Ocean Racing Technology secures points in both GP2 Series races at Hockenheim

Ocean Racing Technology secured points in both legs of the GP2 Series races held this weekend on Germany’s Hockenheim circuit. After a brilliant performance in a qualifying session made particularly complex due to rains that soaked the session, Nigel Melker started from 3rd position on the starting grid in the first race, and crossed the finish line with points for 6th place in hand.

The race started under damp conditions which dictated the choice of tyres, special Pirellis for rain. Nigel Melker managed the grip conditions ideally, moving up to the head of the race after just a few meters. The line dried out quickly, and Nigel Melker and Ocean Racing Technology’s tyre choice was not the best adapted to the conditions, causing the Dutch driver to lose a few positions. After his mandatory pit stop, Nigel Melker found a good pace, and was able to defend his 6th position to the finish line.

Seventh on the starting grid in the first race, Victor Guerin completed the best qualifying session of the season for Ocean Racing Technology. Nevertheless, the Brazilian driver lost several places at the start after being crashed into by a competitor. With his car off balance, Victor Guerin had a hard time staying on track and retired.

Once again in third position on the starting grid for the second race, Nigel Melker did not repeat his exploit from Saturday, and lost several places at the start. Subsequently, he fought some fine duels, and regained several positions to move into 7th place. Tyre wear penalized him at the end of the race, but Nigel Melker managed to secure one point for 8th place. Victor Guerin did not manage to keep the temperature of his tyres within the right window and they quickly degraded.

Nigel Melker has secured points in the past four races and he says he is satisfied with his two German races, “I am very happy with the result from the first race. Being regularly in the points is very important for me. I would have been able to secure more points in the second race if I hadn’t had a problem at the start. We need to understand exactly what happened so that it doesn’t happen again. I did everything I could to defend 7th place, but it was impossible due to the degradation of the rear tyres. The point for 8th place is a satisfaction, given the circumstances.”

After an excellent performance in qualifying, Victor Guerin was very optimistic for this weekend at Hockenheim, “I was very happy and optimistic for the race. But things did not go as planned. But we have to look at the positive side, we worked very well and if we manage to add up all the positive aspects end to end, the results will follow.”

José Guedes is also satisfied with his team’s performance. “Our second half of the season is much stronger than the first half, and I think that we will be increasingly competitive. The drivers and technical crew should be congratulated for their hard, quality work.”

The next GP2 Series races will be held July 28 and 29 in Budapest, Hungary.