After a positive performance from Jaime Alguersuari in the first race of the World Series 2009 yesterday, where he was fifth, today the young Repsol driver expected a lot more from his second appearance at the track in Cataunya. However, a mechanical problem on the final lap stopped him from rounding off a great weekend after another great performance by the young Repsol driver. The marshalls had to show the red flag 3 minutes before time as there was a car stopped on the home straight after an accident.
Starting in fourth position on the grid – Jaime set the fourth fastest time in the Superpole – today`s race which was scheduled to last 44 minutes and a final lap, began in the best possible way for the Repsol driver. After a good start Jaime tried to overtake on the very home straight and before the first corner, but Walker covered his rear very well and he stopped the Spaniard from getting past.
Alguersuari had a faster pace than most of his rivals today and on the third lap he had moved up to third place, but then he climbed to second on lap four. Up to lap eight Alguersuari occupied second position behind the Frenchman Pic, keeping his compatriot Marcos Martínez at bay behind him, the latter being the eventual race winner. Alguersuari went into the pits for the obligatory tyre change and fell back to twelfth place, but ahead of Pic, who had also made his pit-stop at the same time. Six laps later Jaime saw other drivers making their tyre changes but rain began to fall and they took advantage of their luck to put rain tyres on.
Third once again on lap 15 Jaime fell back a few positions – to sixth – after changing to rain tyres on lap 17. Back on the track the Repsol driver was on the attack again with the podium in his sights, but suddenly his car stopped because of a technical failure, something that has ruined his hopes of finishing the race and getting his first ever podium in the World Series. A disappointing end to what has been a positive weekend for the Spanish driver. Alguersuari said, after the race, that he was satisfied with the work that both he and his team had done over the weekend in spite of the mechanical problem that stopped from getting a good result today.
Jaime Alguersuari, retired >> Audio
“From my point of view it was a good race. We had a good pace, we had the fastest car on the track, and in the tyre change we were able to overtake [Charles] Pic, who was the first of them to change. I am pleased because I think that we have done some good work, although obviously the weather did not help us. We had to make another pit-stop to put rain tyres on, and that was when I lost any chance of a victory. I fell back to sixth position, in spite of having made two pit-stops. In the end we had a technical problem and that is where the race finished for us.”
