A winning Carlin weekend at the Nurburgring
06 August 2006Aldershot (UK) 6 August 2006. Carlin engineered Victory Team driver Alvaro Parente clinched his second win of the season at Nurburgring this weekend but didn't manage to finish the second race. Even so, Alvaro has moved up from fourth in the championship to second only two points behind erstwhile leader Andy Soucek. Mikhail Aleshin set his first pole position in the championship, lost out at both starts but managed a podium in the first race. Japanese racer Hayanari Shimoda also managed points and drove a solid second race finishing ninth whilst Carlin and Renault World Series debutant Adrian Zaugg impressed.
Alvaro Parente Race 1 - P1 Race 2 - DNF
I'm really pleased with the results in the first race. It's good to have a race when you are in control. I made an excellent start, which meant I led going into the first corner. After that, the car was extremely quick and I was able to control the race from the front. Unfortunately in the second race I was pushed wide in the first corner and lost places. After that I tried to make up for what I had lost but towards the end of the race I had an incident which was none of my fault that damaged my front suspension damper so I had to retire, a very disappointing finish to our week-end. Yesterday I lead the Championship but today I'm in second place so it's easy to see how close this championship is. I look forward to the next race and I feel confident I can do well as I know the circuit well from my F3 days. "
Hayanari Shimoda Race 1 - DNF Race 2 - P9
" I didn't finish the race yesterday but I'm pleased with today's result. I managed to avoid accidents and we made a very good pit stop and as other cars fell off, I could move up the race order. At least we got two points for today's efforts. "
Mikhail Aleshin Race 1 - P3 Race 2 - P21
" I didn't manage a good start in either the first or second race but apart from that my first race wasn't so bad race. I was lapping quickly and this third position finish earns me precious points for the championship. The second start was again terrible and I ended up with a puncture and had to pit. As a result, I lost too much time and finishing 21st is a massive disappointment having started on pole. "
Adrian Zaugg Race 1 - P17 Race 2 - P8
" When I got the call to race here I was excited but apprehensive. This is a massive step up from the Renault two litre series and with no opportunity for testing and acclimatisation I was up against it. The Carlin team made me feel very welcome from the start and they kept on improving my comfort in the cockpit. As I improved my seat positioning the speed and confidence came and I'm absolutely thrilled with 8th position in race two."
Trevor Carlin, Team Principal
" I'm very pleased with this weekend's result. The team has done a great job and we have showed everyone that we are producing quick cars for all of our drivers. Carlin Motorsport and the Carlin engineered team, Victory Engineering, are now equal second position in the team's championship which we are pleased with. We have managed many podiums and wins this season but have also had our share of not so good results.
This weekend both Alvaro and Mikhail were very quick and Alvaro made a great start in the first race taking the lead from the start and winning comfortably while Mikhail unfortunately fell back from a poor start but still managed a podium earning himself and the team points. Adrian Zaugg, our new Red Bull driver, who replaced Sebastian Vettel for this event as Vettel had a prior engagement in the Euroseries F3 race at Zandvoort, has also done a very good job this weekend finishing eighth in the second race out of thirty cars which isn't bad for a rookie! We got him more comfortable in the car for the second race and he's been able to show us what he's capable of and with no testing at all, this was a strong performance. "