24.04.2004 Maximum effort & minimum return for Minardi in qualifying as Baungartner spins off & Bruni hits the pitlane limiter on his flying lap: Minardi qualifying report
It
was a case of maximum effort and minimum return for Wilux Minardi Cosworth
at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari today.
The team’s preparations for tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix continued to
progress according to plan during the morning’s two 45-minute practice
sessions.
Unfortunately, however, the second session ended on a low note when Zsolt
Baumgartner lost his car over the curbs at Variante Alta on his final run of the
morning and spun into the barriers.
The resulting damage meant the young Hungarian had to switch to the team’s spare
car for official qualifying, but further bad luck ensued when his car again spun
at Variante Alta, and he failed to record a time.
Despite not being completely happy with the handling balance of his car, team
mate, Gianmaria Bruni, pushed hard on his flying lap and qualified 17th.
GIANMARIA BRUNI
“Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to find a good balance for the car today,
and on my flying lap, exiting the last corner, I hit the curb so hard that it
knocked the steering wheel out of my hands and I accidentally hit the button for
the pit-lane speed limiter.
"As a result, I lost over half-a-second before I could fix the problem. We’ll
run the new aero package tomorrow because we want to get some miles on it and
develop a better understanding of how it works. It will be a tough race, but
we’ll see what we can do.”
ZSOLT BAUMGARTNER
“It has been quite a busy time for the team after the spin I had this morning. I
have to thank the guys for the tremendous job they did changing over the spare
car, which was set for Gimmi, during the lunch break. It felt different from my
race car in the pre-qualifying run, but I just had to push hard for a time on
the second run.
"Unfortunately, I made a mistake at the Variante Alta, but sometimes that
happens when you are trying really hard. I am pleased, however, by the fact my
first sector time on that lap was not bad. The goal is to have a consistent
race tomorrow, as we did in Bahrain, and we’ll just see what we can do.”
PAUL STODDART, Team Principal, Wilux
Minardi Cosworth
“Sadly, this has been our worst
qualifying performance of the year and not one of which we are proud. Zsolt spun
on his final run and Gimmi accidentally engaged the pit-lane speed limiter when
exiting the last corner of the circuit on his flying lap.
"The result is that both Minardi entries failed to demonstrate their
potential. This will make tomorrow’s race difficult, but it’s another day, and
we look forward to completing one of our home races.”
Chassis allocation: Bruni (No 20) PS04B/02, Baumgartner (No 21) PS04B/01, Spare car (Bruni) PS04B/04