iSport: Max points to disaster in seconds.

iSport International has proven itself to be the class of the GP2 Series field in 2007 but, after the first race at Magny-Cours over the weekend, drivers Timo Glock and Andi Zuber were left standing in the corner with dunces' caps placed firmly on their heads.

Glock arrived in France with a comfortable lead in the championship, having not missed the podium in five races, while Zuber, although well down the standings after successive gearbox failures leading into the mid-season break, had topped both days of the Paul Ricard group test. The UAE-based Austrian then dominated morning practice at Magny-Cours, before Glock pipped him to pole. However they lined-up though, iSport appeared hard to beat on Saturday afternoon.

However, all that promise came to nothing, when the lights went out on the feature race. Having spoken of the team's desire to see them bring home a 1-2 finish from their starting positions, the pair instead managed to take each other out of the race before the first corner, with Zuber even being pitched up on two wheels. Both were out on the spot and the race being red-flagged for almost an hour only served to prolong their agony and embarrassment.

"What should have been a chance to score maximum points turned to disaster in seconds," a team statement admitted, "While Andi made a good start, Timo was a little bit slower off the line. He was looking to defend from the cars on the second row and Andi was trying to maximise his chances. In those hectic seconds, they failed to look out for each other and managed to touch wheels. This sent Andi skywards and Timo spinning round, [putting] both cars out of the race."

Although prevented from having to start at the very back in race two by Ernesto Viso's crash, which also took Michael Ammermuller out of the race, and Adam Carroll's disqualification, Glock and Zuber knew that it would be just as hard to salvage anything from 23rd and 24th on the grid. While Zuber spun and tapped the wall on the out-lap, removing him from contention for fastest lap bonuses, his German team-mate suffered a second retirement, this time mechanically-related.

"Race two was a huge anti-climax," the statement continued, "Andi was handicapped from the start when he damaged the car on the damp installation lap, and the team had to push him to the pit-lane to carry out repairs. The mechanics did a great job to repair the car and have it ready to start from the pit-lane, but that meant that Andi was no longer eligible for the point for fastest lap - which he set during the race. Timo was making up places and overtaking in his usual style when he was struck with a gearbox problem, which may have been a legacy of the previous days collision.

"The drivers are obviously disappointed, but accepted joint responsibility [for Saturday's crash] and have resolved to repay the team for their hard work. The team will bounce back from this and hope to show the same pace at Silverstone next weekend."