Valencia a difficult weekend for Barwa Addax Team

Johnny Cecotto and Josef Kral fail to score points.

It has not been the best of weekends for Barwa Addax Team at their home circuit. A series of unfortunate circumstances has prevented them from shining at their favourite circuit and has meant that drivers Johnny Cecotto and Josef Král, come away from the event empty handed.

Johnny Cecotto

Photo by: GP2 Media Service

Johnny Cecotto, had a promising free practice session which left him high up in 5th position. However, after a chaotic qualification session he was severely hampered by traffic and in his fastest lap he had to brake sharply to avoid colliding with a car that had practically stopped on one corner. This in turn created more mayhem and the Venezuelan driver was sanctioned 3 places on the start grid after having cut another driver’s progress. He made a good start to the 1st race and climbed up to 7th position, but when he came into pit he ran over the material of another team as he was leaving the pit lane. It would be true to say that here there is much less space in the pits than at other circuits. He started to climb through the field again and finished 8th only to be sanctioned after the pit incident, leaving him at the back of the field. As it turned out this was nothing compared to the sanction that both Barwa Addax Team drivers received for having mistakenly exchanged tyres and both were subsequently disqualified. In the second race their luck did not change. Johnny was fighting back and had got to the pelotón of drivers in the middle of the pack when he was touched from behind by another driver in the finishing straight and he spun at high speed and was forced to abandon the race.

Josef Král, improved as the weekend went on in what were unfavourable circumstances. He finished free practice in 12th place. In qualifying he was unable to set a fast race lap, and just when he was giving his best shot at it a Lotus spun just in front of him ruining a lap that would have placed him much higher up on the start grid. He finished the race in 16th position but the previously mentioned disqualification left him at the back of the field. In the second shorter sprint race, with 2 safety cars and starting from last position it was difficult to have any hope. Nevertheless, Král climbed his way through the field from 26th to finish 11th. It was a great effort with some top quality driving but it was a pity that it did not count for anything in the end.

The GP2 series is now entering the mid-season phase. In July there are 3 races in England, Germany and Hungary. The first of these will take place at the Siverstone circuit between the 6th and 8th of July.

Source: Barwa Addax Team