ORT competitive in Abu Dhabi but not rewarded

Ocean Racing Technology displayed strong competitiveness on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi for the finale of the GP2 Main Series championship this weekend.

Third place on the starting grid for Fabio Leimer in the first race, supplemented by eighth place for Max Chilton, testifies to the high level reached by the Portuguese team.

The Swiss driver got off to a good start, however, contact with the man starting from pole position, Oliver Turvey, in the first turn of the first race, damaged a shock absorber on his single-seater and Fabio was forced to retire on lap 7.

Meanwhile, Max Chilton fell back to 11th place in the first few meters of race but went on to recover several places and had returned to 8th place, which offers a point and pole position for race two. Not satisfied with this position, Max passed Jules Bianchi and brilliantly seized 7th for the team, however the Frenchman hit him several laps later when he made a failed overtaking manoeuvre sending him back down the order.

"I did not have a good start but the car was really efficient and it helped me gain several positions. It is very frustrating to have been taken out because of an incident that I was not responsible for because the perception was great. Starting outside the top 10 in the second race made things a lot more difficult but Ocean Racing Technology once again gave me a great car. Unfortunately, the start did not go well and it was extremely difficult to overtake," said Max Chilton who finished 12th and 13th in the two last races of the year.

Fabio Leimer now leaves Abu Dhabi with the certainty that he could have finished the season on an high note... "It is a pity because the weekend was great until that contact. To start from the second row made us hope for a great result but after the contact with Turvey I could not handle the car anymore as a shock was badly damaged. The start of the second race was a bit wild and I did not find my way to storm to a decent position right away. 16th position was the best I could do."

Ocean Racing Technology will not wait to start work on the 2011 GP2 Asia Series and Main Series championships and will take part in the testing session in Abu Dhabi at the end of November.