Dean Stoneman is close to seat for 2012
Aragon, 30th of November 2011 - Official tests continued yesterday and today on Spanish Motorland Aragon circuit. One of the I.S.R. Racing cars drove Belgian Laurens Vanthoor, 6th man this year‘s F3 Euro Series standings. Second one was driven by last year’s F2 champion, Briton Dean Stoneman. For 21 years old Stoneman it was first drive after long recovery from testicular cancer for which he was diagnosed in January this year.
Both yesterday’s session was merged into one six and half hour long session because of fog. Today‘s conditions were also far to ideal, especially ambient temperature around 5 degrees Celsius didn’t suit well to I.S.R. Racing cars. Anyway, there is no event with such a low temperature in the season and the results from Aragon don’t tell much about a real performance. Dean Stoneman earned praise from team chief Igor Salaquarda for his performance in both days. Even though he was entire year recovering from surgery and chemotherapy, was getting faster through the sessions and at the end he matched Laurens Vanthoor’s pace. Stoneman complained of hands pain after day 2, but during the final day ho covered over 60 laps! Dean is very close to signing the contract with I.S.R. Racing for 2012. His team mate will emerge from discussions with several race winners of this season FR3.5.
New specification single seater will be delivered to the teams at 15th of January, the second car they will receive exactly a month later.
Laurens VANTHOOR
Morning session 10th place 1:43.610 +0,800
Morning session 5th place 1:46.024 +0.453
Afternoon session 16th place 1:43.857 +0.785
„Team was very friendly and helped me to discover the car and track. I wasn’t here before. It was the first time in FR3.5 and it’s really impressive. It’s a lot different to a F3 car , which I used to . The speed is really amazing. It were two nice days for me.”
Dean STONEMAN
Morning session 24th place 1:44.997 +2.187
Morning session 22nd place 2:00.986 +14.993
Afternoon session 17th place 1:43.768 +0.919
„I already did a test with MOFAZ team, but I.S.R. Racing car was really good. I’m very happy with the team and I hope to race for I.S.R. Racing in 2012.”
I.S.R. Racing tests rookies
Aragon, 28th of November 2011 - Motorland Aragon circuit is the place of FR3.5 rookies test. I.S.R. Racing tested no less than three possible drivers for 2012 - European F3 Open champion Alex Fontana (SUI), European F3 Open champion in the old cars cup Fabio Gamberini (BRA) and sixth man F3 Euro Series Laurens Vanthoor (BEL). Track was mostly wet and damp in the morning session, on drying circuit Alex and Fabio paid the price for their lack of experience with such a quick car. Laurens Vanthoor presented himself in the afternoon session in one of the I.S.R. Racing car. He did a small number of laps before he parked the car in the gravel trap. Anyway, main focus of the young Belgian is for tomorrow.
Morning session 10th place 1:44.981 +1.387
"Circuit and car were brand new for me, I never drove such a fast car. But I’m satisfied with the lap times, we were getting faster step by step. Team helped me a lot and at the same time listened my feedback. It was very nice first time.“
Fabio GAMBERINI
Morning session 21st place 1:46.260 +2.266
Afternoon session 19th place 1:45.074 +1.883
Laurens VANTHOOR
Afternoon session 16th place 1:44.531 +1.340
Berthon among the fastest!
Barcelona, 7th of October 2011 - Sole I.S.R. Racing’s car hit the track at Circuit de Catalunya today, but was significant one. Nathanael Berthon led the pack six minutes before the checkered flag in free practice 1 and at the end was 4th fastest with narrow margin to the fastest Alberto Costa. I.S.R. Racing’s driver was among top 5 in free practice 2 too, but struggled with unstable rear end of the car on new tires and also gearbox problems slowed him down. There will be both I.S.R. Racing’s cars on the track in tomorrow’s qualifying, Lewis Williamson performed Red Bull F1 simulator work at Milton Keynes today.
Nathanael BERTHON
Free practice 1 4th place 1:34.640 +0.203
Free practice 2 13th place 1:35.283 +1.015
Standings - drivers
1. Robert WICKENS 216
2. Jean Eric VERGNE 214
3. Daniel RICCIARDO 144
4. Alexander ROSSI 138
5. Albert COSTA 126
…
13. Nathanael BERTHON 35
Standings - teams
1. Carlin 430
2. Fortec Motorsport 185
3. I.S.R. Racing 179
4. Epic Racing 137
5. Tech 1 Racing 130
Time schedule
Saturday: 09:50 - 10:20 Qualifying 1
14:00 - 14:50 Race 1
Sunday: 09:00 - 09:30 Qualifying 2
13:00 - 13:50 Race 2
Previous WSbR FR 3.5 winners at Circuit de Catalunya
2010 Daniel RICCIARDO Tech 1 Racing
Esteban GUERRIERI I.S.R. Racing
2009 Marcos MARTINEZ Pons Racing
Marcos MARTINEZ Pons Racing
2008 Julien JOUSSE Tech 1 Racing
Esteban GUERRIERI Ultimate Signature
2007 Miguel MOLINA Pons Racing
Ben HANLEY Prema Powerteam
2006 Alx DANIELSSON Comtec Racing
Alvaro PARENTE Victory Engineering
Aim? Score as many points as possible!
Peter BERRY
"Aim for this weekend is very simple - to score as many points as possible! This will be a bit more difficult as we have a rookie in place of Daniel.
However, we were very quick in the pre-season test, so we look forward to the challenge!"
A two-day FR 3.5 collective test is scheduled at Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday. I.S.R. Racing will test Britain Nick Yelloly and Brazilian Lucas Foresti on first day, Dutch Robin Frijns and Daniel de Jong will follow on day two.
Standings - drivers
1. Robert WICKENS 216
2. Jean Eric VERGNE 214
3. Daniel RICCIARDO 144
4. Alexander ROSSI 138
5. Albert COSTA 126
…
13. Nathanael BERTHON 35
Standings - teams
1. Carlin 430
2. Fortec Motorsport 185
3. I.S.R. Racing 179
4. Epic Racing 137
5. Tech 1 Racing 130
Time schedule
Saturday: 09:50 - 10:20 Qualifying 1
14:00 - 14:50 Race 1
Sunday: 09:00 - 09:30 Qualifying 2
13:00 - 13:50 Race 2
Previous WSbR FR 3.5 winners at Circuit de Catalunya
2010 Daniel RICCIARDO Tech 1 Racing
Esteban GUERRIERI I.S.R. Racing
2009 Marcos MARTINEZ Pons Racing
Marcos MARTINEZ Pons Racing
2008 Julien JOUSSE Tech 1 Racing
Esteban GUERRIERI Ultimat Signature
2007 Miguel MOLINA Pons Racing
Ben HANLEY Prema Powerteam
2006 Alx DANIELSSON Comtec Racing
Alvaro PARENTE Victory Engineering
I.S.R. Racing is third best team FR 3.5 in 2011!
Nathanael BERTHON
Qualifying 2 8th place 1:33.296 +0.953
Race 2 DNF
Lewis WILLIAMSON
Qualifying 2 21st place 1:33.818 +1.475
Race 2 DNF
Igor SALAQUARDA - team pricipal
"We didn't expect super results this weekend, it's very difficult without Daniel. Lewis Williamson isn't ready for fast FR 3.5 car yet and moreover he did work on Red Bull simulator at Milton Keynes from 2:00 AM on friday. He arrived to Barcelona tired and just before the saturday's qualifying. We struggled with some sensors dysfunction in his car.“
"I'm happy with third place in final team's standings. We were second last year, but Esteban and Filip gained points more consistently. Daniel missed four races and Nathanael did well only at Silverstone. We probably couldn't match Carlin, but I'm almost sure we could defeat Fortec Motorsport, if Daniel did all the races. Carlin is probably in the best position to choose drivers for next season, but all Top 3 teams have more or less the same chance to obtain good drivers. We will test with Nick Yelloly and robin Frijns in following week, but we would like to have a driver with one year experience in FR 3.5. Now we have to prepare the cars. Berthon's car have a broken air box and it seems the engine is also damaged.
We will see if we will have both cars for testing."
Final standings - drivers
1. Robert WICKENS 241
2. Jean Eric VERGNE 232
3. Alexander ROSSI 156
4. Albert COSTA 151
5. Daneil RICCIARDO 144
…
13. Nathanael BERTHON 35
Final standings - teams
1. Carlin 473
2. Fortec Motorsport 203
3. I.S.R. Racing 181
4. Epic Racing 162
5. Tech 1 Racing 132
Nick Yelloly and I.S.R. Racing among fastest
the track today with Nick Yelloly behind the wheel. Nick did really well, he was fastest in the morning session almost till the end, only Valtteri Bottas was able to beat his time in closing stages. In the afternoon was much warmer, in some moments up to 31 degrees Celsius. Nick was quick again, but he made a few small mistakes and had a traffic in front of him in fast laps.
Tests continue tomorrow with day 2, FR 2.0 Champion Robin Frins will sit in the I.S.R. Racing car.
Nick YELLOLY
Morning session 2nd place 1:33.897+0.231
"I have been very satisfied with the team and car. I have enjoyed being part of the team for the day to see how everything work with the team personel too. There are some small differences between the Pons and I.S.R. Racing car, the feeling of the breaks and balance of the car are both different, but similar speed in lap time. Although with more time in the team I'm sure we could be much faster."
Igor SALAQUARDA
"Robin Frijns will test for us tomorrow. It will be his debut in FR 3.5 car. He had a rest day today, because it's a big difference between FR 2.0 and FR 3.5, it's very physical demanding for the driver. But I believe he will c performance today. Only Bottas was faster than him and Finn clocked the fastest lap time at the end of the session. Nick and Peter over combined it in the afternoon session, I think. Nick was a bit tired after the weekend, he did a few mistakes and he had slower driver in front of him in every fast lap. Otherwise he would probably belonged between three or four fastest again."
"Robin Frijns will test for us tomorrow. It will be his debut in FR 3.5 car. He had a rest day today, because it's a big difference between FR 2.0 and FR 3.5, it's very physical demanding for the driver. But I believe he will cope with it."
Robin Frijns impressed in his debut
Robin FRIJNS
Morning session 14th place 1:34.228 +1.413
Afternoon session 13th place 1:34.779 +1.053
Igor SALAQUARDA
Saturday was a day of first qualifying and first race. Daniel was 6th fastest in the qualifying and had eventful race with close battles and at the end he got a 10 s penalty, because he exceeded track limits during overtaking James Rosenzweig. Penalty pushed Daniel back from 5th to 7th, thanks to Alberto Costa exclusion he was 6th at the end of the day. Nathanael Berthon got a penalty as well. He was 9th at finish line, but for a similar infringement he got the same penalty as Daniel got. It moved him back five places. Anyway, set up of Nathanael's car wasn't perfect yet.
Daniel RICCIARDO
Free practice 1 17th place 1:54.465 +1.996
Free practice 2 6th place 1:52.430 +0.523
Qualifying 1 6th place 1:51.745 +0.322
Race 1 6th place 25 laps +33.191
"It's good to be back in the car. In the morning we didn't go on new tires, so our times weren't that representative. In the afternoon we were looking pretty good, we were around top 4, top 5. But we still had to find some three five tenth."
"Qualifying was a bit hard, we were pushing hard, I did a fairly good lap, but position six was a best we could do. But still good chance for a good race. Start was OK, I went on the inside, but it wasn't best choice, I lost a position in the turn 2 and stuck behind in the traffic in first few laps struggling for pace. Once I have passed Rossi, who had some problems, then I got a better rhythm, pulled on Rosenzweig quite a bit and I was setting my personal best times. Finally got passed him and had last two laps for my self and set my best laps. At the end the pace was pretty good. It was a hard work to get we could, but there are some positives. Unfortunately I got a penalty."
Nathanael BERTHON
Free practice 1 19th place 1:54.742 +2.273
Free practice 2 18th place 1:53.021 +1.114
Qualifying 1 11th place 1:52.137 +0.714
Race 1 15th place 25 laps +54.988
"First of all I'm happy to be in France, it's my country and a lot of fans will be here. I prefer to be in Magny-Cours, but I like Paul Ricard as well, it's always nice weather here. We had some problems with the set up in free practices…"
"This morning wasn't a perfect qualifying, but I think we improve the car a little bit compare to yesterday and I'm sure we will improve again tomorrow. Race was very very hard for me, car wasn't perfect again. And about the penalty. It wasn't just my fault, we were three drivers in the same corner and it was a safer to go straight. After that I gave the position back to Move. I just said the marshals it's not fair, because I gave the position back and had no advantage at all. However, they didn't allow any discussion. It's a few points, but it can make a difference at the end of the year."
Le Castellet, 18th of September 2011 - Wet qualifying with mixed feelings and nerve-racking race with happy ending, it was a sunday from I.S.R. Racing's perspective in the eighth round of World Series by Renault at Paul Ricard circuit. Daniel Ricciardo held a best time in the wet qualifying for a while and at the end he was 3rd and missed the front row by a narrow margin 0.025 s. Nathanael Berthon's qualifying was affected by a bad strategy, he did only one flying lap on cold tires and started very last. In the race Daniel was able to improve his position by one spot, although he had to resist the Jean Eric Vergne's serious attacks until the last lap. Daniel retained the 2nd place and said goodbye to WSbR by two podium finishes. Nathanael did a superb race, he overtook few cars at the start already and after the pit stop was one of the fastest drivers on the track. At closing stages he suffered with suspension problems and finished 14th.
Daniel RICCIARDO
Qualifying 2 3rd place 2:13.981+0.839
Race 2 2nd place 23 laps +4.416
"The race today was not too bad. We started 3rd after the wet qualifying and finished 2nd, we went forward, which is always nice. Would it be nice finish with a victory in my last race in the series and with the team, so would it be nice to get the big one for them, but anyway I think second is a next best thing. We didn't quite have the pace to win, particularly at second half of the race, so by the end I had to defend the 2nd position. We'll see, I'm still 3rd in the championship, so may be if the others will have no great weekend at the Barcelona, we'll keep that, but… yeah, here we go, thank you very much to the team!"
Nathanael BERTHON
Qualifying 2 26th place 2:17.006 +3.864
Race 2 14th place 23 laps +39.272
"In qualifying we just missed the strategy, I did only one lap with the cold tires. That's why I was last. I think the race was pretty good, we had a good strategy and was good to put on four new tires. We lost a little bit of time during the pit stop, but I gained some position on the start and after the pit stop car was really really good. I overtook six, seven or even more cars, I don't remember, but it was big big overtake. I had a lot of fun during the race, car was much better than yesterday. Last eight laps, I think I broke something… damper or spring or I don't know, but car was completely different suddenly, steering wheel was some 30 degrees to the left even on the straight. Before the problem it was really good and I was much quicker than the guys in front of me. I think it was one of my best races, because I could overtake many cars, I did really good breaking and it's encouraging before the Barcelona. I think I was really competitive to Daniel after the pit stop, it means if I could start in front, I could finish really really well."
Standings - drivers
1. Robert WICKENS 216
2. Jean Eric VERGNE 214
3. Daniel RICCIARDO 144
4. Alexander ROSSI 138
5. Albert COSTA 126
…
13. Nathanael BERTHON 35
Standings - teams
1. Carlin 430
2. Fortec Motorsport 185
3. I.S.R. Racing 179
4. Epic Racing 137
5. Tech 1 Racing 130
Silverstone, 21st of August 2011
I.S.R. Racing drivers repeated their superb results in thrilling sunday's qualifying and grab entire second row on starting grid. But Nathanael was faster this time. Daniel was slightly off the pace and was struggling a bit in the race. Anyway, he took the checkered flag rd fastest. Nathanael made a mistake on the start and his engineer decided for different strategy. It gave him 4 th place back after the pit stops and he was fast enough to keep it without problems till the end. Both I.S.R. Racing drivers moved a place up in the results after Fortec's drivers disqualifying. Silverstone's round was clearly the best Nathanael's race weekend so far this season, Daniel moved up to 3 rd place in driver's standings thanks to two 2nd place finishes and I.S.R. Racing jump up to 2 nd place in team's standings.
Daniel Ricciardo:
"It was nice to found out we are back where we should have to be. We were quick on used tires on friday's free practices already. I was confident we will in top 3 or top 5 in qualifying. I was 3rd in saturday's qualifying, it was not too bad, but we were bit too far from pole position than we would like to be. My start was good and I can follow Wickens and Rossi pretty easily and stay with them. But I dropped off the pace after few laps.
Perhaps because of fresh air on the tires, balance of the car came back again and I was able to catch up. I closed aup on Rossi, passed him and was a bit quicker than Wickens,
but he was a bit too far but we had a good pace."
"Race 2 was a bit more difficult than yesterday. Temperature was quite a bit higher and we didn't adapt well enough. But still we moved up a spot. I had to drive defensively, which was something different, but I'm OK with it. Well, two podiums in two races is good, unfortunately not a win, but we still there, hang up and I'm very pleased with that."
Nathanael Berthon:
"We worked hard on the car and my driving style on friday, but it seems it was a right way. We made some small changes for saturday's qualifying and I think I had a car to be even quicker. But I was happy with 4th anyway. In the race it didn't seems I can resist on 4 th place, I was struggling in slow corners. But I did it and it was my best result of this season."
Today morning it was very good, I was quicker than Daniel and he is very strong. I was very happy to be among top 3. I made a mistake on the start and my engineer decided for different strategy. Thanks to that I came to 4 th right behind Daniel. I was faster in final laps, but he drove a good race and was as quick as always. Anyway, I'm very happy with the weekend, I got a lot of points to my pocket and it was my best race weekend this season so far."
Standings - drivers:
1. Robert Wickens 198
2. Jean-Eric Vergne 164
3. Daniel Ricciardo 125
…
12. Nathanael Berthon 35
Standings - teams:
1. Carlin 362
2. I.S.R. Racing 160
3. Fortec Motorsport 157
rd position 1:45.635 +0.620nd position 26 laps +1.335th position 1:45.910 +0.531nd position 25 laps +14.576rd in saturday's qualifying, it was not too bad, but we were bit too far from pole position than we would like to be. My start was good and I can follow Wickens and Rossi pretty easily and stay with them. But I dropped off the pace after few laps.th position 1:45.738 +0.723th position 26 laps +13.965rd position 1:45.738 +0.325rd position 25 laps +15.833I.S.R. Racing fulfill their expectation during 7thround World Series by Renault FR 3.5 and leaves Silverstone with nice dose of points and multiple podium finishes. Free practices already showed great pace I.S.R. Racing drivers and second row for them on starting grid for race 1 says all. Daniel Ricciardo managed to improve his position further in race 1 and was able to close the gap on leader Robert Wickens at final stages. Even he clocked the fastest lap of the race in the penultimate lap, which is not so frequent in the last laps. Nathanael drove a solid race, build up on improving performance from Hungaroring, resisted Alberto Costa's attacks and thanks to his 4th place took a lot of points to his credit. I.S.R. Racing significantly improve their position in team's standings at the same time.