{"id":640,"date":"2012-06-02T15:32:09","date_gmt":"2012-06-02T15:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zele-racing.com\/?p=640"},"modified":"2012-06-02T15:32:09","modified_gmt":"2012-06-02T15:32:09","slug":"juan-carlos-sistos-mex-and-sten-pentus-est-at-portimao-with-zele-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zele-racing.com\/?p=640","title":{"rendered":"Juan Carlos Sistos (MEX) and Sten Pentus (EST) at Portimao with Zele-Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Young Mexican driver Juan Carlos Sistos has joined Team Zele-Racing for the Portimao Round of the 2012 AutoGP World Series. Sistos is currently also running in the European\u00a0F3 Open Series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 Free Practice 1:<\/p>\n

P\u00e5l Varhaug was quickest in the first Free Practice session of the Auto GP Portim\u00e3o weekend. The Norwegian driver of Virtuosi UK, who yesterday focused on learning the track and saved his best rubber for today, made the most of a set of fresh soft tyres to post a 1\u201932\u201d655, a time that he feels can still be improved: \u201cWhen I did put the fresh tyres on, I immediately felt that there was much more grip than yesterday, and with a few more laps I\u2019m sure that I would have improved my time a lot, because in many places I could have pushed more. I\u2019m confident for the weekend, I really love the track\u201d. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs was second, lapping on used tyres after using a set of new soft Kumhos yesterday. With a 1\u201932\u201d972 he ended the session just 0.03 ahead of Marrakech Race 1 winner Sergio Campana. Sergey Sirotkin was fourth with a 1\u201933\u201d589, and was happy to share his enthusiasm about the track: \u201cIt\u2019s great, with many blind corners, uphills and downhills, it\u2019s a kind of track I really like. The main straight is a bit bumpy, but apart from this I love it\u201d. The young Russian of Euronova was followed by Victor Guerin and Facu Regalia, while Daniel de Jong was in P7 ahead of Sten Pentus. The Estonian driver of Zele Racing didn\u2019t take part in yesterday\u2019s test session and so he used this Practice to get acquainted with a track where he already raced in 2009. He closed the session 0.03 ahead of team-mate Juan Carlos Sistos, who kept showing an impressive pace at his Auto GP debut. Chris Van der Drift closed the top ten with the second Manor MP Motorsport entry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Free Practice 2:<\/p>\n

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs posted the quickest time of the second Auto GP Free Practice session in Portim\u00e3o. The Briton of SuperNova stopped the clock on a 1\u201933\u201d095 that allowed him to edge team-mate Victor Guerin by just 0.01. The Brazilian boasted a good performance, but he feels that there\u2019s still work to do: \u201cI was the only driver of the top tier on new tyres \u2013 said Victor \u2013 so I can\u2019t be too happy. We still miss something, especially to catch Adrian, but we still have time before Qualifying\u201d. Sergio Campana was third and again on the pace with a 1\u201933\u201d375, ahead of Virtuosi\u2019s P\u00e5l Varhaug. Daniel de Jong showed an 8 tenths improvement from his morning laptime that allowed him to take P5, just 0.017 ahead of Sergey Sirotkin who closed the session with a 1\u201933\u201d699. Facu Regalia took P7: the Campos Racing driver posted a 1\u201933\u201d919 that bodes well for today\u2019s Qualifying, but with 1\u201930 to the end of the session a technical issue stopped his car at Turn 1. The team is investigating to find the reason for the glitch and is already at work to repair Facu\u2019s Lola for the Qualifying session.
\nJuan Carlos Sistos improved again and closed the session in P8, ahead of team-mate Sten Pentus. Chris van der Drift rounded the top-ten, with Antonio Spavone following him very closely and seeing room for improvement in Qualifying: I did some mistakes in my best lap, so I can definitely go quicker. It\u2019s not an easy track, mastering it takes time, but I like it\u201d he said. The session ended with 11 drivers in one second, something that hints to a very hot Qualifying session, from 3.30 PM today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Qualifying:<\/p>\n

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs clinched the fourth pole position of his Auto GP season in Portim\u00e3o. The British driver of SuperNova was quickest in a tight packed session that saw nine drivers end in the same second. Adrian climbed on top before the ten minutes mark with a 1\u201932\u201d5, and then improved to 1\u201932\u201d342 in the late part of Qualifying, after that the session was stopped for a spin by Michele La Rosa.
\nThe last 30\u2019 of today\u2019s action saw many yellow flags, and that meant that many drivers were forced to abort their best laps: poleman Quaife-Hobbs had to cope with that, as well as Sergio Campana and Facu Regalia. The Argentinian driver of Campos Racing posted the best qualifying performance of his season so far with a 1\u201932\u201d625 that was worth second place, and was really happy with his car: \u201cSession after session we improved a lo<\/em>t – Regalia said – and I have to say thanks to the team and to my engineer Sean Thompson for that. We are quick and consistent, we could have been even quicker without yellow flags and we are looking good for the race. First row was my aim, so I\u2019m really happy today\u201d<\/em>. Victor Guerin completed a very good team performance from SuperNova taking third, just 0.02 off Regalia\u2019s time: \u201cComing from GP2 it took some time to get acquainted with the car again\u201d<\/em>, he said. \u201cAt the start of the weekend I was a long way off Quaife-Hobbs, but we made a lot of changes to the car before qualifying and it’s now much better\u201d<\/em>. Sergio Campana was fourth with 1\u201932\u201d677 and despite the good result the Italian was really disappointed for the yellow flags that ruined his best lap: \u201cI\u2019m a bit angry because I could have challenged for pole without wasting my best lap with that yellow flag. It\u2019s frustrating, but at the same time I\u2019m happy because the car is quick, we are on the pace\u201d<\/em>. Fifth place went to P\u00e5l Varhaug: the Norwegian\u2019s speed was good but he missed the last minutes of Qualifying due to a fuel pressure issue, and so he couldn\u2019t improve in the deciding moments. He closed the session ahead of Sergey Sirotkin, who also had his share of bad luck: the young Russian of Euronova did hit a stranded piece of astroturf that got stuck into his suspension, preventing him from turning and putting an end to his session. The team managed by Vincenzo Sospiri couldn\u2019t even count on the other car because Antonio Spavone stopped on track due to a technical issue with ten minutes to go. Chris Van der Drift was seventh ahead of team mate Daniel de Jong, both hampered by an oversteering car. Zele Racing rounded the top ten with Sten Pentus closing three tenths ahead of team-mate Juan Carlos Sistos.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sten Pentus: „I am not really happy with my starting position, because i know we could have done better. The balance of my car is pretty good, but we still have to trim it a bit for the fast corners. It is quite difficult here at Portimao to catch the peak of the tire. Unfrtunately i\u00b4ve missed it twice today, but the gap to the fastest guys is no so big. I will try my best in the race tomorrow to jump a few positions.“<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Juan Carlos Sistos: „It\u00b4s the first time since 2009 that i\u00b4m driving\u00a0such a powerful car and it\u00b4s very different to the F3. I am happy with the performance so\u00a0far and we\u00b4ve been on P7 in the testing yesterday. I made a mistake on my first set of tires in Qualifying and spun, but luckily i could rejoin the session. Then we had a red flag which spolied my second run on new tires. So P10 is not what we expected, but that\u00b4s racing.“<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Zele:“ We obviousely are a bit disappointed with the Qualifying result, but we have\u00a0to focus on the races now.Both drivers are quite happy with their cars and that\u00b4s a good sign.“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young Mexican driver Juan Carlos Sistos has joined Team Zele-Racing for the Portimao Round of the 2012 AutoGP World Series. Sistos is currently also running in the European\u00a0F3 Open Series. \u00a0 Free Practice 1: P\u00e5l Varhaug was quickest in the first Free Practice session of the Auto GP Portim\u00e3o weekend. The Norwegian driver of Virtuosi … <\/p>\n

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