March 28, 2001
Australian driver Rob Hagarty, while talking to the press, explained his not-so-spectacular start of the season.

"After what has been a somewhat disappointing fortnight of racing, I am writing to assure all fans that I am not throwing in the towel and that the Malaysia debacle was a one off.

After setting a time in qualifying that I believe was very good for our car, given the obvious problems we are experiencing with the Audi engine, I felt I had a good chance to finish in the top six in the race.

However just prior to the grand prix, my race car's engine refused to fire, and I was forced into the spare car.

Unfortunately, the guys weren't able to change the car in time to my full setup and I had to start the GP with the wrong gear ratios for my wing setup. I struggled with the car for almost three laps, but when I changed down to second gear to turn into the final hairpin leading onto pit straight, the rear wheels locked and the car spun 180 degrees and stalled.

This was the end of my grand prix, which was very disappointing indeed. I will race and try as hard as I can in Brazil, a circuit I actually dislike a great deal. I will struggle to finish here also, but I'll try as hard as I can as I really want to acheive as much as I can for Arela and Josh.

Good luck to all in Brazil."