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Both Scuderia Playteam AC Milan and Galatasaray SK cars finish in race two at Zolder

05/10/2008

Alessandro Pier Guidi Galatasaray SK finish 12th, Robert Doornbos AC Milan finish 4th

Scuderia Playteam started the second Superleague Formula race at Zolder starting from pole and third row respectively for Robert Doornbos (AC Milan) and Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray SK) after the grid was reversed following the morning race. Again the compulsory pit stop in this 44 minutes long race was programmed in the window of laps 8 and 20.

Robert Doornbos (AC Milan) finished the race in a respectable fourth place, adding additional points to his current score of 90 points this afternoon. Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray SK) finished in 12th , also adding additional points that takes him higher in the championship.

Robert Doornbos driving AC Milan car had a hard time maintaining his advantage ahead of Beijing Guaon who passed him right after the start. Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray SK) started from six maintaining this position into lap 2 as the safety car came out for the first time of the session after an accident in the pack. The safety car came in after five long laps and the race restarted. After the restart Guidi (Galatasaray SK) spun and lost his advantage in third line to a 15th place.

Both cars drove a competitive race from their positions on the reversed grid.

Robert Doornbos (AC Milan) commented: "I was lucky to have my car ready at the start considering the damage that we had after my flying off on Rigons wheel in race 1. But I am not afraid to tell you that this was the worst ever race weekend for me. However, I want to thank my mechanics and engineers and all the team. Everyone did a fantastic job and in record time. I could not stop Rigon from passing me in the first lap. Then the safety car was in front of us for five laps. After the restart I did not stop AS Roma and Olympiacos. But Kasper Andersen (Olympiacos) spun and finally I was third behind Beijing and AS Roma. Beijing was already eight seconds ahead of us. We decided against a very early pit stop and waited until lap 16. Toccacello in AS Roma pitted on lap 14 and Beijing on lap 16. That brought me in the lead for a few turns, but Rigon kept the lead since the gap between us was so big. The track conditions were still wet but with some dry spots appearing in some places and a lot of dirt and mud in some of the corners where the competitors went off. After my pit stop, I came back in sixth place and could not push harder. I was at the limit. Nevertheless in the fight ahead of me for 2nd position, Sevilla spun on lap 21 spraying a lot of dirt on the track and loosing time. Buurman (Eindhoven), Duncan Tappy (Tottenham) and Toccaccelo AS Roma were fighting fiercely ahead of me, but I was able to pass and to finish in the last lap in fourth, just missing the podium by a small margin.

Alessandro Pier Guidi (Galatasaray SK) added: "I took a good start. But then after the safety car came back in after five laps, my tires were cold and I encountered serious brake problems. I spun and lost by good position. We pitted on lap 11 and it went smoothly and I saved time. But I could not change my position much with a mixed conditions track that was very dirty in some of the chicanes. I would have liked to have finished higher, but the track was too wet to take any risks. At least I brought the car back in one piece. I am looking forward to the next race in Estoril.

Next race in Estoril October 18-19, 2008