#7 – Seb Morris – DNF, #8 – Alex Fontana – P11, #9 – Sandy Stuvik – DNF
What had started out positively for the Status Grand Prix team ended up in a fruitless finish with Seb Morris having made contact with Pal Varhaug resulting in a retirement for the pair.
Additionally Stuvik was the innocent bystander after the second Virtual Safety Car period when Matheo Tuscher lost control of his Jenzer Motorsport car and collided with the Status driver. The sole remaining Status car of Fontana looked set to finish in tenth in the final point-scoring position before he made a last lap lunge for ninth place. Sadly the move didn’t stick and as he tried to slot back into ninth he was passed by Ralph Boschung who capitalised and stripped both Fontana and Status GP of tenth place.
Morris: “My start wasn’t great from 13th and I got hit going into the first corner which lost me a lot of positions. I gained all of the lost places back but then lost the car going into Eau Rouge, ending up on the sausage kerbs which ripped off the floor of my car. I was powerless to defend and I ended up hitting Varhaug. It was a real shame and in a way it was my fault for going off at Eau Rouge but after that I was a passenger really. There are positives to take as I was in a point scoring position before the incident which was promising.”
Fontana: “From P18 it was always going to be a bit difficult but I had a very good start and we managed to be quite close to the top ten in the opening stages. The virtual safety car came out which can be expected in the opening laps. The re-start was a bit messy and I didn’t get the communication properly so did not switch off the safety car mode and lost some places. I then lost more places avoiding the next accident and had to go onto the grass. It seemed that everything I gained I lost because of other incidents. Then the race was cut short because of all the safety cars which also don’t help my strategy to look after the tyres.
“At the end I was P10 and I was thinking I could be P9 as there was supposed to be a penalty for one of the cars in front. In that case I thought that I could try to get P8 for the reverse pole. I tried my best to make the move at the last corner but in doing so I lost another place and ended P11.
“Frustrating but we are looking forward to seeing if we will get the point that I think is deserved if a penalty is given.”
Stuvik: “I was pretty cautious in the first few laps but then I just started passing people and using the draft which worked pretty well and I managed to get up to 11th with points in sight. I was lucky to be in the right place to avoid and gain from the early incidents. In the end I was taken out by another car after they floored it, losing control and hitting me. It was a shame as it was for sure a top ten finish and maybe even a reverse grid pole, but now we just have to try and do it again tomorrow.”
