GP2 Series – DAMS thirsting for revenge

The team hasn’t made the best of starts to the 2015 GP2 Championship. It came away from Bahrain empty-handed for the first time since 2013 in the same place. However, Alex Lynn’s and Pierre Gasly’s third and ninth places in qualifying show that DAMS has the pace to succeed.

Preliminary testing at the start of April on the Sakhir circuit left a good impression as Gasly set the quickest time overall with Lynn filling the sixth spot. However, history didn’t repeat itself in the first round of the 2015 championship this weekend. The English driver underlined the team’s performance by setting the third-best time in the free sessions and in qualifying. Gasly was seventh in untimed practice and ninth in qualifying putting him at the risk of a mid-field collision.

And unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened in Saturday’s race on lap 4. The Frenchman made a good start, but was an innocent victim of the shunt triggered by Norman Nato which took out four cars including the DAMS’s Red Bull colours. Lynn made a good getaway and slotted into second place behind Rossi after the safety car period. But he nudged the rear of the leader’s car and damaged his front wing. He also lost his DRS and fell down the time sheets seeing the flag in 19th place. These results more or less scuppered the DAMS’ drivers’ chances in the second heat and they were caught up in a very tight mid-field pack. Thus, it was a character-building weekend for the youngsters in the French squad, but their encouraging level of performance bodes well for revenge in Barcelona.

François Sicard, DAMS Managing Director: “Of course, we’re disappointed with the result. It’s been a long time since we came away from a weekend empty handed. The reassuring thing is the speed of our drivers who are both debutants. We’re going to work hard to get back in the mix. Being able to pick ourselves up off the floor after defeat is the mark of great teams and we’re going to do our best to prove it again. We’re up against top-class rivals although I know we have the talent to get back and fight at the front where we belong.”

Pierre Gasly: “It’s not really the kind of debut I was dreaming about! First of all I didn’t qualify where I should have done. Then I was just a passenger in the collision that eliminated me from the first heat. On Sunday, I had a very difficult time in the race. I tried to push to fight my way back to the front, but that destroyed my tyres so I had to change them. Now I’m concentrating on the Barcelona weekend and I’m determined to get back among the front-runners.”

Alex Lynn: “We ran into a lot of issues and bad luck this weekend. I clipped Rossi’s car in the first race and damaged my front wing and then my tyres went off very quickly. In addition, my DRS went on the blink and I c ouldn’t defend my position. Sunday’s race was also problematic. What I’ll bear in mind is the real potential shown by my third place in qualifying and my performance in the early stages of Saturday’s race. Our season will really begin in Barcelona.”