05/04/09
SEPANG (MAL) 5 APRIL 2009: Edoardo Mortara is looking forward to leaving the Sepang circuit behind after what he described as one of his worst weekends as a racing driver.
Edoardo failed to finish yesterday's GP2 Asia Series race after suffering a driveshaft issue on his Arden International car just 100 metres after the start, and today had an enormous rainstorm to contend with, which had delayed the start of the sprint race by half an hour.
Starting under the safety car, Edo lined up in 24th position, but fought his way through the torrential rain to finish the arduous race in 17th position. Suffering from brake issues throughout the 45 minute contest, he now looks forward to the final round of the 2008/2009 championship in Bahrain, scene of his GP2 Asia Series debut.
EDOARDO MORTARA:
The fact I made it to the end of the race is really the only positive that I can take from what has been a really disappointing weekend. Even today I was hoping for some rain, and it came but it was impossible to get anything from it. I was struggling with my brakes and found it very difficult to stop my car, going straight on in almost every corner.
When it started to dry out a little bit I started to push more and I was becoming more competitive, but by then it was too late. It was my first wet race in GP2, but I have come into this championship from a series where I won some wet races and I'm usually competitive in rainy conditions, but today it was really strange.
Moving on to Bahrain, we have to work a lot. It should be good for us but you never know. The other teams have improved a lot and we have to see if we can match that. I'm not saying anything now though, because at the start of this weekend I said I was hoping for some good results but it's ended up being one of the worst weekends I can remember in my career.
ARDEN INTERNATIONAL CAR #4 ENGINEER - CAMPBELL HOBSON:
It was Edo's first wet race in GP2 and the conditions were really difficult. He had a bit of a problem with the brakes but we'll wait and see exactly what that was when the car comes back to us. He said he might have had contact with someone in the rain, and that could have affected things. But for sure by the end of the race his sector times seemed good and he was matching a lot of guys out there, but we were just a bit slow at the start and we'll have to see why. But it's more experience in these conditions which will help him in the main series.
Bringing the car home is definitely a good result. There were a lot of guys out there who didn't manage that, so overall a good learning experience.
We need to be back up at the front in Bahrain, as we were last time with him. He qualified fourth so we hope to be back up there and I can't see any reason why we can't be.
