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| · 2013 Malaysia GP: Formula One F1 Qualifying Results - Vettel, Red Bull On Pole! (Mar 23, 2013)
· 2013 Malaysia GP: Formula One F1 Practice Three Results - Vettel, Red Bull Fastest! (Mar 23, 2013)
· 2013 Fontana: NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying Results - Hamlin, Toyota On Pole! (Mar 22, 2013)
· 2013 Fontana: NASCAR Nationwide Practice One Results - Dillon, Chevrolet Fastest! (Mar 22, 2013)
· 2013 Fontana: NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice One Results - Bowyer, Toyota Fastest! (Mar 22, 2013)
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Fourth And Sixth For Carlin Men In Sepang
An eventful GP2 season opener saw Carlin drivers Felipe Nasr and Jolyon Palmer open their accounts with a strong points haul in Malaysia today, with a fourth and sixth place finish respectively. Nasr was in the hunt for a top three finish for the duration of the race; just missing out on the final podium spot while an aggressive drive and a fantastic pit stop strategy saw Palmer finish sixth despite starting from 22nd on the grid.
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A fast starting Fabio Leimer was an early concern for Nasr as the cars left the grid; the Racing Engineering driver catapulted into second place as Nasr and Calado were left fighting for third. Nasr won the initial battle, until the scuffle forced Nasr wide and down to fifth place.
Team mate Palmer meanwhile was enjoying a similarly eventful start from the back of the grid. The British driver made a lightning start and managed to survive heavy contact from behind by Marcus Ericsson, which put the DAMS driver out of the race. By the end of lap one, Palmer had managed to climb to 12th place.
In the melee at the front, Mitch Evans had managed to get ahead of both Calado and Nasr, but both men managed to pass the Arden driver on lap three, as Nasr moved back up to third. Palmer was also making progress and passed Sergio Canamasas and Julian Leal a lap later to take ninth place on lap five.
Showing the pace that evaded him during qualifying yesterday, Palmer passed Evans for eighth, while team mate Nasr was still running in fourth behind Calado, which soon became third when race leader Stefano Coletti dived into the pits on lap seven.
Palmer continued his fight for position, with a close fight with Russian Time drivers Tom Dillmann and Sam Bird. Nasr pitted for new tyres on lap nine and following a good pit stop from the Carlin crew rejoined the track and pushed immediately to set his personal best first sector.
Palmer meanwhile was employing a different strategy and stayed out on his hard compound tyres as the rest of the field pitted, and by lap 11 was leading the race. The Monaco race winner was nearly seven seconds ahead of second placed man Berthon, despite slight damage to his front wing.
Pitting from the lead on lap 20, Palmer was the last driver to stop for new tyres and made the switch to softs, returning to the track in an impressive sixth place, with Nasr still fourth.
Nasr stayed close to the leaders as the race entered the final stages and found himself rapidly closing on previous race leader Coletti who had dropped to third. The Carlin man was taking two seconds a lap out of the Rapax driver with just two laps to go, but with a 4.1 second gap with only one lap remaining, third place seemed too great a challenge.
Palmer meanwhile was making his soft tyres last and was comfortably holding onto sixth place, the position he would take across the line after starting all the way down in 22nd place. Nasr couldn’t quite steal the final podium spot and crossed the line in fourth, just 1.4 seconds off Coletti, with Leimer and Calado taking first and second.
“I had a difficult first lap”, said Nasr, “there were a lot of cars making very aggressive moves and it would have been easy to make contact and crash out of the race. After the first lap I concentrated on my tyres. I was very quick at the end but left my challenge a little late but we had the pace to win. We know we have a quick race car now and I’m really looking forward to building on this tomorrow.”
Reflecting on an eventful race, Palmer said, “I made a great start and had a good first two laps and then I just focused on pushing as hard as possible. We had a good strategy and the pit stop was perfect. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and starting from third.”
“I’m extremely impressed with the performance of the team and drivers today; they’ve made a fantastic start to the season. We’ve proved that we have a quick car in race set up as well as qualifying and the team called a perfect strategy for Jolyon who drove a fantastic race. It was so close at the front Felipe just missed out on a podium but both drivers have scored strong points and are in a great position for the Sprint race tomorrow.”
Palmer will start tomorrow’s Sprint race from third tomorrow, while Nasr will line up fifth when the lights go out at 12.15 local time tomorrow (GMT + 8).
PaddockTalk Perspective
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