsecchi; P5
Luiz Razia; P13
Following two top ten positions in this morning’s free practice in Barcelona, Team AirAsia completed the GP2 qualifying session this afternoon in hot conditions. Making the most of the Formula One rubber on track, Davide Valsecchi made a quick lap early on, finishing the session fifth following ART’s Jules Bianchi, who claimed pole position was given a ten place penalty for speeding under a yellow flag. Traffic played havoc for team mate Luiz Razia who had to abandon his early fast lap when he got held up. He finished the 30-minute session thirteenth - a position that perhaps does not reflect the Brazilians true potential here at this historic circuit.
Talking of today’s on track activities ahead of race one tomorrow is Team Manager Phill Spencer, Davide Valsecchi, Luiz Razia and Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett.
Phill Spencer “It seems these tyres are like one lap wonders! Both drivers were very competitive early on but got held up by the same driver, but there is nothing we can do about it this time. Luiz unfortunately had to abort his first fast lap, Davide carried on but he wasn’t as competitive as he could have been, so we feel we could have qualified better.  Overall the cars are in good shape, so we are looking forward to the race. We know the drivers can be fast here after testing, so we just need to get through the race and aim to finish in the points - something I am confident we can achieve.”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:30.820 / 11 laps / P5); As the track opened for qualifying there were a few cars ahead of me so unfortunately I couldn’t be completely free of traffic, and got held up in the last sector on my fast lap. As the session progressed it was obvious very few were able to improve on their times – the F1 rubber seemed to make all the difference. My aim was to finish top five which we have achieved - We performed well and we are fastest overall in the first sector so the speed is there - P5 is not too bad, but we will see if we can improve on it tomorrow – the team & I have some work to do to set up the car for racing – I just hope we can have a good race and finish in the points”
Luiz Razia (Best time  1:31.513 /  11 laps / P13); I realised early on that the emphasis would be on our first lap and first set of tyres,  to make the most out of the F1 rubber. We were very competitive in the first and second sectors and I was looking set for the top eight, but I got held up on the last sector and had to abandon my fast lap. I tried on my second lap, but we could already see a big difference in the tyre performance. On the second set of tyres only myself and two others improved their times, but it still wasn’t enough so I am a little disappointed. However all is not lost, last year I started in the middle of the grid and finished P7 in race one and was on the podium for race two, so anything is possible. It’s going to be a long race. We still have a lot of work to do. All in all I’m happy with the car and balance we just need to manage the tyres. Let’s hope we can find good grip and balance in tomorrow’s race and pick up some more points.”
Humphrey Corbett “It seems the F1 rubber is making a quite a lot of difference to us, so getting a good run early on is very important. Both the drivers got held up on the quick laps, Davide lost about 0.2seconds, Luiz about 0.4seconds which is unfortunate but that’s racing! Tomorrow will be very interesting - It will be all about conserving tyres. Some teams are even considering doing two pit stops in the race, which is unheard of in GP2, so these tyres have really changed how things run. I think it will be a similar race to Turkey, so we must make sure our tyres last the distance. I am confident we have sussed what we need to do so I am looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Saturday race: 15:40hrs (+1GMT)

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Barcelona Race One
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 12:48am
Davide Valsecchi; P5
Luiz Razia; DNF
Race one in Barcelona was a race of mixed fortunes for Team AirAsia. Davide Valsecchi successfully scooped four valuable points finishing the 37 lap race in fifth position. Having slipped several places at the start a swift early pit stop helped the Italian pass four cars to gain his final position of fifth.
Luiz Razia made a fantastic start off the grid, but his fortune was short-lived when he made contact with another car in the opening lap, damaging the front wing. After two pit stops to fix the damage, he then had difficulties shifting gears which eventually forced an early retirement.
Phill Spencer: “It’s another race of mixed fortunes. I am sad for Luiz but pleased for Davide. He had a good run. The contact at the start of the race was unfortunate for Luiz. He made a brilliant start but had to come in to change a broken front wing and then we had to finally retire the car with a down shift problem, so we will need to look into this tonight ahead of tomorrow’s race. We are still learning a lot, and we need to improve for tomorrow, but with Davide starting fourth on the grid we have every chance of adding to our points.”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:33.981 / P5): “I am very happy with our result today. My start was not bad, but the team’s strategy and a good pit stop helped me regain several places. We performed well and finished in the top five which is just fantastic! Romain Grosjean was racing at the same pace as us so we have the potential to finish on the podium tomorrow. The car felt good and was quick throughout – overall I felt good! Hopefully I can get a better start tomorrow, have a good race and finish in the points again.”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:37.454 / DNF): “The positive from the race was that I got a good start. But in the end I had a problem changing gears which forced me to retire. This was not the result we were expecting, but we need to look ahead to tomorrow and get the car ready for the race - we need to try to have a decent second race and fight for positions.”
Humphrey Corbett: “Luiz got tangled at the start which caused damage to the front of his car - we fixed the track rod and sent him back out, but then he had a problem changing gears. We thought we’d fixed it, but eventually, rather than taking any unnecessary risks, we retired him from the race. On the other hand I am really pleased that the adjustments we made to car 27 worked. I think our strategy was good. Davide came in quite early and gained a few places, so we are all very happy for him. We have work to do tonight to make the car even better for tomorrow. We are still playing catch up a little, so we must work hard on that - it’s going to be a long race tomorrow with no pit stops, but we will try everything we can to get Luiz up there too.”
Sunday race: 10:35hrs

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Barcelona Race Two
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 8:09pm


Team AirAsia was awarded another four points today in Barcelona after a strong drive from Davide Valsecchi from fifth on the grid. He fiercely defended his position throughout making an impressive pass in the later stages of the race to gain one place and finish fourth.
Luiz Razia fought from the back of the grid after the team solved his car’s gearbox problem from Saturday. The Brazilian made a brilliant start gaining several positions to drive a solid race until a risky move by a competitor in front caused contact, sadly costing Luiz his race and forcing him to make an early retirement just a few laps before the chequered flag.
With just a few days to turn the cars around, the team will head straight to Monaco for the next round of the GP2 Main Series next week.
Phill Spencer: “I am a lot happier today. After a long night we got to the bottom of Luiz’s gear box problems, so today he had a mechanically sound race. He had a good start and made up several places, but right at the end had an unfortunate coming together with Luca Filippi which caused his early retirement. As for Davide, he controlled the race dealing with the pressure from Coletti well. He managed his tyres and towards the end of the race the car came good for him– we were so close to a podium finish! I am really pleased for all the team. Obviously I’m sorry Luiz didn’t get to finish the race again but hopefully we will get both cars to the podium in Monaco. I’m looking forward to it!”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:34.940 / P4): “I am very happy with how things went today. The team did a great job – we were consistent, the tyres lasted, we were able to overtake and in the end we were incredibly close to a podium finish. Now we can go to Monte Carlo with confidence.  It will all be down to qualifying well – GP2 is so close just one tiny mistake makes all the difference, especially somewhere like Monaco. I’d like to thank all the team for this weekend and let’s hope we can have an even better race next week!”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:35.805/ DNF): “When you start from the back of the grid it’s always difficult, especially in the Sunday race. I made lots of places at the start and was on the pace but conscious of taking care of my tyres. The car felt good throughout which is something to be proud of. The team solved our gearbox problems from yesterday but unfortunately towards the end I made contact with Filippi and that was it, I had to retire. Today was not the day to get points, but let us head to Monaco and get a good result!”
Humphrey Corbett “Yet again it’s been a race of good and bad for Team AirAsia.  We worked hard on the race set up for Davide’s car, making changes again from yesterday. He needs to improve his starts so we can get the best possible chance of a podium finish. For Luiz starting from the back of the grid was always going to be tricky. Often silly mistakes are made and incidents cannot be avoided and this is unfortunately what happened to Luiz today. He got tangled up with another car as they made a risky manoeuvre and there was nothing he could do. Two positives are he had a good start and the gearbox problem has been solved. We just need everything to fall into place so we can get up there and fight for a podium in Monaco.”
Next race: Monaco 26th – 28th May

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Monaco Race Preview
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 1:17am
Direct from Spain Team AirAsia has arrived in the principality of Monaco for round three of the GP2 Main Series. With preparations underway for the team’s first ever street circuit race, different car setups specifically for this famous circuit will be tested ahead of race one on Friday, with the aim of adding to the  points tally gained in Barcelona last week following two P4 finishes.
Team Manager Phill Spencer “I am feeling a little bit apprehensive because of the nature of this track - It’s not hard on the cars, but it does bring up different things such as brake and engine cooling, but the engineers are on top of that. We are fortunate in that both drivers have driven here before and like it. We are in the same position as everyone else, we are in good shape, so we are all looking forward to getting out there and having another positive race.”
Davide Valsecchi “I am feeling very good after our competitive weekend in Barcelona. I really enjoyed the races and am very happy we performed well and scored our first points of the season. It seems we are getting better and better which is encouraging. Strategy and a good qualifying session will be even more important in Monaco as it is almost impossible to overtake here. It’s a different type of circuit, there’s a different mentality - you have to be very precise so it will be a good challenge for me and the team.”
Luiz Razia “I like the Monaco track. It’s very unique and challenging and totally different from any other track on the race calendar, so it is special. I have finished the race the last two years I have driven here, and scored points here last season so it’s good to be back. I’d say 75% is down to qualifying well, you need to get that right and I believe we can do that. The only place you can really  overtake is in the pit stop so let’s hope we can have a good car in free practice and qualifying, a good stop in race one and keep the pace.”
Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett “We go into this round feeling confident but tinged with a little nervousness as we will use the super soft tyre for the first time. We will also be changing the setup to suit Monaco so we are entering unknown territory. We do not get much time on the circuit so for free practice we will use two different car setups and decide after the session which works best and go from there. We will get the drivers out as soon as possible and let them get a feel for the car and the balance. The weather forecast looks good, so hopefully no rain to contend with. Traffic is always an issue here, and the track will be quite dirty to begin with. The logistics of this race is quite challenging as we are based away from the pit lane, but otherwise everything else will be similar to any other circuit – apart from the set up – so I feel we are in good shape.”
Schedule:
Thursday 26th May
12.00 – 12.30 Practice Session
16.15 – 16.45 Qualifying Session
Friday 27th May
11.00 / 11:05     Pit Lane opens / closes - Grid
11.15     Race 1:   42 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins.
Circuit Length:  3.340 km
Race Distance:  140.280 km
Saturday 28th May
15.55 / 16.00    Pit Lane opens / closes - Grid
16.10     Race Start:  30 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins.
Lap Length:  3.340 km
Race Distance:  100.200 km

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Monaco Qualifying
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 3:09am
A quick turn around after morning free practice in Monaco saw Team AirAsia qualify today in the top three, with Davide Valsecchi setting a best lap of 1:22.198 lap. His consistency placed him amongst the quickest for the entire session and he will start tomorrow’s GP2 race from the second row of the grid with his sights on a Monaco race win.
Meanwhile Luiz Razia, try as he might to find clear air, was plagued with traffic for most of the 30-minute session. He was able to make just one clear run and finally qualified P17 after a frustrating session around the famous streets of Monte Carlo.
Phill Spencer: “Again, we are very pleased for Davide for his P3 and a little disappointed and sad for Luiz – his car wasn’t ideal, but mostly he suffered with traffic. He tried to piece it together but unfortunately luck was not on his side. We will need to improve the car’s balance for tomorrow, but we can race from P17 and we just need to keep pushing.  This is our first street race so we are still learning.  We know we have two decent cars and drivers that like the circuit - we have a good race strategy in place so we will stay positive and see how it pans out tomorrow.”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:22.198/ 17 laps / P3): “The car felt fantastic today so I would like to thank the team for giving me such a good car. We have continually been in the top five throughout free practice and qualifying, so with Bianchi’s five place penalty we will now start P3 tomorrow. There were a lot of incidents and yellow flags so we were lucky to get the free laps and get a good result. For tomorrow the aim will be to avoid any incidents at the first corner, have a solid race and a podium finish!”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1: 23.377 / 18 laps / P17): “We have been unlucky here today, as we were in Barcelona. We had a very difficult session, there were a lot of crashes and I was in the middle trying to survive. I got one clear lap during the whole session and the car wasn’t feeling perfect, so even on that lap it was not competitive enough.  We were trying something different with the car setup, but it didn’t work, so we will change again for tomorrow and see how we go. Being further back on the grid might even help me avoid any incidents that usually occur at the start in  turn one, we’ll see. The main aim for tomorrow is to finish my race and do well.”
Humphrey Corbett: “We had lots of work to do in between free practice and qualifying today to fix some damage from the morning session. Qualifying went very well for Davide, but unfortunately not so well for Luiz. We know Luiz is capable of a lot more, he got caught up in traffic but it seem luck just wasn’t on his side – It is a lottery here in Monaco so we are fortunate to have two cars in one piece. We will make some small adjustments to Davide’s car, but overall he is very happy with it. Once the cars come back from Parc Ferme, we will study the data we have from today and think about strategy. We have been impressed with the super soft tyre today, there was not as much degradation as we had expected so we will feed that into our race strategy. With a good start Davide has a very good chance of getting a Monaco podium finish.”
Friday race: 11:15am (local time) +1GMT

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Monaco Race One (We Won!)
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 10:16pm


Team AirAsia is celebrating its first race victory today in Monaco after Davide Valsecchi drove a brilliant race from start to finish, taking the lead after iSport’s Sam Bird stalled on the grid. Davide drove a cool and controlled race throughout, managing his tyres and setting fastest lap on his penultimate run through the street circuit.
Luiz Razia had a strong start, avoiding the stranded car on the grid and making up two places. He made an early pit stop and had a clean race until he suffered engine problems which sadly forced him to retire from the race early.
Team AirAsia is the first Malaysian backed team to win a race in the GP2 Main Series, and with twenty-two championship points, currently sits third in both the Driver and Team’s Championship.
Phill Spencer: “I am absolutely over the moon! To win a race in our first season is unbelievable. At the start we set goals, we knew we had the team and cars to win, and we have proved that today in convincing style. It is a team effort, but what an outstanding drive from Davide today. He got lucky at the start but then didn’t put a foot wrong. Congratulations to him and the whole team! On the other hand once again Luiz was unlucky. He just can’t catch a break, and I am sorry for that. He had an engine problem which forced him to stop during the race, but I am confident his day will come. The crew just need to keep their chin up, keep working hard, and it will come. We are currently third in Team and Driver Championship, so today I am a very proud Team Manager!”
Davide Valsecchi  (Best time 1:23.011 / P1): “What a race! I am so happy to get this result! Perhaps at the beginning Alvaro Parente was quickest but the team made a good strategy and a well timed pitstop so we were able to keep the lead. It wasn’t an easy race, but the car was perfect! We were very quick throughout and able to pull away and set fastest lap towards the end of the race is amazing. As a new team we have previously been a little unlucky, but look at the results, we are just getting better and better! It is what we dream of!”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:24.230 / DNF): “I had a good start and was lucky to avoid any trouble on the first lap. The car felt much better than yesterday but unfortunately our strategy did not work so well. We pitted early and when I went back out on my good tyres I was stuck in traffic and could not progress. I kept my pace but then my car broke and there was nothing I could do but pull over. Hopefully we have had our bad luck now and we can start pushing for some points.”
Humphrey Corbett “We are a team, so of course we are celebrating Davide’s glorious win here today, but on the other hand I am devastated for Luiz who yet again had problems during the race. I really feel for him, he is not getting the reliability he needs and it is through no fault of his own. It looks like a sensor of some sort has gone down, but we will need to check this. On a positive note, to win a race in Monaco is definitely something very special, and to set fastest lap with one lap to go shows that he was in total control. It’s a job well done!”
Saturday race:  16:10hrs (local time) +1GMT
30 laps

maocheng

Monaco Race Two
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 3:02am


Carrying the momentum from yesterday’s race win Team AirAsia went out this afternoon in Monaco in good spirits. Once again Davide Valsecchi was on fine form. Starting from eighth on the reverse grid, he made up three places on the first lap to drive a solid race to finish fifth, collecting two points.
Attempting to put behind him the engine problems from Friday Luiz Razia began from 22nd on the grid to drive another disrupted race. He was forced to visit the pit lane to change a suspected puncture not once but twice only to be disqualified from the race for breaching regulations, concluding a frustrating race weekend for the Brazilian.
The team now have three weeks back in the factory before round four of GP2 Main Series Championship takes place in Valencia, for the second and final street race of the season.
Phill Spencer; “Overall I am very pleased with the weekend – we have got a bunch of points and a Monaco race win! Davide had a great start today to finish fifth.  I am disappointed for Luiz. He didn’t have the best weekend -I would have loved to see him charge through the field today, but on a positive note we have two cars in one piece, unlike a lot of teams. We will now move on and set our sight on Valencia.”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1: 24.083 / P5); “I am very happy with the car and the team this weekend. We have been very competitive and had some great results. We gained fifth position early on today and collected two more points. I made a mistake when I passed Chilton, so I am a little frustrated with myself, but otherwise our aim to be top five in the championship has been realised after just three races. Bring on Valencia!”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1: 22.831 / P20); “Today’s race was a little complicated. We got off the grid well but was later penalised for jumping the start. We then had two suspected punctures so I had to come back into the pits for safety reasons. After that I went out and tried to do some fast laps – it seems we were very competitive, just one tenth off the quickest, so I am very happy with how the car felt today. I was having fun out there – You never know when you are going to get the chance to drive such an amazing track again. Valencia is next – that is a very different street circuit – the bumps, the surface, also the tyres are different. We now have three weeks back at the factory. The boys will completely strip the car, analyse everything and for sure we will be competitive in Valencia.”
Humphrey Corbett “We have collected two more championship points today which is a real positive. Davide has driven incredibly well here this week. Starting at the back was always going to be tricky for Luiz, especially because it is so difficult to overtake here. He also had a few problems with tyre pressures so we will need to look into why that happened. Overall we have learnt a lot from this event, so we will take it all on board and look forward to the next round in Valencia.”
Next race: Valencia / European Grand Prix 24-26th June

maocheng

VALENCIA PREVIEW
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 11:41pm


Valencia, Spain
Thursday 23rd June 2011
Following three busy weeks in the factory, the newly named Caterham Team AirAsia has arrived in Valencia keen to build on their Monaco race win success.
Supporting the Formula One European Grand Prix, the GP2 series will partake in the only other street circuit race of the season, this weekend using Pirelli’s soft compound tyres for the first time.
Based around the city’s revamped marina area, the innovative track has 25 turns that test the tyres to the limit and challenges drivers and engineers alike. Currently third in the team championship expectations in Caterham Team AirAsia are high.
Team Manager Phill Spencer: “We are quietly confident after our Monaco win. We are racing on a street circuit where both drivers have done well in the past, so there is no reason why they cannot do it again or even better, win! The last three weeks have given us the chance to go through everything and service the cars properly, so we are well prepared and the engineers are on top of their game. We hope the cars can pretty much roll off the truck and be ready to go after just a little fine tuning, but you never can tell – it’s a very dusty road course here, so it will take a little bit of cleaning up throughout the week. But all in all I am very optimistic - we are on a roll!
Luiz Razia: “I think this track is great – it can be difficult because the surface changes a lot during the weekend as rubber gets laid down. Set up can be tricky and we have to adapt things as we go. There are a couple of fast and slow corners which are tough on braking, and few places to overtake, but hopefully we won’t need to because we will be out in front! We’ve had a good couple of weeks discussing everything back in the factory, so I’m feeling confident we are back in the game! ”
Davide Valsecchi: “This weekend will be very interesting as it’s going to be incredibly hot so it will not be easy. Starting off the weekend well is important to me, so the pressure is on to do well in free practice. I am feeling confident and expect to be fast from the start. Hopefully I can perform well and with a little bit of luck we can have another positive weekend.”
Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett: “This is an interesting street circuit. There are few bumps here so we can run the cars quite low. The corners here are quite hard on braking and for the first time we will be using soft tyres so it is something new for us, but hopefully we can continue the successful pattern set in Monaco. We’d really like to see Luiz up there this weekend as well as Davide. They are both very capable so we just need to put it all together for both of them.”
Schedule:
Friday 24th June
GP2    11.55 – 12.25 Practice Session
GP2    15.55 – 16.25 Qualifying Session
Saturday 25th Jun
Race 1:  
15.25 / 15:30  Pit Lane opens / closes -  Grid
15.40   Race Start
32 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins
Circuit Length:  5.419 km
Race Distance: 173.408 km
Sunday 26th June
Race 2:  
10.20 / 10:25  Pit Lane opens / closes  -  Grid
10.35   Race Start  
23 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins
Race Distance: 124.637 km

maocheng

Valencia Qualifying
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Saturday, June 25, 2011 at 2:08am
New GP2 outfit Caterham Team AirAsia went out onto the Valencia Street Circuit today using Pirelli soft tyres for the first time to further solidify their strong performance so far, qualifying in the top half of the grid. Davide Valsecchi, who claimed the teams’ first race win last month, qualified P8 after twelve laps this afternoon. Luiz Razia completed the same number of laps to qualify just 0.3seconds off his team mate in P11, proving just how close competition in the GP2 Series is.
The demands of this circuit, paired with high temperatures and new tyres, means tomorrow’s race will be both challenging and exciting for drivers and spectators alike.
Phill Spencer: “Today’s qualifying was not as good as we had expected but there are a lot of quick drivers in front of us – it’s such close competition out there. But we have got through two sessions successfully and everything is in good shape. It will be a long hot race tomorrow but we are confident both drivers can race well. We are looking at different strategies to give the drivers the best possible chance. The first two corners funnel down into a very narrow area so it will be a case of staying out of trouble at the start. We are here to race, so our aim is to bring the cars back, collect some points and be consistent.”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:47.129 / 12 laps / P8): “We are not fast as we wanted to be today. Our strategy on our first set of tyres was not bad, but we lacked a bit of speed. We made some adjustments during qualifying, but then tyre degradation set in, especially in the last two sectors. Anyway tomorrow we are starting in a ‘points position’ so we will fight hard and try and have a good start so we can complete the first lap without issues and gain some positions. We will see.”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:47.418 / 12 laps / P11): “It was very hot out there today! The qualifying session wasn’t great - we discovered the soft tyres are dropping off a lot, so it will be an interesting race tomorrow. It’s 32 laps and there will be probably be safety cars out too so we need to react very quickly when things happen during the race. We are not far from a ‘points position’, so now we need to think about a good set up. Let’s take little steps – first we need a good start, a good car and pit stop and then we can see how we get on.”
Humphrey Corbett: “Both drivers qualified pretty close together, and although we had a few issues with balance in the first session, we reacted to that and the drivers were quite happy with the cars during qualifying. We were a little unlucky with red flags, but as always everyone is in the same situation. We are seeing a drop off with these soft tyres, especially in the rears, so we will need to react fast during the race. We have a little bit of work to do, but I think we have a good race strategy which will look after the rear tyres. If we can do that I am quietly confident we can have two cars finish in the points.”
Saturday race:  
15:40 (local time) +1GMT
32 laps / 60 mins

maocheng

Valencia Race One
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 2:27am


Caterham Team AirAsia is going from strength to strength finishing this afternoons Valencia race with another podium finish with both cars in the top six.
Italian racer Davide Valsecchi made up six positions from eighth on the grid to fiercely defend his P2 position until the closing laps of the race struggling with tyre degradation Van der Garde managed to pass leaving Davide to complete today’s podium in third. Starting from eleventh Luiz Razia narrowly avoiding the turn one collisions that brought out the safety car - During the 32lap race the Brazilian gained five positions to finish sixth overall.
Both he and Davide drove superb races today, aided by the team’s strategy and pit stops they collectively secured another nine championship points.
Phill Spencer: “I couldn’t be happier today! Luiz had a really strong race his car was good even towards the end with worn tyres. It’s fantastic to see Davide on the podium again and to collect some good points for the team. This is what we need;  consistency like this with both drivers bringing it home and collecting points every time. I expect nothing less now! I’m really pleased for the team and am really looking forward to tomorrow! ”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:50.368 / P3): “The race today was good, for 70% of the race the car was perfect, we just struggled a little with the tyres towards the end. It looks like some of the other teams managed their tyres better than us and were quicker towards the finish, so we have some work to do. But anyway I am very happy. I drove well and the team did a great job with the set up and strategy and pit stop, we went into the pits in fifth and came out third! It would have been a dream to get second place, but I am happy with a third, we were on the podium and got some more points. Tomorrow we will do our best to have another good race from sixth on the grid. What a great result today!”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:50.402/ P6): “The car was good today from the beginning. We have been busy over the last couple of weeks in the factory looking over data and the improvements showed today. It’s good to be back in the points it’s great for our confidence and more points for the team too. I think we could have finished P4 but unfortunately we got held up a bit but overall it’s a great result. Everybody is very pleased we just need to work on the areas we have room to improve on. Tomorrow’s race will be a long run on just one set of tyres, so we need to stay on top of everything. I am starting third, which is the good side of the track, so hopefully we can have a good start and have another strong race.”
Humphrey Corbett: “”Everything worked very well today, we had a good pit stop, a good strategy and the drivers drove really well. We have got a little bit of work to do on Davide’s car to lessen the degradation of tyres, as he was struggling towards the end, but we have some ideas on what to do. I think Davide’s car could have been even better today, but it was his superb driving and our strategy that got him up there on the podium! Luiz also drove very well -he had a slightly different set up so from an engineering point of view we can probably learn from his set up to help Davide tomorrow.  The two cars in front were quicker than us, so it proves we have some work to do tonight before race two - but for now we are all very happy!”
Sunday race:
10:35hrs (local time) +1GMT
23 laps / 45mins

maocheng

Valencia Race Two
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 8:20pm

Caterham Team AirAsia are celebrating another fantastic result today with Luiz Razia stealing the second spot on the podium with team mate Davide Valsecchi finishing in fourth place.

Recovering well after both cars made contact with other cars early on, Davide managed to recover well and overtake two cars during the 24 lap race to collect three points, adding to Luiz’s five for his fantastic drive through to second place.

This weekend’s results now mean that Caterham Team AirAsia move up to second place in the Teams Championship behind the Barwa Addax Team, before heading to Silverstone in two weeks time.

Phill Spencer: “This is a fantastic result for the whole team! We have had two podiums in one weekend and a bunch of points to jump us to second in the championship. Both drivers had a great race today so I couldn’t be happier. I’m glad Tony Fernandes, Mike Gascoyne and Riad Asmat could be here to celebrate with us!”

Luiz Razia (Best time 1:50.032 / P2): “It was very hard to keep the pace out there today. Gutierrez was a bit quicker in the second part of the race but I made a good start and was I was being very conservative with my tyres. Overall I am very happy with how things have gone this weekend. We scored points in both races, now that’s what we are talking about! It’s got to be our aim for the rest of the season; it’s the most important thing is to be consistent and score points at every round. Last time we were in Silverstone we were in the top eight in testing, so with the information we have got from this weekend we will work hard to keep this positive feeling and results going!”

Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:50.692 / P4): “I got a good start today, but someone made contact with the rear right of my car in the first lap, so we were a little concerned that the damage to the side pod could affect things. But we got through and considering all this the car felt good. We went from sixth to fourth, overtaking a couple of cars. We were not the fastest out there, but we were better than the cars around us. I enjoyed the race. We have had a great few race weekends, so I want to thank the team and look ahead to Silverstone.”

Humphrey Corbett: “I am beyond words! I am really happy to see Luiz up on the podium where he belongs. He had a good race today and didn’t put a foot wrong. Davide did a couple of good overtaking manoeuvres and climbed through the field. From an engineering point of view, we are still missing something, because there were quicker cars out there than us, so we have got to investigate that, but for the moment we will celebrate our two podiums and a smashing weekend all round! I’m very happy for the whole team and a great way to head into Silverstone.”

Next race: 8-10th July British Grand Prix, Silverstone

maocheng

Silverstone race preview
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 11:23pm


Caterham Team AirAsia has gained momentum during the first half of its inaugural season and is currently now placed second in the GP2 Teams’ Championship. The meeting this weekend in Silverstone acts as a home race for the Norfolk based team who are all keen to maintain the consistent point scoring results that will strengthen their position in the series.
Major changes were made to the Silverstone F1 track layout in 2010, designed to improve the venue for spectators and to provide an even greater challenge for drivers.  This year GP2 will work out of the old Formula One garages and will run on an earlier schedule to the normal race weekends to compliment to F1 British Grand Prix programme. With changeable weather forecast it looks set to be an unpredictable and exciting weekend of racing.
Team Manager Phill Spencer: “We are feeling pretty confident coming into what we call our home Grand Prix. We are on a bit of a roll after the last couple of races have been good to us. The drivers are charged up and scoring regular points so long may this continue! I am very optimistic, and not too concerned about the changeable weather forecasts, as it will be the same for everybody else. Our pit stops are going well, the drivers are confident, so I hope we can get through the weekend and score some good points.”
Luiz Razia: “Silverstone is a phenomenal circuit! We tested here earlier this year so we have experience at the track along with all the other teams. Since then we have got some good feedback from other races and improved the car, so let’s hope everything goes as smoothly as it did in Valencia and we keep scoring points! The main changes made in 2010 have been to smooth out the bumps in turn ten and eleven which I’m happy about. This works better for us, but it’s always a pleasure to drive here, so I hope we can have a positive weekend and most importantly be quick!”
Davide Valsecchi: “This is a very technical and challenging track. I think the weather is going to play a big part in this weekends’ race, so we will need to be prepared to adapt the set up of the car to get it right as and when conditions change. This will be make things interesting. We have had a strong run of races and I hope our good fortune continues here this weekend. The atmosphere is always incredible so it should be good!”
Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett: “The conditions were a lot colder when we were here for testing. This time we are expecting very changeable weather which will certainly make things interesting! It’s a circuit with high speed corners but not so hard on braking, so we are opting to modify our normal set for the cars to hopefully suit Silverstone.  The directions we went in testing lead us to some dead ends, so putting a positive spin on our experiences and learning from them we will not be going down those same routes this time. The British drivers like Sam Bird will no doubt be quick to begin with but I think the rest will soon catch up and hopefully we can be up there at the front too. ”
Schedule:
Friday 8th July
10.55 – 11.25 Practice Session
14.55 – 15.25 Qualifying Session

Saturday 9th July
GP2 Race 1:
14.25 / 14:30 Pit Lane opens / closes - Grid
14.40  Race Start:    29 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins.
Circuit Length:  5.891 km
Race Distance: 170.705 km
Sunday 10th July
GP2 Race 2:
09.15 / 09:20 Pit Lane opens / closes – Grid
09.30  Race Start:  21 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins.
Race Distance: 123.577 km

maocheng

Silverstone Qualifying
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 1:14am
Torrential rain just minutes into this afternoon's qualifying session in Silverstone made it very difficult for teams to improve on their opening lap times, during which time the Caterham Team AirAsia duo struggled with grip.

Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia, together with the rest of the GP2 paddock, returned to the pit lane when the weather worsened to switch to new tyres. Unfortunately water on the track created tricky conditions and, after 30 minutes and nine laps, Davide will start tomorrow's race P12 following a ten place penalty handed to Romain Grosjean in Valencia. Luiz completed one more lap than his team mate to finish the session P20.

Phill Spencer: “Both drivers were complaining of no grip in today’s qualifying session. We changed both cars onto a fresh set of wets half way through the session and it improved grip, but unfortunately it was not enough to improve our times. The team and drivers are obviously a little bit disappointed and hoped to be further up the grid, but all we can do now is regroup, keep focused, see what weather is like tomorrow and set up the car accordingly. All in all, the cars worked ok, but we were missing something so we will need to look into this some more. It will be a difficult race but we will see what we can do.”

Davide Valsecchi (Best time 2:00.527 / 9 Laps: / P12): “After ten minutes of qualifying the rain came down hard so we could not use our second set of tyres to their full potential. We were P4 and P9 this morning’s dry free practice session, but unfortunately we couldn’t get close to that this afternoon, which is going to make race one more challenging. Mid grid is a troublesome area especially at the start of the race, so tomorrow will be tough. It seems there is a lot of tyre degradation here too. The cars felt good earlier so I believe we can still finish in the points tomorrow.”

Luiz Razia (Best time 2:01.922/ 10 Laps: / P20): “We chose to go out on used tyres today, but as it turned out this strategy didn’t work well but the important thing is to react in a positive way and look forward to good race tomorrow. I am disappointed but lots of things can happen during the race, so let’s hope we have a bit of luck and can turn the weekend around.”

Humphrey Corbett: “If we could qualify again maybe we would change our strategy around a little, but as it happened today we needed to get the best laps very early on before the rain came down. Later on we just couldn’t get close. Luiz said his car felt better on his second set, but one way or another we didn’t get it right which is a little disappointing. However we won’t let it get us down. It can be difficult to overtake here but both drivers are capable of passing and mixing with the best. The forecast looks better and we are competitive in the dry, so hopefully we can have a good race and finish in the points tomorrow.”

Saturday race:  14.40hrs 29 laps

maocheng

Silverstone Race One
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 1:51am


The Silverstone GP2 race got under way this afternoon behind a safety car following a heavy rain downpour.  Both Caterham Team AirAsia drivers had their work cut out after a tough qualifying session yesterday in treacherous conditions. Starting from twelfth on the grid Davide Valsecchi could not find the pace early on and slipped several places once the race restarted to finally finish P15.
From twentieth on the grid Luiz Razia set some impressive lap times to gain two positions. However with few overtaking opportunities here both the young Brazilian and team mate Davide were unfortunately unable to finish in the points today.
Phill Spencer: “We are busy analysing the lack of performance we had on both cars today. We seem to have missed something with the wet settings where other teams are benefiting. They were not aggressive enough in the wet, although not too bad in the dry. It was a funny race – On slicks Luiz was one of the quickest out there – the trick was when he caught up with he had to move off the line and into the wet to pass them – this is where our problem lays at the moment. We are all a little disappointed but we must move on, learn from it and hope we can have a better race tomorrow. We know we can perform well in the dry so let’s hope for good weather!”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1: 44.623/ P15): “This was not what we were hoping for today. We just didn’t have the pace especially in the rain. It is a disappointing result considering we were up there in free practice. We are missing something with the wet set up. We must do something about this so we can continue to score points and finish in the top five. Hopefully we can learn a lot from this weekend and come back strong in Germany.”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:44.116/ P18): “The rain tyres just did not work again today and we really struggled in the wet. We are losing so much time and obviously races so we need to resolve this as there is a very good chance of rain in other races such as Spa. I think in tomorrows’ race we will do some tests to find out more about the car and go in another direction to see if this works better.  After everything though, I was pretty happy with the car on slick tyres, we set three fastest laps and were fifth quickest overall so we know we have the pace.”
Humphrey Corbett: “Today’s results were not what we were expecting, but for some reason we just were not competitive especially in the wet. Like everyone else we had to wait until the track was drying before we could call the drivers in. We did this as soon as we could and brought both in on the same lap, changing onto slicks to improve the performance, but unfortunately by then we had already lost time. The pace was just not there today, so we must go away and investigate this. Tomorrow’s forecast is dry, but you never know here, so we all hope we can have a better race tomorrow.”
Sunday race:       09.30hrs 21 laps

maocheng

Silverstone Race Two
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 7:53pm


Caterham Team AirAsia raced this morning at Silverstone to conclude a frustrating weekend on home ground. Unpredictable weather conditions created problems for the team, which had started the weekend with a strong performance in free practice.
Having struggling to find their usual competitive pace in the wet sessions, Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia had to fight from the back of the grid in today’s 29-lap race to finish P14 and P17. Though the team comes away with a lot of information which will prove useful for the next round in Germany in two weeks time, where they hope to return to point scoring results.
Phill Spencer: “The chance of getting any points today was slim anyway, but I am still disappointed. We seemed to have the pace in free practice, but since then we just haven’t been competitive enough. We will need to analyse, look at everything and be able to react faster before heading off to Germany. It is going to busy week ahead, but hopefully we can get back to scoring points in the next round.”
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:45.130/ P14): “We made a couple of changes today to learn more about tyre degradation. Unfortunately the tests we did caused a lot of understeer so my pace was off, but it needed to be done. But overall it was a good start and a decent race with no mistakes, it is just a shame we didn’t get the points this weekend. But we have learnt a lot. I think we will be much stronger in the next race and I’m really looking forward to racing at the famous Nurburgring circuit!”
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:44.794 / P17): “It has not been an incredible race today. In fact it is the worst result of the season for us, so it is disappointing. We lost the pace somewhere and lost the chance to run with the other top drivers this weekend. We were looking strong in free practice but then came the rain and we started to struggle. I was expecting to get points here, but unfortunately we missed out. It is a shame we couldn’t perform well for all the fans here. The atmosphere is great! German fans are also very enthusiastic so hopefully we can finish in the top five and feel the love from the crowds there!”
Humphrey Corbett: “We tried a few things here today. We set up both cars differently to see if we could improve our performance here and discover what we have been missing so far this weekend. We still haven’t got it right in the wet sessions, which in turn put us on the back foot all weekend, emphasising the importance of a strong qualifying session – here especially where it is difficult to overtake; we race where we qualify. The results this weekend have not been great, but we have learnt, which will be useful for future races. We now have a lot of data to work through. It would have been very difficult to score points here today, so we must move on and look ahead to the next round in Germany in a couple of weeks time. ”
Next event: Nurburgring, Germany 22 – 24th July 2011

maocheng

Nurburgring race preview
by GP2 Team AirAsia on Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 10:16pm


Caterham Team AirAsia proudly showcase their new green and yellow team livery this week in Germany, a move that will reinforce the strong ties with Team Lotus.
Following a disappointing home race in Silverstone the team are optimistic their wet set-up issues have been solved. With mixed weather forecast again in Nurburgring this weekend, the team hope to put their new findings to the test and get back to performing well and scoring points.
Known for the original daunting Nurburgring, the Nordschleife ran for an awe-inspiring 22.5 kilometres (14 miles). For safety reason the circuit underwent a big redevelopment and these days, although still challenging, Formula One and GP2 now race on a 5.1km circuit set within the Eifel Mountains.
Team Manager Phill Spencer: “I am feeling optimistic as always. We hope to have made progress since Silverstone with the inclement weather conditions there. This week will be a good exercise for us if the weather is changeable to see just what we have learnt from the last round. We know the car will be good in Hungary, so I am really looking forward to the next two races. Both drivers have done well in the past & like the track. This weekend we are also running under the new green and yellow livery for the very first time, so it is an exciting new phase for us.”
Luiz Razia: “I love this track, it is really challenging for the drivers. There’s a lot of camber changes and lots of grip in the corners. The weather is very inconsistent here, so there will be lots of big decisions to be made which will be very influential to our weekend. Hopefully we can take what we learnt from Silverstone and get it right here. The main goal is to collect as many points as we can during the weekend.”
Davide Valsecchi: “I really like the circuit here, I have had some good results in the past and had a victory or two here so I have some great memories. The weather is one of our main concerns this week, we suffered a lot in the wet in the last race in England, but hopefully we have reacted well and made the right changes so we can perform well here whether it’s wet or dry. We have worked a lot on our wet set-up so we will try and stay on the top from free practice, see what our pace is like and aim to collect some points.”
Chief Engineer Humphrey Corbett: “Everyone is very excited about the new green and yellow livery! Since Silverstone we have regrouped and I am looking forward to trying our new set-up to make our cars work in the wet, hopefully we will get it right this time. If not the positive is we are running on the soft tyre here which has worked well for us in the past. The drivers are upbeat, so we are optimistic. Circuit-wise it is quite easy to lock up the brakes, and there are two or maybe three places to pass. It is quite a technical track where drivers use a few different racing lines. There are no really fast corners, just slow and medium ones. It will be the weather that will play the biggest factor - it can be different from one end of the circuit to the other, so we are hoping for a bit of consistency.”

Schedule:
Friday 22nd July
11.55 – 12.25 Practice Session
15.55 – 16.25 Qualifying Session

Saturday 23rd July
Race 1:  
15.25 / 15.30  Pit Lane opens /closes  -  Grid  
15.40   Race Start   
34 laps (excl. formation)/ 60 mins.
Circuit Length:  5.148 km
Race Distance: 174.793 km
Sunday 24th July
Race 2:  
10.15 / 10.20  Pit Lane opens / closes  -  Grid
10.30   Race Start  
24 laps (excl. formation)/ 45 mins.
Race Distance: 123.313 km