Star Racing Review - Round One, Melbourne Australia
Scott Stephens (Team Manager, Star Racing) - No reason to be disappointed
Wednesday at Albert Park started fantastically for both Star Racing drivers, as Hofmann recorded a pole position and Wilson backing up the team with a 2nd grid spot. But despite making a great
start, the SR drivers slipped backwards in the race. However, as he explains, a podium finish in the opening race of the season is far from a disaster…
Q: Have you been suprised with the pace of the cars over a single lap?
SS: I think generally everything was a bit of a surprise this weekend for everyone, as all of us did not know where we stood because the winter tests were not too enlightening. So this qualifying did put a smile on our face.
Q: After a 1-2 by Polar Motorsports, do you think this is the first sign that PM will be a strong challenger for the championship?
SS: It was only the first race and there are still 18 to go so it is a bit premature to call anybody a favorite for the title. polar had good speed over a stint and have always had good strategy. Both drivers have been with the team for a couple of seasons now, so they have good continuity again for this season.
Q: Did you expect Polar to be so competitive?
SS: As I said before, everybody has been a bit of surprise to everyone, as nobody knew what to expect. The qualifying was fantastic but in the race we had a bit of a problem with the wear of the tyres - and obviously Rudi (Graca) & Alexander (Muller) did the best job looking after the tyres out of everyone managing to stop only twice. A two-stop strategy was never on the table for us after practice.
Q: You had an excellent start - why didn’t it work out better?
SS: Yes, it was a real good start and our goal was to go for as many laps as possible. Obviously the degradation was a bit more intense for us than for others. But to start from pole position and end on the podium - all in all, that was a successful round an a good points haul for the drivers and the teams championship.
Q: How will things unfold next weekend in Malaysia?
SS: What we have seen today was a first glimpse, but we are far from getting an idea of the pecking order. Malaysia is a completely different track and from what we have seen today, everything depends on how well people handle the tyres. But (in Malaysia) we will see completely different conditions and will use different tyres so there are too many differences to Melbourne. We have seen over the past few years that what we have seen in Melbourne has hardly ever become a trend for the next couple of races.
Fabian Hofmann Q&A: It’s a fantastic start to the season
Time and again, Star have proved they can bounce back and on Wednesday in Melbourne the Aussie team unknotted the disappointments of TiRE season one by starting the season two in the best way possible. Driver Fabian Hofmann, who secured a dominant pole position, discusses his performance, the race and looks ahead to the remainder of the TiREseason…
Q: Fabs, the SRA-5 performed amazingly today. How proud are you about what you and the team has delivered?
FH: Massively proud. My team never gives up - they keep on pushing and pushing. We have had a tough start into the TiRE League, so to be back right where we are today is fantastic.
Q: Were you surprised the team claimed the entire front row?
FH: To be honest, yeah i was. I thought that the Polar, Orange and even Arrows would be ahead, especially after last season and the results even to the last couple of rounds. I really did not know what to expect but I made sure that I delivered the best performance I could. My first fast lap was amazing, but you just never know. So I had to go out again, but the track wasn’t the same any more. My first fast lap of the season did it - for the team and for me!
Q: What surprised you more - claiming the front row or that Polar were behind?
FH: That Polar were behind. Last season, they dominated qually and races and not many others were able to compete with them. On some occasions today we thought that they were only ‘sandbagging’ and it is good, for now, to know that they weren’t. On the other hand I knew that we would be quick. But how quick we would be I had no idea. This was the test and we passed it with bravery!
Q: TheSRA-5 is said to be the best-looking car on the grid and now it seems to be one of the fastest too…
FH: Yeah, fastest and most beautiful car - that’s it.
Questions from the Floor
Q: Fabs, only third today but the crowd are obviously very appreciative of what you did. But what happened to the Star Racing pace we were expecting?
FH: Well, I think first of all we can be happy with today. Obviously we wanted more. Clearly when you start from pole you want to win. I think we could see after a very good start, and a good first two or three laps, that the tyres were falling apart and we couldn’t go as long as other people. So congratulations to Polar and especially to RG, I think they did the best job today. I think we were third-quickest today and very happy to get third place.
Q: Do you think it was just the conditions, the rain, the track temperatures or are you seriously worried about the pace of Polar?
FH: No, I’m not worried. I have to admit sometimes that other people are faster. I think we can be very happy today. We had a great qualifying session this morning and this afternoon unfortunately didn’t quite work the way we would have liked but it’s a long season, a long way ahead of us, so good points to start. Surely we wanted a little bit more but there’s no reason to be disappointed.
Q: Did it surprise you that starting from pole the pace wasn’t there to go on and win the race?
FH: Well I think the pace was there. The naked pace. Qualifying was pretty good for us. I think we had quite a good run, and then also the first two laps of the race were pretty good and also the first two laps on each set of tyres felt pretty good - but yeah, obviously after that we couldn’t keep it up and surely the times set in the front, from Muller but Graca especially, were quite impressive considering the amount of laps on the tyres. So, we couldn’t do that and that’s why, I think we lost out a little bit today. But, as I said, it’s a very tough, very long grand prix and very nice to be on the podium at the end. We have quite a good record here so I’m happy that we had another podium finish today.
Q & A with Nuno Wilson
Star will enter the 2013 season with the same two drivers that drove for the team in parts of last season - 11-time Grand Prix
winner Fabian Hofmann and former GP2 champion Nuno Wilson. After taking the covers off the new SRA-5 at Stars's factory in Perth, Australia on Monday, Wilson looked ahead to the upcoming season...
Q: What are your thoughts heading into your second season with Star Racing Team?
NW: I’m feeling pretty good. Last year was my return to Formula 1 and it went pretty well. This year will be my second with Star Racing and my seventh season overall in iGP so I’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect. I’m sure it will be an exciting season and I’m sure there’ll be lots to talk about. For me, I will
continue to do the best I can, let’s see how good our car is, and how good the cars of the opposition are too.
Q: Is the continuity of going into your second season with the team beneficial to you?
NW: It helps. It’s not a massive thing which will suddenly mean you
start winning all the races, but it’s nice to be at the same team as you understand how they work, and they understand how you work. We quickly developed a pretty good way of working together last year and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue this season.
Q: Do you think the team has what it takes to win a championship?
NW: Yes, I think they do. It’s clear from working with them that they are racers, and you can see in their history that they’ve won championships. Nothing I saw last year made me think that another championship was impossible in the future. Of course, there is some pretty tough competition out there and everyone wants to win. The team have beaten everyone before and there’s nothing to say they can’t do it again.
Q: How you feeling today after a hard faught race crossing the line in 5th
NW: I'm happy with our result today and it's much better than we expected for the first race of the season. The car felt really good out there, I had a strong first stint and was able to make the wets last longer than most of the others. We'd planned for two stops but converted to a three-stop strategy during the race. I don't quite know where we lost the ground to the cars ahead so we'll have a look at the race again now and figure it out. The important thing is that we have a car that we can really work with and the team have done a fantastic job to get us to this position. Thanks to everyone here and back at base for their support over my first race weekend with Star. Now we'll look forward to Malaysia next round and hopefully build on this positive start with an improved performance.