After its setback on the Hungaroring at the end of July the French squad was determined to get back among the front-runners at Spa, and another top-3 finish by Michael Christensen (3rd) put a smile on the faces of the DAMS team, which was barely dimmed by Richie Stanaway’s low-key performance as the New Zealander couldn’t do better than thirteenth after a fairly chaotic race. With two rounds to go till the end of the championship DAMS is in fourth place in the Teams’ classification, and Christensen is in the same position in the Drivers’ title chase and closing in on the top 3.
Unfavourable track conditions in both free practice and qualifying didn’t exactly help the French team’s two rookies who still managed to qualify well up in sixth (Christensen) and eighth (Stanaway) positions. They met with opposite fortunes in the race. The Danish driver made a good start and moved up among the front-runners battling for the lead, while his New Zealand team-mate slipped back into the mid-field pack after running wide in a corner. Christensen was back on the podium after a superb race, which keeps him in a comfortable lead in the rookies’ classification, well ahead of the day’s winner, Klaus Bachler.
François Sicard, Managing Director: “Overall we’re pretty satisfied with this weekend. We didn’t manage to qualify as well as we hoped but Michael made up for this with a great drive in the race. It was much tougher for Richie. He was given no quarter by his rivals, and he had to relinquish a few places but this result in no way reflects his talent. Finally, we’re still aiming for a top-three finish in the Drivers’ and Teams’ championships with two races to go to the finish – which is pretty good for debutants!”
Michael Christensen: “I made things a lot easier for myself by making a good start. After that I was able to match the pace of the leaders for most of the race, but I had to lift off a little towards the end. Things got a bit hectic when I wanted to pass Giermaziak on the last lap – his Porsche suddenly became almost as wide as the track! It was a good race for me and for the team too, which scored big points. I can’t wait to be at Monza!”
Richie Stanaway: “It’s a shame! Qualifying wasn’t great but I was hoping to make up places in the race. Unfortunately, I went a bit wide on the exit from a corner and I lost places. I couldn’t find the right rhythm in the mid-field battle, and I also had problems with my car as it was understeering too much. I’m very sorry for the team and I’m determined to do a whole lot better in two weeks in Italy.”
Next race: 8th September Monza, Italy