Photo by: GP2 Media Service
Caterham Team AirAsia claimed another top ten finish with Luiz Razia today finishing ninth in the Monza GP2 season finale, concluding the team's debut season in a respectable sixth place in the Teams Championship.
Starting from tenth on the gird Luiz drove a solid race to overtake Super Nova's Adam Carroll in a swift manoeuvre at the halfway point to claim his ninth position at the flag. Davide Valsecchi had a disappointing race, starting from twentieth on the grid he made contact with another car into the first chicane. The Italian continued and managed to work his way up to sixteenth before he made a mistake whilst overtaking Cecotto in the last corner which saw him lose control, sadly ending his race prematurely.
As a new entrant this season sixth place in the GP2 Championship is a fantastic result, reflecting the team's commitment and drive to compete at the highest level, and on behalf of the team we would like to thank everyone involved for making this possible.
Phill Spencer: "We learned from practice and qualifying and set the cars up accordingly, Davide's was a little more extreme because we had everything to gain with him starting from the back, but both Davide and Luiz really liked their cars today. Luiz got a good start but got caught up in a bit of traffic on the first lap. Davide also got clipped and went up in the air but continued until seven laps from the end when Davide overtook Cecotto, pushed a little too hard, touched the white line and lost the car -It is a shame he didn't get to finish today. The best part about it all is we have maintained our sixth place in the championship against some of the more established teams which is definitely something to be proud of - the whole team should be delighted with their performance this season! It's been a fantastic first year for us."
Luiz Razia (Best time 1:33.336 / Best Lap:20 / P9): "The start was good but then I caught up with Filippi and Pic in the incident in the first corner. After that my pace was good and I was able to attack and overtake. In the middle of the race I passed Carroll and got some clear air where I was able to show our pace was comparable to the front runners. It was good for me to complete both races in the final round of the season, especially in such a tough category. It's a shame we didn't getting any points but overall I am happy. It's has been an excellent year with the team, we have made a good impression as newcomers and got some good results and for me it was great to help bring Caterham Team AirAsia to life. "
Davide Valsecchi (Best time 1:33.639 / Best Lap: 11 / DNF): "The car felt good today, the set up was just right and we ran at a very competitive pace. I am just really disappointed not to have finished again, but unfortunately we had contact in the first chicane which in ended up compromising my race. The first part of the season was great. We avoided the incidents and had a strong car but unfortunately we were not so lucky here. We were performing well but we just were not in the right position to challenge for points so we took some risks and I made a mistake at the exit of Parabolica which ended my race today. It is always better to complete a race so I am sorry about that, but overall it has been a great year with the team. I think 2012 will be even better for us after such a good first year."
Humphrey Corbett: "We tried something different on Davide's car today and he was happy with the set up. In hindsight maybe we could have done that earlier on in the weekend but we have learnt a lot for the future. His accident was unfortunate - he just made a small mistake and that was it for him. Luiz did a very solid job, making up several places but in the end just couldn't pass other cars and progress as much as he'd like to finish in the points. Looking back at the season if someone had said at the beginning of the year we would finish sixth and win in Monaco I wouldn't have believed them, so I think we have proved what we can do. Everyone has worked from scratch and incredibly hard to get here so congratulations to all the team. Here's to 2012!"
Next event: 2011 GP2 Final- Abu Dhabi -11 -13th November 2011
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Carroll joins NIO as reserve FE driver
Evans surprised Mexico shunt wasn’t race-ending
Formula E season three predictions: Can Buemi be beaten?
Toyota weighs up third Hypercar for WEC
What to expect from F1’s new rear-facing camera
2024 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP Spanish GP: Alex Marquez leads Gresini 1-2 in FP1
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Can F2's relaxed title favourite prove a point to Alpine?
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
The brightest lights in F2's departing six-year warhorse
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments