British GP Minardi race notes

BRITISH GRAND PRIX - July 11th 1999 THE RACE

MARC GENE' Chassis 04 15th 1:32:41.812 "It was such an exciting race for me! Since the very beginning I managed to push very hard. Although my car's behaviour was pretty good, I couldn't overtake Takagi. I, therefore, tried to maintain my position. At the first pit stop I realised that our competition would be played in terms of pit stop strategy. Soon before the second stop, I was very close to him in order to pit as faster as I could. This helped me to stay ahead of him. The lads were fantastic and I believe that for us all this has been a pretty good win."

LUCA BADOER Chassis 01 retired on lap 6 "It was a shame that, due to the race stopped following the accident, the good start I did was nullified after overtaking four or five cars. At the second start, I was repeating my good performance when Takagi touched my car causing a trip into the gravel. The result was that a lot of grass penetrated into the radiators. The engine temperature turned higher and the gearbox failed while entering the pit lane. I, nonetheless, tried to continue my race but unfortunately the gearbox was broken and I was forced to retirement."

CESARE FIORIO: "We are pleased because, once again, after the last races, we finished ahead of the Arrows, our direct rivals. In particular we feel happy for Marc: he overtook Takagi, who at the beginning of the race, had pushed out Luca whose start had been certainly better compared to him. This means that the Team did a good job, the mechanics were excellent at the pit stop and the car's reliability is confirmed after four consecutive races. Now we are looking forward to the new aerodynamic package to be used in the forthcoming races."