Budapest, Hungary – July 14, 2007. In a thrilling
qualifying session, Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy claimed his
best grid position of the season to line up fourth in the
latest round of World Series by Renault at the tricky Hungaroring
circuit, near Budapest.
As qualifying is split into separate groups, Fairuz was
unfortunate to be first out when the track conditions were
much dustier. Despite that the Cram Competition ace held
pole position for most of the session, before he was eclipsed
in the dying moments of qualifying by the Spaniard Alvaro
Barba.
With the times of both sessions combined, it guarantees
Fairuz's fourth place on the starting grid for the first
25-lapper on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really happy with this position," said
a delighted Fairuz. "I'm feeling a lot more relaxed
and comfortable in the car this weekend. We've been on
the pace throughout the practice days and in qualifying,
so I have to thank the Cram team for giving me such a good
package, it's a great car. I think we can achieve a decent
result here."
The Malaysian has the advantage over many of his rivals
because of his prior knowledge of the tight, twisty Hungaroring
and proved that by being on the pace in practice where
he was second quickest.
"I could have nicked pole position," added the
24-year-old. "But on my quickest lap I just had a
slight problem with my rear tyres in the final sector of
the lap and just missed out on the ultimate lap time," added
Fairuz. "Prior to that there had been a lot of yellow
flags, but I'm happy with the result."
The Malaysian will start on the dirty side of the track
in this afternoon's race, but he isn't too concerned about
the position. "Here at the Hungaroring it's much more
important to be on the inside at the first corner rather
than on the outside line for the long hairpin right-hander.
The trade off actually works in your favour."
The race kicks off at 14.55 local time on the circuit
on the outskirts of Budapest, while race two is tomorrow
at 13.00.
Grid for Hungaroring
1 Guillaume Moreau KTR 1m 31.862s
2 Alvaro Barba Draco 1m 32.109s + 0.247s
3 F.Albuquerque Epsilon 1m 32.346s + 0.484s
4 Fairuz Fauzy Cram 1m 32.462s + 0.600s
ENDS
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