GP2 Series – Preseason – Montmeló
The Racing Engineering team now includes top-class Italian driver Giorgio Pantano. The current Repsol driver finished last season’s championship in third position, and his objective for this 2008 season is to improve on that. Pantano has a long experience which even took him to compete during a season in Formula One, though due to the lack of a competitive single-seater he decided the following year to try his luck in GP2, where he has taken five victories and a further eleven podiums.
>> Audio
What do you think about your new team?
“The choice to come to the Racing Engineering team was because the project they presented me with was a fine opprtunity to be in a serious team which knew very well what it wanted. They have good engineers, a good team, and a clear focus: to win. This is what made me decide to come here, and I still have the same opinion regarding the team.”
Alongside Javier Villa you make a peculiar team; you are one of the most experienced drivers, while he is among the youngest.
“Javier isn’t that young, I think he has already grown up! Now, seriously, I think we both work to do our best and we’ll try to get good results. I probably have more experience and might know a few things more, but I think he doesn’t have much more to learn. I try to help him, but he is already a very fast driver. I’m sure that we’ll both have the chance to do well.”
What advice can you give to the youngest driver in the category?
“I don’t have to tell him anything, because as I say, he’s a fast driver. At some point I may be able to teach him this or that because of my experience: how to face a certain race, or what decisions to take when there is little time. But I’m sure that there’s not much more I can teach him, because he’s well capable already of doing a good job.”
What is your opinion of the new single-seater?
“The car is very good. It’s completely different to what we had last year, and they’ve worked a lot on the aerodynamics and the suspension. We’ll see how it goes, but apparently they’ve managed better stability when turning into curves. You can turn much faster than with last year’s model. They’ve also improved things for the fast areas, as the changes to the aerodynamics allow you to drive much faster.”
You have been in Formula One, what do you think about the GP2 Series? Is it a good prior step before entering Formula One?
“Of course it’s a good way to go before reaching Formula One, because here you have the opportunity to learn a lot. You work a lot with the engineers, you work on the setup of the car, and you learn to use the information to adjust the different elements of the car. The single-seater we use is very similar to a Formula One car, with very competitve materials such as the carbon brakes, the gearbox, or the actual power, which is not bad at all. There are many things that make GP2 similar to Formula One. What’s more, the important thing is that they are very competitve series, because all the drivers have the same single-seater and the difference is made according to each driver’s capacity to properly adjust the car, and the skill displayed in the race.”
What goal have you set for yourself this season?
“My goal is to win the Championship. It’s what I signed when I joined this team and that’s what we’re going to struggle for. I think that at this moment we are in a good position to achieve it.”
What is needed to achieve it?
“Working together will be very important, to do our best as a team, including the mechanics, the engineers, myself, the boss, and the sponsors. I think it’s important that everyone gives it their best, and that it’s done in an adequate atmosphere, like in a big family. We all have to have the same goal in mind.”
This year you will race a new urban race in Valencia. What do you think?
“We only know what we’ve seen in a few photographs and in magazines, but on paper it looks like a good circuit. It’s not like other circuits; this one is urban, which always makes it more attractive, and will surely be spectacular.”
