FIA F2

Asia: Abu Dhabi: DAMS weekend summary

Abu Dhabi: victory first time out! This weekend saw DAMS contest the first two races of the 2009/2110 GP2 Asia series which took teams to the spectacular and demanding circuit of Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. DAMS fielded an all-new driver line-up for ...

Published: Nov 2, 2009, 5:06 AM

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Abu Dhabi: victory first time out!

This weekend saw DAMS contest the first two races of the 2009/2110 GP2 Asia series which took teams to the spectacular and demanding circuit of Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. DAMS fielded an all-new driver line-up for the occasion, with Germany's Christian Vietoris, 20, defending the team's colours alongside 21-year old Edoardo Piscopo from Italy.

The event was marked by searing heat and there wasn't a trace of rubber on the track to begin with. As a consequence, the amount of grip evolved considerably over the three day-meeting, making life particularly delicate for the engineers and drivers alike as the balance of the cars changed ceaselessly throughout the weekend.

Christian recovered from a difficult run in qualifying to produce a solid first race, climbing eight places to finish in the points and earn himself a start on the second row for today's clash. This time round, the German profited from a faultless getaway to lead from the start and collect a flag-to-flag win.

A somewhat frustrating weekend saw Edoardo complete the two races in ninth and seventh places respectively, finishing just shy of the points on both occasions.

Christian's victory did honour to DAMS' number one status and underlined the team's determination to defend the crown it won in last year's championship. The next race will take teams back to the same venue on February 5-6, 2010.

Jean-Paulo DRIOT (CEO): "It was a good weekend for our two new recruits. We are currently at the stage where we are getting to know each other, and nothing can replace race experience when it comes to bonding a team together. The track conditions kept our engineers on their toes throughout, but they rose well to the challenge of the new circuit here in Abu Dhabi. Christian recovered from his disappointing run in qualifying to put in two great races. Although Edoardo failed to pick up any points, his pace showed that he has a place up there with the best of them."

Christian VIETORIS
Race 1: 14th on the grid, 6th in the race.
Race 2: 3rd on the grid, race winner.

"My weekend didn't begin very well, and qualifying was quite difficult for me, but I'm pleased with the way the following two days went because just we kept on improving after that. I managed to claw back quite a few places during the first race and I had no intention of wasting the fact that I was able to start this morning's race from the second row. It's been a very encouraging weekend for the rest of the season."

Edoardo PISCOPO
Race 1: 11th on the grid, 9th in the race.
Race 2: 9th on the grid, 7th in the race.

"I'm reasonably pleased with my first taste of the GP2 Asia series. I didn't make any mistakes and I finished both races, so that's encouraging. That said, my aim had been to finish in the points, and I narrowly missed out on that. It's obviously frustrating, but I'm sure I will meet my objective next time. I have a great car and the team is first class; I can't ask for any more than that! The circuit here in Abu Dhabi is technically very challenging, and very long too, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience."

-credit: dams

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