disappointment for carlin in abu dhabi

12 November 2011

Carlin drivers Max Chilton and Jan Charouz are reflecting on a disappointing GP2 race in Abu Dhabi this morning, after both drivers failed to finish this weekend’s Feature race. A brake problem put Chilton out of the race whilst running sixth, while Charouz suffered a broken drive shaft after contact with another car.

Chilton had high hopes of a podium finish from his sixth place grid slot this morning, while Charouz was 24th after a difficult start to the weekend. Both Carlin drivers made good starts, with Charouz moving up to 20th place in the first sector alone.

Chilton meanwhile was involved in some close battles at the front of the field, and despite initially dropping to eighth, was quick to make up progress and climb back up the order, passing Stefano Coletti on lap two for seventh with Tom Dillmann in his sights.

Team mate Charouz meanwhile was up to 19th place and showing good pace. The team’s fortunes were soon to change however, when Chilton went straight on at turn 1 at the start of lap three with a brake problem. With no chance to recover the car, Chilton hit the barriers and was out of the race.

Chilton’s accident elevated Charouz to 18th, who was making good progress in his first ever GP2 race. The Czech racer continued to put in good lap times and pitted on lap nine to make his mandatory stop. After all the drivers had made their pit stops Charouz was 17th. The former FR3.5 racer was chasing down Josef Kral, but the two made contact, tapping Charouz into a spin. The Carlin man tried to recover with a doughnut on rejoining the track, but the sudden acceleration combined with hot rear tyres caused a broken drive shaft, putting him out of the race.

Reflecting on his race, a disappointed Chilton said, “It’s so frustrating to not be able to show what we were capable of today. If you look at the where the guys I was racing with finished, I would have been well inside the points today, and fighting for another good position tomorrow. The car felt good over the first two laps and I was able to overtake people and put up a good fight. Obviously it’s going to be very tough from the back of the grid tomorrow, but we just have to make the most of it.”