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Andreas Zuber conquers second place at first GP2-run on the Hungaroring
Despite a twisted front wing the 24-year-old Styrian thus moves up to fifth place in the overall ranking
Zuber's main goal at tomorrow's sprint race is to score valuable points
Andreas Zuber has every reason to be satisfied with his performance on the Hungaroring so far. Following his second place at yesterday's qualifying he repeated this feat at the 13th GP2-run of season 2008 this Saturday. After a brilliant start - recently often the 24-year-old Styrian's Achilles‘ heel - he even took the lead. But his rear-axle locked in the first turn which enabled Luca di Grassi to pass him. "Of course, it's a bit of a pity after this super-start. But much more annoying was that Petrov touched and twisted my front wing when he also tried to overtake me in the first turn. That was an unnecessary manoeuvre", said the Moser Medical Group-driver.
But the Russian wasn't able to hold back Zuber for long. Following a mistake by Petrov the Piquet Sports-driver passed him already in round three and closed the gap on di Grassi. Zuber: "Especially after the pit stop I tried to put di Grassi under pressure which worked quite well. I was at least half a second faster but he didn't make any mistake - which makes it almost impossible to overtake on the Hungaroring."
Subsequently the race became a pas de deux between Andreas Zuber and Luca di Grassi - with Bruno Senna as bystander in third position. "As the race went on it got harder and harder for me since the tyres wear off even faster when you drive close behind someone for 20 laps or so. That is why I didn't ride any no-holds-barred attacks during the last third of the run. Only during the last laps I tried it once more but, as already said, di Grassi didn't make any mistake."
His second place means that Andreas Zuber also distinctly moved up in the overall ranking - from eighth up to fifth place. Thus he lies only six points behind third place.
At tomorrow's sprint race in Budapest over 28 laps (123 kilometres) Andreas Zuber will therefore start from seventh place. And the young Styrian remains realistic as far as expectations are concerned: "A place on the podium will be very hard to reach. My goal is to score valuable points for the overall ranking. Four or five points would be very good."
Zuber's teammate Pastor Maldonado completed a tactically brilliant race. The Venezuelan had taken up the race from last place since he had missed the qualifying due to his crash during the free training session on Friday morning. Thanks to a very late pit stop (35th lap) Maldonado managed to fight his way up to fifth overall place. Besides Zuber's second place a further reason to rejoice for the Piquet Sports Team.
Result 1st run GP2 Budapest
1. Luca di Grassi (Bra/Campos) 1:04:35,028
2. Andreas Zuber (Aut/Piquet Sports) +0,711
3. Bruno Senna (Bra/iSport) +3,611
4. Karun Chandhok (Ind/iSport) +19,046
5. Pastor Maldonado (Ven/Piquet Sports) +21,883 (+ fastest lap)
6. Mike Conway (GB/Trident) +33,375
7. Sebastien Buemi (Sui/Arden) +33,621
8. Andy Soucek (Spa/Super Nova) +36,911
Driver overall standings GP2 (after 13 of 20 runs)
1. Giorgio Pantano 63 points, 2. Bruno Senna 54 points, 3. Lucas Di Grassi 38 points, 4. Romain Grosjean 36 points, 5. Andreas Zuber 32 points 6. Karun Chandhok 31 points, 7. Sebastien Buemi 28 points, 8. Pastor Maldonado and Giorgio Parente 26 points each.
GP 2 program in Budapest:
Sunday, August 3
10,30 - 11,20 Sprint race over 28 laps
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