GP2 Spa - spoiler
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If any of you have been following the farcial events of recent races, including the clash of team mates off the starting grid in France you'll like this too.
Championship leader Timo Glock was punted off the track during the warm up lap by another driver.
Championship leader Timo Glock was punted off the track during the warm up lap by another driver.
Crash.net said:
If Timo Glock finally clinches the GP2 Series crown at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo later this month, he will have done it the hard way, but his latest setback was not of his own making.
While a string of mechanical failures - including the stall in Saturday's feature race at Spa - can be laid at the door of either the iSport team or GP2 itself, the German's pre-race exit on Sunday had everything to do with Trident Racing stand-in Ricardo Risatti.
Replacing the injured - and occasionally equally wayward - Pastor Maldonado for the third straight weekend, Risatti lost control of his car on the warm-up lap, spearing into Glock and sending the championship leader into the barriers, causing terminal damage and completing another weekend with no race points to show for his efforts.
"On the long straight after the Eau Rouge, I went to the right side of the track to begin warming my tyres up," Glock wrote on his personal website, "Then, all at once, Risatti goes full into the car. What I was doing was normal for the warm-up lap, and seven other drivers around me were doing the same thing, so I do not understand, with the best will in the world, how this happened."
With Lucas di Grassi taking full advantage of Glock's woes by adding another pair of podium finishes to his tally, the German heads to the Valencia finale just two points ahead of the Brazilian.
"Risatti told me that he thought I would use the full width of the straight to warm my tyres," Glock revealed after the pair had talked, "But I didn't agree - and neither did the stewards! They saw what happened and called us both in after the race. Their view was unambiguous and concurred with my perception. Risatti got a punishment of $10,000 but that does not help me. I can't buy myself anything [from this race]."
Risatti made no comment after the race, but the Trident team offered an apology to Glock and iSport.
"Risatti involuntarily made contact with Timo Glock in the pre-grid laps while warming tyres," the team said in a statement, "No responsibilities can be identified by looking at the TV footage, but we're sorry for Timo and iSport that weren't able to start today's race."
While a string of mechanical failures - including the stall in Saturday's feature race at Spa - can be laid at the door of either the iSport team or GP2 itself, the German's pre-race exit on Sunday had everything to do with Trident Racing stand-in Ricardo Risatti.
Replacing the injured - and occasionally equally wayward - Pastor Maldonado for the third straight weekend, Risatti lost control of his car on the warm-up lap, spearing into Glock and sending the championship leader into the barriers, causing terminal damage and completing another weekend with no race points to show for his efforts.
"On the long straight after the Eau Rouge, I went to the right side of the track to begin warming my tyres up," Glock wrote on his personal website, "Then, all at once, Risatti goes full into the car. What I was doing was normal for the warm-up lap, and seven other drivers around me were doing the same thing, so I do not understand, with the best will in the world, how this happened."
With Lucas di Grassi taking full advantage of Glock's woes by adding another pair of podium finishes to his tally, the German heads to the Valencia finale just two points ahead of the Brazilian.
"Risatti told me that he thought I would use the full width of the straight to warm my tyres," Glock revealed after the pair had talked, "But I didn't agree - and neither did the stewards! They saw what happened and called us both in after the race. Their view was unambiguous and concurred with my perception. Risatti got a punishment of $10,000 but that does not help me. I can't buy myself anything [from this race]."
Risatti made no comment after the race, but the Trident team offered an apology to Glock and iSport.
"Risatti involuntarily made contact with Timo Glock in the pre-grid laps while warming tyres," the team said in a statement, "No responsibilities can be identified by looking at the TV footage, but we're sorry for Timo and iSport that weren't able to start today's race."
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