Arden Monaco qualifing report

Razia grabs top-six slot for GP2 glamour race

Luiz Razia

Photo by: xpb.cc

GP2 teams tackled the notoriously tricky streets of Monte Carlo today, during qualifying for the first of two races supporting this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. To reduce potential traffic chaos, the 26 cars were separated into two groups, each of which was allocated 14 minutes of track time (rather than the usual, single, half-hour session).

Arden driver Luiz Razia was third quickest in the faster of the two groups and thus starts from the inside of row three. He is well placed to maintain his title challenge: at present, the Brazilian lies second in the standings, 25 points behind series leader Davide Valsecchi (DAMS), who starts from row four. Razia has previously competed in eight Monaco GP2 races, a fifth place in 2010 being his best result to date.

Team-mate Simon Trummer is learning the circuit this weekend: he was 10th fastest in his group and starts 20th.

Luiz Razia comments:

“Free practice was very productive. I managed lots of laps and the car felt good. I made a few small changes before qualifying and expected to be in the fight for pole. The car remained encouragingly quick and I felt sure I could nail a really good time, but a red flag then interrupted the session and compromised my chances of a faster lap. It was the same for some of the others, I guess, but that’s just the way it goes. Tomorrow I’ll be looking for a clean run to the first corner and then a settled race with a quick tyre stop. The podium is definitely within reach.”

Simon Trummer comments:

“It’s my first time here and obviously I’ve had to build up confidence as the day has gone on. There’s no point pushing too hard, too soon and sticking the car in the barriers before you’ve learned the track. The circuit is every bit as challenging as I’d been led to believe and it’s satisfying to have improved significantly since free practice. There’s still some way to go, obviously, but I now know enough to be able to race strongly. Passing here will be very difficult, of course, but the main thing is weekend is to learn a difficult new venue and make solid progress in the process.”