Arden Monza race 1 report

Crunch Time: Unfortunate Collision Eliminates Arden Drivers At Monza

Josef Kral and Jolyon Palmer

Photo by: GP2 Media Service

The penultimate GP2 Series of the year proved to be short and not especially sweet for Arden drivers Josef Kral and Jolyon Palmer – a bitter disappointment in the wake of yesterday’s strong qualifying form.

After lining up on the sixth row of the grid, Kral gained a couple of places to lie 10th at the end of the opening lap while Palmer was not far behind, in 12th. Both were in touch with the leading group and had high hopes of working their way into points-scoring positions by the race’s end. Monza is a difficult circuit at the best of times, however, and the 30-lap race was always likely to be ripe with potential pitfalls. As the cars entered the first chicane for the second time, Kral was hit by a rival... and as his car spun around he unintentionally backed into his team-mate, who was desperately trying to take avoiding action. Both were forced to retire on the spot and so face a tough fight from the back of the grid in tomorrow’s season-closing sprint.

Josef:
“I made a pretty good start and the car felt well balanced, so after gaining a couple of places on the first lap I was confident I’d be able to make further progress. I know the race had only just started, but I was convinced I had the potential to score points. At the start of the second lap, however, Michael Herck clipped me from behind, which was plain silly. I spun around and my car rolled back into Jolyon’s path. There was nothing he could have done to avoid me. It’s a huge shame, but I hope to make amends tomorrow – no matter how difficult that might be.”

Jolyon:
“I have made some good starts recently, but today’s was a bit average and I lost one place immediately when Michael Herck passed me by cutting the first chicane. I attempted to regain the place, but he kept trying to drive me off the track. I managed to overtake him at about the third attempt, but he then passed me again by outbraking himself into Turn One. In the process he took out a couple of cars, including Josef’s, but I managed to avoid the initial incident. Unfortunately, however, I reached the second part of the corner and saw Josef’s car heading towards me – the end of the afternoon for both of us. It’s a real shame.”