2240 days. Or 6 years, 1 month, 17 days. On July 29th, 2007, Giuseppe Marconi was 8th at Nurburgring, scoring his final WC point until last weekend.
With an 8th place in the World Championship’s Japanese GP at Suzuka, Giuseppe ended his long WC points drought and gave Faster Than Speed 4 championship points after two consecutive double retirements.
In the World Championship, Giuseppe Marconi qualified in 21st place. Team-mate Chris de Jong was unable to take part in Qualifying due to having to comply with a Back of the Grid penalty he received in the Monza post-race checks. He started from the back of the field.
The start was a difficult affair. Giuseppe had to take avoiding action to prevent a collision with cars ahead into Turn 1. He drove left, ahead of Chris, who did not expect him there and, unable to avoid his team-mate, clipped the back of the other FTS-P13, dislodging his front wing. Chris pitted for a new wing at the end of the opening lap, having to pit again the following lap after picking up a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Chris tried to recover from the back, but struggled with the heavily damaged car, causing him to spin and retire a few laps later.
Giuseppe, meanwhile, drove a solid race, despite the first-turn damage compromising his pace and causing a long first pitstop. It might not have been Giuseppe’s finest drive, but he kept pushing and made the best out of the race’s high attrition rate. He probably wasn’t the eighth fastest car in the field, but was there at the end of a very tough GP. Giuseppe ecstatically finished the race in 8th place, scoring 4 points, his first ones in WC since the 2007 European GP. A well-deserved prize for years of dedication, commitment and perseverance. Bravo Peppe! His best WC result remains a 6th place in the 2006 United States GP at Indianapolis.
In the World Series, Thomas Mundy had another difficult race. Struggling with a car problem after some setup changes at the eleventh-hour, Thomas retired on lap 12.
In the World Trophy, Carlos Martín made a good start, climbing a place to 4th. While a minor incident with Jorrick Boshove dropped him a few places, an incredible accident would end his race on lap 5. As Giordano Valeriano attempted to overtake Carlos in the straight before the 130R corner, he first pushed Carlos to the line and then inexplicably drove into him, causing him a big shunt against the barriers. Unfortunately, the retirement is a big blow to Carlos’ championship battle, dropping him to 6th, 62 points behind leader Aalberts, with 4 races remaining. Despite the setback, Carlos will keep pushing, we won’t give up!
The twelfth round of the 2013 season will be the Korean GP. Last year, Faster Than Speed celebrated its 200th World Championship GP at FSR’s inaugural race at Yeongam. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@FTS_Racing) and Google+ for the latest news and live coverage from Korea!
Faster Than Speed
Press Release
http://www.fts-racing.net
