After
Friday’s
heavy rains,
the Ardennes
region
around Spa
was bathed
in sunshine
for much of
today,
allowing the
teams
preparing
for the
Belgian
Grand Prix
to make up
for lost
time.
The
Minardi
F1 Team's
two Dutch
drivers
Robert
Doornbos
and
Christijan
Albers
were able to
take maximum
advantage of
Saturday
morning’s
two free
practice
sessions,
and by the
end of the
90 minutes,
both
pronounced
themselves
pleased with
the
performance
of their
cars. The
comments
were
reflected in
qualifying,
when
they
recorded
times within
a tenth of a
second of
one another,
and claimed
17th and
18th places
on the grid
respectively
for
tomorrow’s
race.
ROBERT
DOORNBOS
(Best lap: 1
min 49.779
secs;
Position:
17th)
“It was
great to
have done a
good lap in
front of all
the Dutch
fans who are
here at Spa.
Along with
Jordan, we
have our own
little Grand
Prix within
the Grand
Prix, and
it’s good to
have been
the fastest
of the four
cars. We
took a bit
of a risk
with the
strategy, so
I hope it’s
going to
rain
tomorrow. Whatever
happens,
we’ll try to
do the best
job possible
for the
fans.”
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Minardi drivers' Robert Doornbos and
Christijan Albers took maximum advantage
of Saturday morning’s two free practice sessions,
and by the end, both pronounced themselves pleased
with the performance of their race cars |
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After Friday’s heavy rains, the Ardennes
region around Spa was bathed in sunshine for much of today,
allowing the teams preparing for the Grand Prix to
make up for lost time |
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|
CHRISTIJAN
ALBERS (Best
lap: 1 min
49.842 secs;
Position:
18th)
“I’m pleased
with my
lap. It was
not an
amazing lap,
just a
normal,
solid lap,
and I was
glad to stay
on the
track, as I
had a little
off in
qualifying
at Monza. Considering
our race
strategy,
I’m happy
with the
time. We’ll
see what
happens
tomorrow.”
PAUL
STODDART,
Team
Principal,
Minardi
Cosworth
“Today saw
both
Minardis put
in solid
qualifying
performances
to end up
P17 and
P18. Interestingly,
an analysis
of the times
indicates we
were on the
pace with
the Ferraris
in both the
first and
third
sectors of
the
lap. Overall,
then, we’re
pleased with
the way
things have
gone, and
look forward
to
tomorrow’s
race.”
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