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Shanghai International Circuit
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May 19, 2011
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After an exciting French Grand Prix, the first three drivers past the line have gathered for the customary post-race press conference. Today, together with Adam Smith are race winner Joe Consiglio (MLT, Nordsjoen Racing), second placed Lee Morris (ENG, Draig Racing) and third placed Bart de Vos (BEL, Triple-Double Racing).
Q. Welcome guys. First of all, fantastic racing from everyone. We have the podium places here with us today. Joe Consiglio of Nordsjoen was first over the line. Joe, How important was strategy today?
JC. Strategy was really important, yes. I think the race was won and lost in the first 10 laps today. I managed to get a clean enough getaway and therefore was able to optimise my 3 stop strategy in clear air. Lee obviously got held up in those critical early laps so his strategy was compromised quite badly. Overall, I'm really pleased to take my 1st win of the year, it was a hard fought race once again!
Q. Your first win was a long time coming, how much of a relief is it to win in this crucial stage of the season?
JC. It's a massive relief. Having lost 3 races this year by less than 8 tenths of a second, you start to wonder if it will ever come. With the help of Will [William Ponissi, Nordsjoen Team Manager] I've managed to stay in a positive mindframe though. Our mantra over the last few months his been "our time will come". Now we have one under our belt, the pressure is slightly off but we're under no illusions that Lee is still in a strong position in the championship.
Q. We mentioned throught the broadcast that this stage of the season is tricky. How important is it to become really consistent now?
JC. Extremely important, poor Jason obviously had some sort of electrical failure today and at this stage of the season that will really hurt him in the championship fight. Basically Lee has set the benchmark so high that if you DNF or finish outside the podium you're in trouble. My DNF in Melbourne put us on the back foot from the word go so finishing races is absolutely critical.
Q. Thanks Joe, good luck in Monaco. Lee Morris of Draig Racing was second today. Lee, can you highlight any point where your race was really hindered?
LM. The start for sure. We were on two stops, Joe on three, so I knew we had a great chance to win when we qualified very close to him, but the start was terrible - worse than normal and I have no idea why. We did lots of practice on starts and it worked great but by the race start it bogged down and I was 7th into t1. By the time I had fought back to 2nd, I was 11 seconds behind Joe which cost me the race win really, as we had a lot of pace today. But congratulations to Joe on his first win of the season.
Q. That's two second places on the bounce after a dominant start to the season; can you think of any reason why your dominance has decreased somewhat?
LM. Ii would not say my dominance has decreased, we have established a great lead in the championship so far and this is key to the championship. As long as we keep finishing on the podium we will win the championship as the other drivers keep taking points off each other by sharing the wins. Today, I think with a better start I could have won quite comfortably but you have to get everything right to beat Joe.
Q. And finally, there are rumours in the paddock that Draig are in financial troubles; can you shed any light on the rumour and comment on whether it would affect success in the future?
LM. The team have not told me of any such issues, so I am not aware of our financial structure. That is Mike's [Team Manager Mike Phillis] job, as the lead driver I don't need to worry about things that I cannot change so I just focus on delivering the best results possible each week. We already have many updates lined up so I'm confident that I can defend my lead and even extend it. We are in a good position and this is all down to the fantastic team I have behind me.
Q. Cheers Lee, we'll see you next week. Bart de Vos, a debutant for Triple-Double was third today. Bart, how does success in the Superleague compare to the Supercup?
BdV. Well, you can't actually compare it. In Supercup everyone uses the same car and in Superleague the cars have different performance, which makes it harder to get up to speed. Although I was very happy with the car today, it was only lacking some grip in slow corners. So making a good setup for Superleague is way harder than one for Supercup.
Q. Obviously we've seen you win before, do you think it's just a matter of time till you're up in the top ranks permanently?
BdV. I hope I can be at the top very soon, the team is doing a great job with developping the car, so I hope to get some more podiums this season. although that's gonna be hard because today I was lucky to get P3: Jason had problems and Sam had a problem too so I could pass him, but on fast tracks I think we might be fighting for podium again.
Q. Finally, how much time did you have to practice pre session and how difficult is it to transfer from the Supercup to the Superleague car?
BdV. Well I had some time in the car before today, it took quite a long time to make the setup because it kept oversteering at low speeds. Of course I had great help from Phil [Perkins], he introduced me to all the new things compared to Supercup, and adapting from Supercup car to the TDR car goes quite quick. Of course it drives different but I got excellent track knowledge by also driving in the Supercup.
Q. Thanks Bart. We'll see Joe, Lee, Bart and the rest of the drivers in two weeks, in Monaco. With the test in Slovakia coming up, plenty to discuss in the run up to the season's midway point.
Q. Welcome guys. First of all, fantastic racing from everyone. We have the podium places here with us today. Joe Consiglio of Nordsjoen was first over the line. Joe, How important was strategy today?
JC. Strategy was really important, yes. I think the race was won and lost in the first 10 laps today. I managed to get a clean enough getaway and therefore was able to optimise my 3 stop strategy in clear air. Lee obviously got held up in those critical early laps so his strategy was compromised quite badly. Overall, I'm really pleased to take my 1st win of the year, it was a hard fought race once again!
Q. Your first win was a long time coming, how much of a relief is it to win in this crucial stage of the season?
JC. It's a massive relief. Having lost 3 races this year by less than 8 tenths of a second, you start to wonder if it will ever come. With the help of Will [William Ponissi, Nordsjoen Team Manager] I've managed to stay in a positive mindframe though. Our mantra over the last few months his been "our time will come". Now we have one under our belt, the pressure is slightly off but we're under no illusions that Lee is still in a strong position in the championship.
Q. We mentioned throught the broadcast that this stage of the season is tricky. How important is it to become really consistent now?
JC. Extremely important, poor Jason obviously had some sort of electrical failure today and at this stage of the season that will really hurt him in the championship fight. Basically Lee has set the benchmark so high that if you DNF or finish outside the podium you're in trouble. My DNF in Melbourne put us on the back foot from the word go so finishing races is absolutely critical.
Q. Thanks Joe, good luck in Monaco. Lee Morris of Draig Racing was second today. Lee, can you highlight any point where your race was really hindered?
LM. The start for sure. We were on two stops, Joe on three, so I knew we had a great chance to win when we qualified very close to him, but the start was terrible - worse than normal and I have no idea why. We did lots of practice on starts and it worked great but by the race start it bogged down and I was 7th into t1. By the time I had fought back to 2nd, I was 11 seconds behind Joe which cost me the race win really, as we had a lot of pace today. But congratulations to Joe on his first win of the season.
Q. That's two second places on the bounce after a dominant start to the season; can you think of any reason why your dominance has decreased somewhat?
LM. Ii would not say my dominance has decreased, we have established a great lead in the championship so far and this is key to the championship. As long as we keep finishing on the podium we will win the championship as the other drivers keep taking points off each other by sharing the wins. Today, I think with a better start I could have won quite comfortably but you have to get everything right to beat Joe.
Q. And finally, there are rumours in the paddock that Draig are in financial troubles; can you shed any light on the rumour and comment on whether it would affect success in the future?
LM. The team have not told me of any such issues, so I am not aware of our financial structure. That is Mike's [Team Manager Mike Phillis] job, as the lead driver I don't need to worry about things that I cannot change so I just focus on delivering the best results possible each week. We already have many updates lined up so I'm confident that I can defend my lead and even extend it. We are in a good position and this is all down to the fantastic team I have behind me.
Q. Cheers Lee, we'll see you next week. Bart de Vos, a debutant for Triple-Double was third today. Bart, how does success in the Superleague compare to the Supercup?
BdV. Well, you can't actually compare it. In Supercup everyone uses the same car and in Superleague the cars have different performance, which makes it harder to get up to speed. Although I was very happy with the car today, it was only lacking some grip in slow corners. So making a good setup for Superleague is way harder than one for Supercup.
Q. Obviously we've seen you win before, do you think it's just a matter of time till you're up in the top ranks permanently?
BdV. I hope I can be at the top very soon, the team is doing a great job with developping the car, so I hope to get some more podiums this season. although that's gonna be hard because today I was lucky to get P3: Jason had problems and Sam had a problem too so I could pass him, but on fast tracks I think we might be fighting for podium again.
Q. Finally, how much time did you have to practice pre session and how difficult is it to transfer from the Supercup to the Superleague car?
BdV. Well I had some time in the car before today, it took quite a long time to make the setup because it kept oversteering at low speeds. Of course I had great help from Phil [Perkins], he introduced me to all the new things compared to Supercup, and adapting from Supercup car to the TDR car goes quite quick. Of course it drives different but I got excellent track knowledge by also driving in the Supercup.
Q. Thanks Bart. We'll see Joe, Lee, Bart and the rest of the drivers in two weeks, in Monaco. With the test in Slovakia coming up, plenty to discuss in the run up to the season's midway point.
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