Pastor Maldonado and Kohei Hirate ended up today`s qualifications at the Hungaroring respectively in 5th and 20th place. The possible rainstorm, announced by the main forecast services, didn`t come and the session took off in dry conditions. Maldonado kept 2nd place for most part of the day, with a lap clocked on his first set of tires. Unfortunately, the Venezuelan didn`t have the right chance to improve his time, settling for a start on row 3. Hirate had his best time at the beginning of the session too but, after being into the top-10, he went off-track, eliminating any chance to improve with his second tire set. Race 1 is set to start tomorrow at 16:00.
Maurizio Salvadori (Team Principal)
“The 5th place earned today by Maldonado allow us to hope for an high-profile race, keeping up with the other top teams. Today we saw an impressive supremacy by iSport, but the other cars on the pack were very close. I think that having a good start will be crucial tomorrow and, if Pastor will be able to climb at least one position, a podium finish would clearly be in our possibilities. Then, in case of another wreck between the 2 iSport cars, anything could happen. I feel bad for Hirate who, despite having great splits, couldn`t end a clean lap that would have propelled him much forward on the grid”
Pastor Maldonado – 5° (1:28.546, 14 laps)
“Today`s result actually has two faces. After the first practice I thought I could really have a shot to front row, and finding myself in 5th place wasn`t really what I hoped for. On the other hand, this is a good starting point for this weekend`s two races, that I hope to end with two podium finishes. Today`s best news came from the car`s performance, that proved to be fantastic also on a tough track like the Hungaroring. The teamwork was almost perfect, and this fact surely helps me in finding a good feeling. I`m very upbeat looking at tomorrow; a good start and an aggressive strategy will be the key for a great result”.
Kohei Hirate - 20th (1:29.560, 15 laps)
“I really can`t be satisfied with the final position after qualifying, especially after the great weekend we had at the Nurburgring. In practice I had some trouble in finding a good way through the last part of the racetrack, and I tried to improve. Unfortunately I committed many mistakes in qualifying, culminated with an off-track in the final stages. I`m disappointed with my effort today, but I feel I`m not done yet. I`ll have to focus, together with the team, on a very aggressive strategy, in order to make up positions for Sunday`s Race 2”.
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