Caros amigozzzzz,
Here I am sitting in my little corner going back to Sanlúcar de Barrameda after a very ‘interesting’ weekend in Portugal… Oh yes!!! I have sooooo many things to tell you that I am really wondering if I should split this last blog of the 2009 GP2 season in a few chapters or just simplify it… I have seen so many things, heard so many stories, flown over so many heads, food and other interesting things, that I do not know where to start…
Hmmm… I am still thinking (as much as I am able to with my miniature brain)… thinking, thinking, thinking… Oh well! Here we go. So first things first, and what is that? Obviously, the first few days at the track, just before the action started. As you might very well remember, Dani’s car was a total wreck after the second race in Monza. So the Fat Burner Racing Engineering boys had a very limited time to fix the damage… I tried to stay away from them as I did not want to break their concentration (I know that you humans tend to get pretty annoyed by us flies, when we are close by). After all, they wanted (as I did) to have everything perfect for the weekend… And after these first days ‘alone’ with the mechanics and engineers, who did a fantastic job in repairing Dani’s car within such short time, drivers and other people which I will mention later on, started arriving at the Portimato Circuit (or Autodromo, excuse me!)
Thursday was an ‘easy’ day (well, at least when the wind was not trying to push me over to another continent!). As the team had its own pits (wow!), I went in to do some ’spying’. Lucas, for a ‘change’ (well, not really) was glued to his Blackberry while Dani, as sweet as ever, was doing the rounds kissing, hugging and talking to people… He is sooooo sweet. When he noticed that Ines, arriving from the warmth of Southern Spain, was a ‘bit’ cold, he quickly offered his jacket… What a gentlemen! In the fly world, there are not many of those left…
Wondering about the pepper sauce.....
After meetings here and there and rebuilding of cars, the boys and girls went back to the hotel where they had a good laugh… Why, you might be wondering. Well, let’s say that the waitress serving at the restaurant was not the nicest person around… and here I am not talking about physical appearance, as everybody has his own taste and maybe some might have actually liked her… (though I am not including myself as she was not really my cup of tea… ;-)) But let’s be honest, how hard can it be to get a nice pepper sauce for a piece of meat?? By her standards…. pepper sauce was any sauce with a bit of grinded pepper added on top… (I think I have said it all).
A good night sleep followed a very hectic day at the Portuguese track. The hotel was not very close to the ‘Autodromo’, but I guess no hotel was… as the track was built far from civilization… (looks more like an oasis in the middle of the desert). So I had to get up pretty early to be on time and follow my human friends… Now that I think about it, the team took its motorhome to the track so I should have probably stayed there… but on the other hand… I would have missed some stories… OK… I have to tell you something that Dani came up with. As you well know, he has been hit from behind on several occasions, which has made some people wonder, if the other drivers do not see him or they just enjoy the crashing into his rear! So my Spanish friend told the team that it would be great to put a ‘nice’ message on the rear wing (shame they did not have the time to do it…. I can promise you that right now we would be laughing out loud non stop, if they had put it). So, what should the message be? Ok, here it goes: Stay away, I am not gay!!! Hahahaha… And then, Alfonso added that it should be on a pink background… Maybe next time…
It was great to see that they were happy, but who would not? Dani had qualified second!!! And Lucas was fourth. My Brazilian friend was a bit disappointed with his result… He had expected to be on pole, but nevertheless, I think that second and fourth was a great result for Fat Burner Racing Engineering. And Dani had his first appearance at the post-qualifying press conference. Let me tell you, this is something I could definitely get used to.
Saturday morning everybody was pretty excited at the prospect of Dani starting the feature race from the front row. After all the bad luck during previous events, I started to believe that my visit to the witch-doctor was starting to have an effect (if you do not know what I am talking about, read the previous blog from Monza and you will understand). I arrived to the track with my new ‘ride’, that is Ana, who was lucky enough to get a lift to the circuit with Lucas and Dani. My Brazilian friend was the one at the steering while Dani was changing gears… I know, mad!!! But yet, Ana was not impressed and sat at the back of the car pretty relaxed. The boys, not happy with that, carried on planning what to do next to ’scare’ the Asturian girl… and when they entered a roundabout, Lucas did a maneuver, which made the tyres squeak big time… but nothing!!! What is wrong with this girl??? Because I was definitely terrified. To be honest, I started to feel a bit sick… But the story does not finish here. After a few meters they saw this other car in front, and they thought it would be fun to put some pressure on the poor driver… Oh dear!!! When they finally caught up the other automobile that desperately tried to escape from the KIA Lucas drove (or raced?), the driver did not seem very amused…. but when he realized who was driving the tiny machine he could not stop laughing… Well, Mr. Driot, DAMS lost that one to Fat Burner Racing Engineering.
After the frightening experience, we arrived safe and sound at the Autodromo. There I decided to rest a bit (my heart was still beating too fast after THAT drive), so I stayed in the box. The guys were practicing some pit-stops… Gosh they are good!!! And what great coordination!!! Would love to do that too, but I guess due to my size the only thing I could manage to do is to get squeezed. So, onto the race… hmmmm. My first thoughts about the witch-doctor doing a good job vanished in a puff of smoke… Somebody hit Dani, again! I mean, it was not a big crash, but still. This brief contact caused a little glitch to the car’s rear wishbones… Enough to make him spin several times and at the end, he had to settle for eleventh. Lucas on the other hand, gave the team another podium!!! My Brazilian, not such a good friend of mine anymore after that drive earlier that day, finished third, and at the same time, securing third position in the drivers’ championship.
Later on, Lucas was showing a new helmet he had been given after the race. And so the ’show’ began when Dani put the helmet on. As it looked a bit strange compared to their usual race helmets as made of carbon fiber, somebody told him he looked like Darth Vader from Star Wars. So he decided to ‘attack’ Lucas… Skywalker… I have the picture to prove it!!! Lucas’ face is hilarious, isn’t it? If I did not know better, I would swear he was really frighten by ‘his father’… Guys, I have to say this was not only a moment of laughter, but also sentimentality. Don’t forget Portimao was the last weekend of the season and everyone had such a great time with this driver pairing all year long.
I was in high spirits the following day … I had a good feeling, after all, it was the last race of the season and I knew that something good would come of it…. Ok, I cannot hide it, I cannot remain quiet, so I am going to say it: the safety car did ….. a very poor job (I do not want to say anything stronger) and that affected Lucas’ race big time. What happened? Why did the pace car suddenly slow down when it was leaving the track? The answer is still a mystery to me… and even now, watching the images, I do not get it. So, Lucas’ race was not only destroyed, as he finished in 15th, but a good number of other drivers faced the same fate. Lots of head scratching all over the place as no one really understood what that was really about…
With the season finishing like this, there was a certain feeling of disappointment within the team ranks… Lucas had been penalized for something, to my understanding, not his fault and therefore he could not do anything to try to get a good result for his team. Dani, who finished an excellent fourth, was also upset… He knew he deserved third place, and therefore a podium, after Pérez did not get a penalty, despite overtaking my blonde friend while the safety car (YES! THAT safety car…) was deployed…Villa did so as well, but gave back his position. But justice prevailed… and shortly after the podium ceremony, the team was told that Dani was third!!!! The Mexican was handed over a penalty. I told you something good was going to happen. Although Dani worked hard all season long, when he finally made the podium, he wasn’t even allowed to be at the celebrations, no photos, no champagne :-( I am sure he will make up for it next year!
So… I think this is where I am going to stop today’s story. But I promise that soon I will write a little blog about the GP2 Awards Party Sunday night… I know some people will beg me not to do so, but it is my duty (I am sure you are all dying to read a few more stories, so I cannot let you down, can I?)
Speak to you soon!
Fly on the Wall
Ciao cari amici! Come mi piace Monza! (or anything Italian for that matter, and no, I am not going to get into any details about my preferences when it comes to the boot-shape country… I leave your minds to work that one out).
And after Lucas and Dani qualified 5th and 14th… I got ready to follow Alfonso, Ines and Dani to their second ‘party’ of the weekend. Don’t you just love Italy as well? 
And so off we went to this event organized by the CEA (they are the people doing the fire marshalling in Monza, very nice guys! And what a great dinner I had!). That was another good evening, lots of faces to see, a few new dishes to try, jokes here and there… but, as you can imagine, my friends could not stay all night as the following day there was a very important race and so off we went, back to our cosy room. But obviously not before having listened to Claudio signing, Bruce, Fabrizio and company having a dance…and the rest I forgot about 
On Saturday morning I panicked… Yes I did! I did not like the color of the sky or those horrible black clouds that were approaching the Italian track. And voilà! (I know that is not Italian, but you have to understand that after spending so much time with the team, where most of my friends are French, there are some things that you cannot avoid… like learning some of their lingo). Rain started to fall over Monza just before the GP2 race, as if somebody was throwing buckets of water onto our faces (well, their faces, as I quickly flew into one of the Formula 1 pits close by in order to hide… No! I am not scared of water or storms, but you have to understand that if my wings get wet… ) So, after waiting for a long time for whoever was up there to close the tap, the race finally started and… Did you see Lucas??? Did you see the boys work on the pit-stop??? Amazing job!!! And such a great result for my nice Brazilian finishing 3rd! (and that after starting from 15th. Can you imagine what would have happened, if he had been closer to the front???) And as for Dani, I think somebody has given him the evil eye!!! Come on… a person can only have just so much bad luck now and then, but him… Oh well, problems with his car’s engine since the very beginning of the race meant he had to fight harder than the rest of the field, but despite lacking of power from his engine, and being forced to start the race from the very back of the grid, he crossed the line 15th. Ok, not bad for Lucas though. There was some disagreement in the GP2 paddock among the teams and drivers regarding a Russian driver having cut the chicane four times during the race without getting penalized for that, while others were… to be honest, maybe my brain is too small compared to yours, being human, but even today I am still wondering if it was only me who saw that…
Obviously, the team celebrated Lucas’ podium, but only briefly, as they had to get everything ready for the next day, which is not easy when you have an engine problem. But as you know, my dearest Fat Burner Racing Engineering boys and girl (let’s not forget Cristina, the data engineer), as always, did a very professional job and both cars were ready to tackle the sprint race on Sunday morning. Contrary to Saturday’s heavy showers, the weather was pretty good on Sunday.
So, after a difficult weekend in Italy, the team is taking a couple of trophies back to Spain … Not bad!!! But I really hope next weekend they can give us something to finish… oh yes! Finish the season… Oups.. I am getting a knot in my stomach… I think I am already getting upset… only one more race weekend this season… No, no, no, I am not going to think about it… I am just going to enjoy my time and hope (and pray, seeing how things are turning for Dani) that we have something to celebrate in Portugal in a week’s time.
What can I tell you about the weekend at the super cool Spa-Francorchamps Circuit? Well, apart from being cool… it was also very cold! And there we go again, from the extreme heat of Valencia a week ago, to the nearly polar weather in Belgium… Yes, it is almost end of summer, but come on! 5ºC in the morning??? (and I was without a fleece or anything to cover my tiny body and wings) Geeeee! It was freezing! But the poor boys had only 3°C as they worked until 3am, during the night of Saturday to Sunday.
But enough complaining. Let’s start with some stories from the country of the ‘mussels and frittes”. I arrived there, as always, on board the truck (I think Arnaud and Denis are starting to feel my presence or maybe they have been reading my blog. Therefore they know I am ‘there’, getting a free ride from circuit to circuit.) and I can tell you the first days were busy, busy, busy, busy as the boys had to try and fix the damaged cars after the Valencia shunts… (Like the press department would say ‘no comment’). I have to really applaud their work! What an amazing job they have done in such a short time! I love them all! (I am getting all soppy now… oh dear!… I need a doctor, definitely).
Time for some action, and that means Friday has arrived and I, as well as the whole team, was very excited thinking about what would happen? OK, things did not go so well in free practice, but everything was according to plan. But what do you think about the qualifying? Hey! Lucas second, and Dani eleventh. That was not bad, was it? At least my dear Brazilian was in a very good position to fight for victory, while my rookie friend could go for his first points… And before going for a good sleep, time for dinner! And guess what? Alfonso and Ines did not mind the slow service at the Italian restaurant… because they went back with Dani.
made the task much easier – initially. Before I continue, you have to know, that in Spa GP2 teams are using the old F1 pits, which is a really great thing. For once a real roof over the head. But on the other hand, they are also really tiny. So, there was Ines, with the box already cut into pieces and only one last bit left while Arnaud and Denis were preparing the tyres for the race next to her. And then it happened! Just a bit too much power and with a nice noise, the blade of the scalpel broke and … off it went. Hmmm… Did I mention before that Arnaud and Denis were preparing the tyres very close by??? Oh gosh, Ines suffered a moment of panic. Now, imagine her moving all over the floor, moving things around, trying to look under the tyres, the trolleys, etc. etc. This went on for some time and this little piece of the blade was not to be found. While Denis supported Ines in her search for the potential evil, Arnaud kept his cool. I think he felt a bit sorry for Ines’ lack of experience with such tools… And then, finally, the piece of blade was found and, at least for one person, this was a big moment of relief. So, with the pieces of carton being in shape, they were handed over to Alfonso, known for his nice handwriting. And then the photo shooting in the pitlane started. If you look on the pictures posted on our Facebook fanpage, you will see that the drivers might have mixed them up with a posing contest… Thomas and Arnaud, who wanted to send kisses…well, their mouths also didn’t look quite right…
race started with a little delay. Dani had to be pushed into pits after a clutch problem on the grid. Bad luck or what? Both, he and Lucas did pretty well during the feature race. I am proud of them, as they stayed out of trouble… On the subject of accidents, there was another terrible moment when Coletti went off track and suffered a severe crash in Eau Rouge (gave me flybumps). But I heard he was feeling kind of OK afterwards at the hospital, since during dinner time, again at the Italian Restaurant, Dani and him kept texting each other (no romantic hint there, ok?) So, another dinner at the Italian, together with Dani, Sten Pentus (driver competing in the World Series by Renault) and his girlfriend Kristel, who were supporting the team this weekend in Spa. Now guys, please do not start thinking this was a business meeting… It was not, just a group of people enjoying each other’s company over some nice pasta dishes (I do not know why, I just have this image from the ‘Lady and the Tramp’ in my head).
Oh, I cannot leave this out: Lucas scored another podium for Fat Burner Racing Engineering! And Dani finished 10th. Great starting positions for Sunday’s sprint race and more points were expected…
I am sad… Yes, very sad and upset (muy triste, like the Spanish would say). And you all know why, so I think this time I am going to avoid talking about what happened on the Valencia Street Circuit during the Saturday and Sunday races… no point in remembering them… And I am sure you all, my dearest friendzzzz, agree with me.
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday… Great day it was! The boys, as they usually do before the free practice and qualifying sessions on Friday, went around the ‘boiling’ track to learn the layout. For the engineers and my two friends, Lucas and Dani, it was a bit of a struggle… Imagine having to walk the whole distance around the circuit under a bright sun and temperatures of around 40°C!! No way I was gonna go with them… (I leave the technical stuff and the walk for the ‘big boys’). So I, instead, went to have a nice and cold ‘horchata’ (Eh? you might be wondering, if you are not Spanish. Well that is a typical drink from Valencia made of ‘chufas’ (tiger nuts, fancy name in English! isn’t it? :-p) Oh!, and before I forget, Lucas did the walk twice! He had to previously do the distance with the Renault F1 team (Yes, he is now one of them, too!).
Anyway, the Thursday gossip does not finish there yet. At around 6 o’clock, the boys were driven to a signing session in a well known Spanish shopping center. The place was full of fans wanting to get a glimpse of the two promising motorsport stars and why not get an autograph and maybe a photo with them… Many did and it was sooooo nice to see the happy faces of the kids after having had their photos taken with the two Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers (if you look closer, I am on some of them, flying around their heads or over the Fat Burner bottles!)…
And then Saturday came… as I said I would not mention anything about the races, I will only tell you about what happened in the morning. Hmmmm, I have to try to get some pictures of that… I wonder, if someone would give them to me… I have to ask around. Oh sorry! I did not tell you what went on Alfonso’s ‘tiny’ sailing boat’. Well, a Spanish TV channel asked the ‘boss’ for access to the boat to…. ehem, film Dani doing some modeling! Yes, Dani’s new career… at least for one morning (But I am sure he really enjoyed it. He is currently waiting for further calls pursuing this second career… I heard it pays well!)
Well, here I am again. Oh my dear friendzzzzz, what a weekend in Hungary! Apart from the very high temperatures that nearly boiled my brain (and remember, it is smaller than a pea), I had a great time getting to know a few things about the Hungarian culture and, of course, celebrating the Fat Burner Racing Engineering results.
Thursday night I saw Lucas and Dani leaving with Alfonso and Ines. For some reason I though that would be a fun night (even though the boys could not be up late, as the following day there was a very important qualifying session… watch out fly! Do not get over excited yet!). So I followed the troops down to a restaurant where they had sushi…hmmm raw fish, rice, spices… just thinking about it right now it is making me hungry. Fly! Focus! Right, I am all focused. Just before enjoying their dinner, my friends did a little walk through town and, oh boy!, there were these elephants all over the place… They were not real ones, obviously! But both, Dani and Lucas, felt ‘very attracted’ to them and pictures had to be taken (I really thought they would end up taking one back to the hotel or even to the track the following day!).
But the night was not over yet and before getting to bed, a bit of history and sightseeing followed with a visit to the amazing castle of Budapest. Breathtaking place overlooking the city. And so romantic…Dani and Lucas were a bit overwhelmed by their feelings, but I will not get into details now. I am sure they prefer it like that. So the boys tried to put their knowledge of Hungarian history on display…making up god knows what (I am still trying to decipher what they were going on about).
Friday was a great day for the whole Fat Burner Racing Engineering team. As you know, Lucas scored his first pole position since his debut in the GP2 Series, and on top of that, it was the first pole of the season for the Spanish team. Alfonso, as always, tried to smoke his cigar… but as you can see on the pictures it is not the real one! (I think he forgot to bring the proper one… Hmmm, I am not going to forgive him that one. But if not bringing it to the track makes one of the drivers be on pole… I hope he forgets them for the rest of the season!). Dani, on the other hand, was 12+1 (if you do not know what I am writing about, then read the previous story from Germany…). And before I forget, let me tell you about both Lucas’ and Dani’s singing skills… Ehem, thank God they are drivers because I think in that department, they would not be in the top 100. Really, Dani delighted us for two day with his ‘cherubim’ voice, and then Lucas joined in… Let’s say I did not take off my earplugs for a very long while…………… As a matter of fact, I still wear them!
Saturday morning started easy. Lucas and Dani had Alfonso as their chauffeur this weekend and as there was still some time, Alfonso, always worried about his drivers, thought another bit of culture might be good for them. Staying in Gödölló makes it imperative to visit the local castle. It used to be the summer residence of Sisi and her husband the Emperor of Austria (I bet Ines was very happy to see some of her country’s history. After all she is Austrian!). But maybe she got a bit lost with Dani and Lucas’ take on history… They tried once more to impress with their local knowledge. And if that was not enough, Lucas explained why he likes to pronounce people’s last names wrong on purpose (If you ever meet him, just tell him your first name. Just in case!) One of his victims this time was the team’s sporting director. Ok, I admit, his surname is not one of the easiest ‘Couyotopoulo’, and I think that is why my Brazilian friend has an idea of how Thomas family got ‘that name’. So he goes: “His great-great-grandfather had a dog called: Poulo….and it was a Coyote…so the last name was decided like this”. Does it make any sense to you? I am glad I am just a fly and have ‘no name’.
But then the relaxed atmosphere within the team was soon gone. Before the feature race started, Lucas and the entire team were left in shock after seeing Lucas’ close friend and Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa suffer a horrible accident. As I was trying to concentrate on the race ahead, I did not see until later what had happened. Lucas, in the meantime, tried to put on a brave face and get on with things while trying to obtain information. But in reality, he was very worried for his friend’s condition and who knows if that had some kind of effect on his race. He started from pole and did a great race, but finished second. I really do not want to get into too much detail as the pain he was going through after seeing the images of Felipe being airlifted to the hospital, was breaking my heart. And anyone who saw Lucas on the podium knew, that it was a very tough race for him.
When morning came on Sunday, everyone got up pretty early to go to the track. Lucas was in contact with Felipe’s family, trying to get the latest news and, well, you know how Felipe is doing. Despite his state of mind, Lucas showed a great pace once again and after having started from seventh on the grid, he snatched another podium! Way to go, boy! His total tally for the weekend was 14 points, which brought him closer to the top of the championship standings and makes me think that the second half of the season is going to be very tight… Dani, on the other had, was doing a superb race, he even made it to seventh, which meant he was only a stone’s throw away from scoring his first point… but once again, it was not meant to be, and after a little mistake, he lost some positions and finished the race 11th.
‘Willkommen in Deutschland’ said the road sign when I crossed the border in the Fat Burner Racing Engineering truck… but believe me, when I tell you that they should have written instead ‘Willkommen in Winterland’…
Eventful… yes it was! Let me first tell you about Dani’s odyssey arriving at the German circuit. My Spanish friend usually spends a few days before a race weekend in England, training with a simulator and then gets a flight from London to wherever GP2 races… The thing is that on this occasion he had to wait longer than expected at Heathrow airport due to the typical ’summer delays’, whilst some of the team’s boys (myself included) went to Düsseldorf airport to pick him up… but he never arrived!!! His flight had been cancelled… or that is what we thought because it was saying so on the screens… But the truth is that Dani, at around 23.00 hours, finally flew direction Germany… though instead of landing in Düsseldorf, he ended up in Cologne!!! Oupssss! He did not realize where the flight was heading towards as he fell asleep… Can you imagine his face when they told him where he was??? He eventually made it to the hotel, at around 3 o’clock in the morning, after having taken a taxi…
More action started on Friday, and this time on track. The low temperatures made it hard for all the drivers to warm up their tyres, but neither Lucas or Dani had major problems and after getting used to the German layout during practice session, they managed to qualify third and 17th respectively. Once the qualifying session was over, everybody went straight into the truck to study the data and prepare for the feature race… and this time, I followed them because it was too cold outside to be wandering around; on top of that, I heard that Stuart (race engineer) learnt his lesson from Silverstone and brought along his kettle… hmmm, nice hot tea for everybody… and warm steam to keep my little body up to temperature.
After Saturday’s race I felt a bit disappointed. As you all know by now, the race did not go as expected. Lucas started from third, but after a few problems during the pit stop (he stopped one meter ahead of where he was supposed to) he finished seventh. Ok, I admit it, two points are better than nothing, but when you are thinking about winning the race or being on the podium, seventh place leaves you a bit downcast. As per my golden curls friend, what can I say? He struggled with the clutch at the very beginning, which put him at the back of the field… He did all he could to improve his place and crossed the line 16th. Real shame, as I heard him talking to Andrew, the chief engineer, after the race, commenting about his excellent lap times, how happy he felt with the car’s set-up and handling, etc. Well, next time.
Sunday’s sprint race was no better for my Brazilian friend. At the very start he was hit by Petrov. This bent his steering and caused him to go straight at the first corner, unable to turn to the left or right. Braking only resulted in his wheels blocking and he wasn’t able to avoid hitting Perez. Off he went into the gravel as well as any possibility to score points. Petrov’s penalty didn’t help Lucas in any way, and I have to admit I couldn’t resist, but watch the replay of this accident over and over again, once I read the declarations of Petrov’s team stating that they accept the penalty, but do not agree with it at all. Well, seems to be a question of perspective, but I stick to the one of the FIA. Dani, on the other hand, shocked me! Did you see those overtaking maneuvers? He was on a mission!!! If the race had lasted a few more laps, I am sure he would have scored his first points of the season, I would have bet on that! Great performance, great lap times, great little boy! You have to understand my excitement about him. I mean, he is not the luckiest driver on the grid in his first year in GP2, but he definitely has the potential to shine in this championship. But more than that, he is a really charming boy, who simply deserves his first points so badly.
Silverstone, my dearest Silverstone… Yes my friendzzz, Silverstone is my ‘dearest’ and I am a bit upset as it seems we (I mean, the GP2 lot) won’t come back next year to this circuit, which has held motorsport races for over 50 years and is the birthplace of the F1 World Championship… Never mind, let’s grumble over that some other time as now it is the moment to tell you what my little eyes saw and my little ears heard during the GP2 weekend in… bloody freezing Northamptonshire!!!
Anyway, I arrived at the track on board the team’s truck (they still have not noticed that I have a little room in one of the corners of that massive vehicle) and my surprised was that neither Alfonso, nor Ines (whom I follow everywhere to get the gossips) were not there… So I thought, who could I use as my transport for this weekend. Surely not Dani as I did not want to dirty his golden curls, and as for Lucas… well I did not want to disturb his concentration. After all, he won the last race in Turkey and he needed to be well prepared for this weekend in Great Britain.
After a very short night, I went back to Silverstone, ready to see if Lucas and Dani could get another good score for the Spanish team… and wooahhh. Lucas did it! No, he did not win, but he finished second! And that meant some more points and another nice trophy…. Ehem, it was a nice trophy (maybe still is, depending on your views about art, that is) as now (what I am about to tell you might hurt your feelings), it doesn’t look like anything from the podium ceremony. “Why?”, you might be wondering… Well, here is what happened: I think somebody decided to be an ‘artist’ for the day and not happy with the look of the trophy, decided to turn it into an art sculpture… as it got hooked on the handle of the truck tail lift that was being opened by one of the team’s data engineer.. oups!!! This bent the trophy big time!! (I will see if I can get a picture of it and post it in the future… but I promise nothing, ok?) It was nobody’s fault. Honestly! It was just an ‘out of racing incident’.
The sprint race on Sunday was another story altogether and because I do not like to cry over the very ill-fated event, I will just leave it there… But not before telling you what happened at the end of the day and scared the hell out of me. As I was getting ready to go home, pretty upset after seeing Lucas finishing 19th and Dani having to retire, I heard this horrible noise that sounded like a bomb!!! Oh gosh, my wings were shaking non-stop and I rushed off to hide in my little corner, but it was not a bomb at all, obviously… It was a kind of ‘tradition’ that some GP2 teams do at the end of the racing weekend in Silverstone… What is that? Okay, here we go: some of the boys of the GP2 teams tend to put dry ice into water bottles and then they wait for them to explode… but this time, the “desired” effect was not the expected one… as they blew out a window of a Bridgestone truck!!! I mean, under normal circumstances you might think this was funny as firemen and police came over to the paddock, thinking some fuel drums exploded. But believe me, this was not funny at all, as these boys should keep in mind that not only windows, but also people could be harmed by something as childish. Nevertheless, there was some commotion to round up the weekend in Silverstone, but maybe these guys just thought that Silverstone had to say farewell with a big bang.
So here we are again, on a racing weekend, the adrenalin rushing and me flying to Turkey…. well not really, I actually hid myself in the Fat Burner Racing Engineering truck, so I could go on the ferry and enjoy the sea breeze…. But enough about me. Let´s get down to business and that is some gossip and news from the paddock.
lly teas and spices… smelly, right, which actually just brought back to my mind something related to Dani’s hair. It is not that his hair is smelly, but for some reason he got stressed out about having to buy some shampoo. Was he worried it might smell bad, or that his blonde curls did not shine enough under the Turkish sun??? I do not really know, but what I can tell you is that his wish to purchase some shampoo led to some funny comments and sarcastic points made by other team members… especially Lucas, of course.
Anyway, as the weekend began, the action started in the paddock and with it some strange things happened. And by “strange” I mean the opinions some people might have just because someone being blond, young and Spanish. Ok, here is what happened: GP2 boy David Cameron (I am sure he will like the “boy” part) approached several drivers with some questions. Who was the cleanest, the messiest, the one who would get up earlier, etc… and ok, I understand that looks can be deceiving, but to assume that Dani was the worse of the two… come on, not all the blondes or Spaniards are that bad!
Leaving that behind, my friends got ready for the free practice and qualifying. As you know Dani was not very lucky and during free practice he spun off and had not much time on track, which in a way spoiled his chances of getting to know the track better. On top of that, he was handed a 10 position grid penalty for, and I quote ‘failing to heed the marshal’s instructions after his spin’.. hmmm I wonder, were they talking to him in English or Turkish? Because, if they did use the local tongue, excuse me!!! He would not have understood. But then again, marshalling was ANYWAY a separate topic during this weekend…
Lucas, on the other hand, was sixth in free practice and ready to fight for pole in qualifying, but it was not meant to be. He ended up 14th after some contact with his co-patriot Valerio, but in the end he was 13th as somebody in front of him got penalized….My Spanish friend could not do much, taking into account the 10 place penalty and had to start the Saturday race from last. The feature race, at least for me, was pretty exciting. There I was, flying above the boys (I admit, that I only did it for one lap, at fly speed. Ok, it took me about the entire length of the race.), cheering like crazy. When I saw Lucas finishing 8th, well, I jumped up and down like never before as, not only did he have a great race, but would start Sunday’s sprint race from pole as well!!! Dani also really impressed me… great overtaking skills, boy! I wish I could do that (even if you cannot see it, we, flies, have to deal with a lot of traffic. Thus, knowing how to overtake the way Dani does, would help me a lot in my little world). Oh, AND by the way, he finished the race 12th! Way to go!!
When I woke up Sunday morning, I was so stressed or excited or nervous… I do not know! Lucas was on pole and I had my wings crossed hoping nothing bad would happen that could spoil his race. And everything went well!!!! Goshhh! I was soooo happy! He won the race. I could not believe. Well, I actually could, as he is Lucas after all. You know what I mean. And that also meant that Alfonso de Orleáns-Borbón could finally light up the cigar he carried in his pocket. Cough, cough, cough, I am a non-smoker. While I was flying above him, celebrating the victory, this smoke clo
ud came close to me and I have to admit that for a few seconds I wasn’t sure where I was… Maybe I missed a bit of the action there, but hey, I can tell you that my little eyes where wide open when the drivers went to this nightclub in Istanbul to celebrate Sunday´s triumph…
Monaco, here I come! Yezzz, so much to see, so much to do, so much to tell you about! I arrived to the 1.95 km2 Principality of Monaco on Tuesday and was able to have an eye on all the setting up of the GP2 teams in the Parking des Pecheurs, overlooking the sea.
As many of you may already know, the weekend format itself is also different. Free practice and qualifying take place on Thursday, and the races on Friday and Saturday. But this means there is plenty of time for partying Saturday and Sunday night, so I brought my nicest wings along to shine among the rich and famous.
Free practice and qualifying went fine on Thursday, although both were not having much luck finding a completely clear lap through the streets of Monaco. Nevertheless, this was compensated by a nice dinner with the team’s 2008 champion, Giorgio Pantano and his alter ego, Severino, at an Italian restaurant that same night. Racing Engineering’s reigning champion, Lucas and Dani had to discuss a lot about the current season so far. Anyway, at the end of the dinner, Giorgio ordered a Grappa which he wanted to pass it on to Dani, saying he ordered it just for him. My Spanish friend rejected Giorgio’s generous offer and preferred, just like my Brazilian friend, his camomile tea (Me, I went straight for the Grappa, just perfect after a splendid Italian dinner). The boys had a good laugh together this evening with Giorgio who kept on talking about his on and off track experience in GP2.
Lucas, on the other had, was doing well in both races, but, as you know, driving in Monaco is a crazy thing to do. Apart from the start, there were no overtakings in any of the races, and the only chance to improve a place or two where when other cars stopped due to accidents or technical incidents.
Anyway, on Saturday the teams didn’t have much time to talk anymore as everyone was busy packing up and leaving Monaco, as in only a few days the trucks have to leave by boat to Turkey. But I was very happy to hear that Alfonso invited the entire team to Stars ‘n’ Bars Saturday evening and I was sure I would be able to attend without anyone seeing me. And I succeeded. Once they finished having dinner, it was racing time again. The newly installed race simulators in Stars ‘n’ Bars race room were exclusively rented by the Fat Burner Racing Engineering team and the boys went off to have some fun. Lucas and Dani were as concentrated as if in their GP2 cars and the battle for P1 was decided between them… drivers will be drivers, on and off the track as you can see. So, everyone had his turn and while Lucas and Dani were already finished, they found Alfonso’s unlit cigar at a table. For those, who don’t remember, whenever there is a pole or a race win, Alfonso smokes a cigar. Well, the Monaco one was still unlit and the two boys decided to pretend being big boys and posed for some nice photos. While everyone went off to bed from there, Lucas and Dani went off to Jimmy’z. I was too tired to follow them, so don’t ask me what happened there…
After weeks of flying over Fat Burner Racing Engineering’s headquarters, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where everyone was busy with the preparations of the new season, I finally saw the trucks leaving on Monday direction Barcelona… and that could only mean one thing, the 2009 GP2 Season was about to start!
After all the drinks and canapés, the teams got to more serious business: preparing the first qualifying and races of the season. One of the big questions I kept hearing during the weekend was “Will it rain?”. By Friday it was still an issue in the engineers’ office of Fat Burner Racing Engineering’s. The team’s chief engineer, Andrew, was guiding the conversation about possible race strategies and weather forecasts. Being a very thoughtful person, Andrew does not, unlike some Spaniards, talk at the speed they would like to drive race cars, so when he directed one of his questions about the weather to Dani as he is from Barcelona, I was really looking forward to see what these guys had to say as I was not into getting my wings wet. I was pretty astonished by the Dani’s cleverness. “When it rains here…”, that is how Andrew started his sentence, Dani, not expecting anything to follow and with Andrew’s thoughtful pause, immediately replied, clever boy, “…then it’s wet”. (I laughed so loud, well, as loud a fly can, but I do not think they could hear me).
Qualifying was a very exciting moment for everybody at Fat Burner Racing Engineering. I could feel the adrenaline level rise in the entire paddock, the closer the first qualifying of the season got. Lucas and Dani were confident as they already had a good feeling in free practice and they were not wrong to be so upbeat as Lucas was sooooo close to claiming his first pole position in GP2. But, as many of you know it did not happen and he was second on the grid by 0.021 sec. That’s almost nothing you might think. But hey, that’s the equivalent to the reaction time of a fly, which is approximately 1/50th of a second.
A few minutes later everyone at Fat Burner Racing Engineering had to keep his breath… including me! Lucas had suffered a very nasty crash, which left everyone at Fat Burner Racing Engineering terrified until they saw Lucas as well as Alvaro Parente leaving their cars unharmed. There might have been no points scored in Barcelona, but everyone knew they were very lucky when they saw the car back at the tent.
I felt really sorry for Dani and Lucas, and especially the boys as I knew they had worked very hard. With Sunday’s starting positions on the grid not too promising due to the retirements on Saturday, the race was a bit of a test run for Lucas and Dani to be honest. My Spanish friend, however, stalled on the grid, (I felt like pushing him, but I think I need to work out a bit more as my muscles are not yet up to such tasks). But hey, this was only his second race start in GP2! It still happens to veterans in their third or fourth year. And boy was he performing after! I was hardly able to keep up with him. His fastest lap in the race was no accident, as he was constantly setting extremely competitive times. So, at the end of the day, the engineers and drivers were confident and looking forward to the next round in Monaco. And so was I.