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Mixed feelings for Carlin after Spa
Carlin’s World Series team returned from Spa- Francorchamps with mixed feelings this week, having seen Mikhail Aleshin claim the team’s first podium finish of the season while team mate Robert Wickens endured another frustrating weekend. Aleshin continued his consistent start to the season to finish fifth in race one and third in race two and take second in the drivers’ standings.
The team made a steady start to testing, with the Red Bull duo finishing the final test session on Friday in the top ten. Keen to improve further, the Carlin team worked hard to perfect the set-up ahead of qualifying on Saturday, making several set-up changes.
Taking part in the new qualifying system for the first time, both drivers made it through to the Super Pole session, with Aleshin qualifying third and Wickens fourth. With the top eight positions reversed for race one, Aleshin and Wickens started race one sixth and fifth respectively.
As the lights went out, Aleshin was passed by two cars, but made up one place when team mate Wickens was tipped into a spin at the first corner. Managing to get back on track, the young Canadian driver was at the back of the field by the end of lap one and went on to finish 14th. Aleshin meanwhile found himself in the thick of it, in an action packed race which saw two safety car periods. By lap 12 the Russian was up to fourth place, but was passed by Marco Bonanomi with five laps to go, and went on to cross the line fifth.
With the drivers taking their positions for race two based on their qualifying performance, Aleshin lined up third, with Wickens just behind him in fourth. It was Aleshin that made the better start, passing Giedo van der Garde to take second place on lap one. Wickens, meanwhile clashed at the first corner with a number of cars. Managing to limp back to the pits, the team changed the nose box, but on returning to the track the problem was clearly more severe and Wickens retired on lap three with a broken track rod.
With only one Carlin driver still on track, Aleshin was pushing hard to defend his 2nd place, but van der Garde managed to find a way past at the end of lap two, leaving Aleshin in third– the position he would maintain to the chequered flag.
Reflecting on his first podium of the season, Aleshin said, “It was great to finish on the podium at Spa. We struggled a bit in testing, but we made some changes to the car and we had a really good set up for the race. I tried to keep Giedo behind me in the second race but he got a really good tow and there wasn’t much I could do. We go to Monaco next which is one of my favourite tracks and I’d love to have a repeat performance and finish on the podium there.”
Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, “It was a mixed weekend at Spa. The team struggled for pace a little in testing, but did a great job to make the changes needed to put us near the top in the final qualifying session. Mikhail has made a very consistent start to the season, which has paid off to put him second in the drivers’ championship. The whole team share Robert’s frustration in not yet finishing in the points. There’s no doubt that he has massive potential but has not had the opportunity to translate that into a podium finish so far this season.”
The team will be back in racing action for the Monaco round of the World Series championship from 22 – 25 May.
Published: 2008-05-07
View driver's profile pages:
» Mikhail Aleshin
» Robert Wickens
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Top 2008 race winners
| 1 | Craig Baird | 26 |
| 2 | Gabriel Chaves | 23 |
| 3 | Wayne Boyd | 14 |
| 4 | Frédéric Vervisch | 13 |
| 5 | Earl Bamber | 11 |
| Kyle Busch | 11 | |
| 7 | Nigel Moore | 10 |
| 8 | Caine Lobb | 9 |
| Gary Findlay | 9 | |
| 10 | Jan Magnussen | 7 |
| Toon Rutges | 7 | |
| Dino Zamparelli | 7 | |
| John Whelan | 7 | |
| Andrew Meyrick | 7 | |
| Valtteri Bottas | 7 | |
| John McIntyre | 7 | |
| Michael Bristow | 7 | |
| 18 | Ben Winrow | 6 |
| Allan Simonsen | 6 | |
| Felix Rosenqvist | 6 | |
This list also includes series that span over the new year (i.e. 2007-08 championships). | ||
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July 4 2008
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