Monday, 23rd June 2008

Lucas di Grassi shows he isn't race rusty with a run to second place at Magny-Cours.

Lucas di Grassi admits he was surprised to mark his return to the GP2 Series with a second and fourth place finish at Magny-Cours having not raced for nine months,

The 2007 runner-up and Renault F1 test driver was drafted in to replace Ben Hanley at Campos Grand Prix in a bid to improve the team's results and give him the chance to remain race-fit in a season that threatened to leave him largely on the sidelines.

The first time he has raced the GP2/08 chassis competitively, di Grassi caused a stir by showing he still has considerable pace with a starting position of sixth and an early run to fourth straight away.

Advertisement

Fourth eventually became second when Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean hit problems, allowing di Grassi onto a surprise podium.

“I was expecting a strong comeback, but not as strong as second place” he said after the feature race. “I think from this weekend it is nine months without racing since the last race in 07, and some of these guys have been doing the Asian series and GP2 for a long time, so I was expecting to struggle.

“I am struggling a little bit with this new car. It's very different from what I drove last year, and also the way the team works is different from the team I worked with last year, and there is a lot of things that need to fall into place.”

Going on to finish the wet-to-dry sprint race in fourth place, di Grassi would emerge from his return to action as the highest scoring driver of the weekend, a result that also places him an encouraging 11th in the standings already.

Related Images

[Top of Article]