Feature race: France wins, Jos seventh
Published on 09 October 2005 by Thorsten Hendriks
The second race on the Lausitzring has been won by Nicolas Lapierre for Team France. Jos Verstappen started from the pitlane and finished seventh after an eventful race where the pitstops were very important.
Wederom komt Nieuw Zeeland niet van de grid weg, en ook Nelson Piquet (BRA) heeft problemen bij het wegrijden. Hierdoor besluit de wedstrijdleiding om de start uit te stellen. Bij de herstart hebben dit keer Team Nederland en Italie problemen met wegrijden, waardoor beiden uit de pits moeten starten.
Jos's comments on his race: "I have enjoyed this race tremendously, this is what racing is all about! It was a pity my engine stalled at the start. In lap one however I already overtook 4 cars. Shame about the drive through penalty.
We received that from the organisation because their opinion was that two mechanics worked on one wheel. If we would not have had that penalty place 4 would have been possible: I was the only one in the top 10 who went twice through the pitlane. Our team have done a great job with my pitstop. Compliments are in place."
"All those people and enthusiasm one the stands gave me goosebumps. It was all orange I could see and I would like to thank all the fans for their support. It's unbelievable how much support they are giving our team."
Best starter was Alex Yoong (MAL) who went from P6 to P2 like greased lightning. Neel Jani (SWI) takes the lead after Nicolas Lapierre makes a bad start.
At the end of lap 2 Jos goes in for the mandatory pitstop, quite early. He is not the only one: about seven teams go in. Team Netherlands has a good and fast stop and Jos goes out second, behind Robbie Kerr (GBR). Unfortunately he recieves a drive through penalty which hinders his race slightly. The reason for this penalty is unclear.
By means of the powerboost Lapierre manages to grab the lead in the race. Jos is 18th at that moment. Piquet loses a lot of time during his pitstop, one of the wheel is causing trouble. Then a second mechanic lends a hand and that is not allowed, so Team Brazil get a drive through penalty as well.
South Africe, Malaysia and Germany all have pitstop problems, this allows Jos to gain a couple of positions. Jos overtakes Hideko Noda (JAP) by using the powerboos and takes position 10 - good for one point.
Team Switzerland also has problems with their pitstop, Jani drops several places and a top 3 finish is virtually impossible. Then Karun Chandhok (IND) comes to a standstill on the straight, another safety car situation. This compacts the field again and creates overtaking posibilities. Not for Piquet though, he ends up between Noda (JAP) and Enge (CZE) - literally - and retires from the race. Jos is relieved that the pressure from behind has gone.
Jani overtakes Firman at the end of the straight. Jos manages to overtake Ananda Mikola (IND) and has his eyes on Firman. Scheider (GER) and Parente (POR) fight for position 10 where the German is the winner.
Estoril, Portugal is the next destination in a fortnight.
End result:
1 FRANCE 58:45.700 2 GREAT BRITAIN 58:49.406 +3.706 3 CANADA 58:51.158 +5.458 4 NEW ZEALAND 58:51.674 +5.974 5 SWITZERLAND 58:52.771 +7.071 6 IRELAND 58:53.781 +8.081 7 NETHERLANDS 58:55.322 +9.622 8 INDONESIA 59:02.406 +16.706 9 JAPAN 59:05.044 +19.344 10 GERMANY 59:07.560 +21.860 11 PORTUGAL 59:10.440 +24.740 12 PAKISTAN 59:10.966 +25.266 13 MEXICO 59:14.878 +29.178 14 AUSTRALIA 59:16.590 +30.890 15 AUSTRIA 59:16.832 +31.132 16 MALAYSIA 59:31.081 +45.381 17 CHINA 1:00:03.141 +1'17.441 18 LEBANON 59:47.818 2 Laps 19 CZECH REPUBLIC 46:37.305 8 Laps 20 BRAZIL 44:32.698 9 Laps 21 INDIA 31:52.869 16 Laps 22 SOUTH AFRICA 59:27.594 20 Laps 23 ITALY 27:27.519 24 Laps 24 USA 7:41.286 31 Laps
Thorsten Hendriks
