Zoom A heavy impact for Coulthard at Juji Speedway

Mark Webber used a one stop strategy to finish the Japanese Grand Prix in ninth position. The Red Bull Renault racer was later promoted to eighth position as Sebastien Bourdais was handed a time penalty. It was a short race for David Coulthard who had a bump at the start of the race ahead of a rear suspension failure that sent him crashing into retirement.

Mark Webber
“After a poor start, which put me at the back, I had a good first stint passing Heidfeld twice amongst others. The second stint was difficult pace wise, as I was having a tricky time on the options. I had some front graining and it was hard to maintain a good pace at the end of the race. Felipe (Massa) had fresh tyres towards the finish and also a faster car, so I knew it would be difficult to keep him behind me as his traction was so much better. I pushed him to the limit when he made his overtaking move, but that’s what it’s about, trying to get another point for the team. It was too difficult against his car though and he passed me.”

David Coulthard
“It’s disappointing to go out. I was trying to go down the inside of Bourdais’ car into turn one and naturally he came back across a little bit towards the apex. Piquet was in front of us both and I found myself between the two of them. There was a little bit of bumping and grinding as we went through the apex of Turn one and then, as I accelerated out of Turn two, whatever damage was done in the apex of turn one let go and the car had a tank slapper and I went it to the barrier. I guess it was suspension damage rather than a tyre as normally you’d feel it if a tyre was going down. We’ll need a new chassis for the next race.”

Christian Horner
“After a nasty looking accident, thankfully David isn’t injured. Contact at the first corner put his car in the air and then the rear suspension broke, which turned his car acutely left and into the barrier. Mark lost a huge amount of time at the start, but thereafter, on a risky one stop strategy, drove a very good race to claim a Championship point. He came within two laps of getting another, but unfortunately Massa was too fast to hold back. It was a very good drive on a one stop strategy.”

Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer
“That was a difficult race. It was a very bad start for both drivers. David had an accident and had to retire and Mark nearly stalled at the start, which put him at the back of the field. He did a very good job after that and overtook a lot of cars to give a very impressive performance today. Congratulations again to Renault for another win.”

E.A. © CAPSIS International