Smith qualifies third in Istanbul

29 May 2010

Carlin's Dean Smith put his GP3 car third on the grid for race one of the weekend at Istanbul Park, Turkey this morning. The Racing Steps Foundation and Tomax backed driver was eighth quickest in yesterday's free practice session and improved further today to claim a spot on the second row of the grid. Team mates Josef Newgarden and Mikhail Aleshin suffered a torrid qualifying session however, with yellow flags and traffic hampering their progress. Newgarden will consequently line up 21st for race one, with Aleshin 24th.

Hot and sunny conditions in free practice yesterday gave way to slightly cooler and cloudy conditions this morning as the GP3 drivers took to the track for qualifying. All three Carlin drivers were straight out on track, building up to their ultimate lap time. Smith was amongst the quickest from the outset. The British racer went fourth on his first set of tyres while, Newgarden, who was 11th in free practice yesterday struggled to find space on track. The learning curve continued for Aleshin, who took part in his first GP3 qualifying session with just 30 minutes experience in the car.
At the mid way point, the majority of the drivers pitted for new tyres. On returning to the track, Smith struggled to put in a clear run and dropped down the order briefly as he backed off for the numerous yellow flags.

As was the case in Barcelona last time out, it was the final few minutes of the session that proved vital for the drivers' qualifying efforts. With two minutes remaining, the times continued to tumble as several drivers went quicker than their previous efforts. Between the Carlin drivers, it was Smith who found some space on track and put in an impressive time to snatch third on his final lap.

Speaking about his qualifying session, Smith said, "We had a good run on the first set of tyres and went fourth. We came in to change onto new tyres and changed the car a little bit, but there were so many yellow flags I didn't manage to get a good lap in. Then I backed off and found a little bit of space and put in a good lap to go third. I think I could have pushed a little harder, but I didn't want to go off on my last lap and compromise the whole weekend. The car feels mega; there's plenty of grip and traction and the car is really balanced, so I'm feeling confident ahead of the first race."

Race one will get underway at 17.20 local time.