Christian Bakkerud will hope for an upturn in fortunes this weekend as the
GP2 Asia series heads to the Sentul circuit in Indonesia for the second round of the season.
The Super Nova driver endured a difficult start to the campaign in Dubai where he retired from the first race and had to settle for eleventh in the second but will now face a new challenge as he heads to a new venue, although he will hope to benefit from the experience gleaned by David Sears' team from its exploits with New Zealand in the
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
“It's the first
GP2 race here in Indonesia so we are all new to the track and the forecast is rain and more rain for this weekend,” he said. “Added to that, the track has around twelve different types of surfaces and we only get 30 minutes of testing before going into qualifying which makes it extremely difficult for all teams and drivers to find the ultimate set-up.
“I'm lucky in the fact that my Super Nova team was here last year with the
A1GP series and they were quickest around the track with team New Zealand so we at least have a starting point. Although the track has changed slightly since, the team have a basic understanding of what to do to the car. We will have a dry set-up which we can then quickly convert with a few changes to a wet set-up. I have full confidence that they will do a super job as they have on every occasion so far.”
Like any driver, Bakkerud will be keen to ensure he keeps his car on track throughout the weekend, but added that a warning handed out to the drivers before the meeting had made him even more determined to not endure any off-track excursions.
“Having done most of our racing in Europe we drivers are all used to the way things work but on arrival here, all drivers were told that should we have an off and end up off the track we must stay in the car until a marshal arrives as the whole area is full of snakes!” he said. “With that word of advice I shall do my best to have a good weekend and stay on the black stuff!”
