DAMS back at the front!

After going through a tricky period DAMS is back among the championship leaders in the hotly-contested 2012 GP2 Championship. Despite a frustrating start to the weekend Davide Valsecchi and Felipe Nasr made a fantastic comeback in the main race. On Sunday they confirmed their speed with a double podium. After free practice that served little purpose due to the rain that fell in torrents, qualifying went all wrong for the French team. Poor fuel calculations led to both cars running out of petrol and the drivers had to start from twenty-third place (Felipe) and twenty-fifth (Davide).

The DAMS team, though, found fresh resources and fought back with a daring strategy in the first race that started under the safety car because of the heavy rain. On lap 6, Valsecchi and Nasr came in to carry out their tyre change and this helped them overcome a large part of their handicap as they drove attacking races to finish sixth and seventh.

They were well placed on Sunday’s grid and they fought at the front although delayed by Van der Garde on pole. Nonetheless, their efforts were rewarded by a double podium (Davide second, Felipe third). Even if Razia has taken the lead in the championship (only 6 points in front of Davide) the team knows it can now count on its two drivers as Felipe Nasr has confirmed his potential.

Jean-Paul Driot, CEO: “This weekend the team showed its reactive capacity. After a qualifying error it immediately hit back. Thanks to a daring strategy that paid off it overcame a compromising situation. The drivers did a great job. They remained concentrated in spite of the circumstances and proved their top-level driving skills as well as the qualities of the car.”

Davide Valsecchi: “I’m very happy to be back on the podium especially as I started from so far back in the first race. My thanks to the team, who came up with a great strategy on Saturday and have always given me a quick car. It’s a pity we’re not in the lead in the championship, but I’m going to fight to get back on top starting with the next round.”

Felipe Nasr: “I feel a lot better. The team again did a great job on Saturday, which helped me to pull back a lot of places. In fact, even if I’m a bit disappointed not to have won today, I’m satisfied with the podium and it’s a reward for everybody. We’ve got the monkey off our backs and I’m hope we’re going to continue the good work in the coming races.”

Next round: Hockenheim (Germany) 20-22 July.