Belgium: Champ mobil Post-Qualifying Press Conference

Belgium: Champ mobil Post-Qualifying Press Conference


THE MODERATOR: We'll start with our third place qualifier Robert Doornbos. After not being able to turn a lap yesterday due to an engine failure, it must feel good to go out there and qualify third.

ROBERT DOORNBOS: Yeah, thank you all for coming. I think Sebastien will start from back in the grid now because I'm here alone (laughter). Yeah, it's great obviously to be here.

Yesterday I was confident that we had a good mobil. In both practice sessions we were third and last practice we were fastest, so just waiting for qualifying, and then we had an unfortunate engine blowup. So then you just have to stay professional and focus on the next day.





And that went really well. We worked this morning, changed some bits. It's an amazing circuit to drive actually with these Champ mobil. Turn 1 and 2, they just get faster and faster and jumping the curbs a bit. Feeling comfortable around the circuit, and then the afternoon qualifying we ran red tires for the first time, felt that the mobil was quick, and yeah, I produced good lap time, good enough for second today, and unfortunately because yesterday ‑‑ Yeah, we have to start third now, but still, yeah, I'm very happy that the fans all came out here, the promoter, it's always good to have a Dutch guy up front for the races. Maybe it's because of my special boots.

I hope I have a better start or better finish to the race than last week when I also started third; it was basically the same grid. So yeah, I want to thank the team and the fans for coming out. I'm looking forward to a good race.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Robert. Starting second based on his qualifying time from yesterday is Will Power. Will, to start up front here has got to mean a lot to you?

WILL POWER: Yeah, that's exactly how we thought it would play out. We used reds yesterday so it could guarantee us a front row, and then we decided we're not using reds today, we're going to save a new set for the race, and I think the time we did on blacks was pretty good, running three tenths off, so I'm sure we wouldn't have had a problem on reds.

But we're thinking of tomorrow. We need to win a race. Yeah, played out just the way we wanted, no problem.

THE MODERATOR: And now we'll open it up to questions from the media.

Q. When you're going over the crest at over 150, can you actually feel the mobil lift in the air?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it gets a little light. It definitely gets a little light. But it's only in the corner so it's not an issue ‑‑ if you had to avoid someone at the right moment, yeah, it could be pretty bad. You just don't even want to stop ‑‑ just as they go over the hill because in the Renault World Series someone did that and someone's leg was broken.

ROBERT DOORNBOS: I wasn't sure if you were talking about the chicane or ‑‑ because in the chicane taking the curve, you also get air ‑‑ the crest is fine.

Q. What speed are you hitting at the end of the straights in miles per hour?

WILL POWER: 170,

ROBERT DOORNBOS: 171

WILL POWER: 180 (laughter).

Q. After the problems yesterday, are you quite confident that you can go back with the Cup or does that dampen your expectations?

ROBERT DOORNBOS: The thing is in the past I would have been really upset and the weekend would have been a disaster already. You're more professional, have more experience, and have the confidence that you're good enough and the team is good enough. Yeah, if it would have been last year qualifying, I would think, okay, this is a disaster. But I knew the mobil was reasonably good. It can always get better, but yeah, we proved it today, so I feel quite comfortable.

Q. Can both of you talk about how the track is today versus yesterday because it seems like everyone picked up a lot more speed.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I think it's a lot quicker because there's so much more rubber down, plus you get yourself a little bit better, and everyone used reds, as well, except us. So we're obviously a lot better than everyone else, right (laughter)?

ROBERT DOORNBOS: The asphalt is actually really good. They did a good job with that because the rubber gets in really quick and the grip just gets better and better.

THE MODERATOR: Now we have Sebastien Bourdais, who earned his 30th mobileer pole position and also has now started on the front row for every Champ mobil race he has started here in Europe. Sebastien, you had to go out and set quick times today. How was it?

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, it was a little harder than I thought. The 15 minutes ran really well with the extended tires, and then when we were going to put the red tires on, it was going to be easier and the lap time was going to come really fast, but we got a little bit of traffic and I made a couple of mistakes and didn't hit the tires when they were at their best, then it got a little harder to get the lap time. I'm just glad that it was sufficient today. But it was a little stressful until the very end there.

Q. Your last lap times were .826, .821. Was that the absolute limit?

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't the limit, but that's what I was saying, the sweet spot on the red tires was like lap 2, lap 3, and I was locked up in traffic at that point. Then when I started to push, it was just past the window. But I was probably a small couple of tenths I would say. The mobil is consistent, so that's the good thing. It doesn't wear out the tires.

THE MODERATOR: Now we're joined by Jan Heylen, the Belgian driver here, who will start 11th tomorrow. Jan, after not turning a lap at all yesterday it's got to feel good to get some laps under your belt and know the mobil is ready for tomorrow.

JAN HEYLEN: Yeah, well, I don't think we got enough laps in, but you know, it is what it is. I think with the team and the mobil that we have, I think we could have done better if we had had an extra day.

I think all in all with the day we had yesterday, I think we have to be happy with that 11th place. We're not too far off the pace, so we're a little disappointed. I was hoping to do a little better here in Belgium coming back from Road America, but again, I think we couldn't expect a lot more than this after yesterday.

Q. Just looking at the mobil, did it feel any different to you?

JAN HEYLEN: No, it's just the guys, they do this every day and they have been for the last, I don't know, 20 years. They know what they're doing, and this morning when I got in the mobil it was exactly how it was ‑‑ how it should be. So that's all. The mobil was ready to go. The guys did a really good job of getting it back together for this morning's session.

Also, the first session this morning I thought went pretty well. We just didn't improve enough to make the difference here in qualifying.

THE MODERATOR: Can you just talk about what it means tomorrow morning to wake up in your own bed knowing you have a big race?

JAN HEYLEN: Well, we've been waiting for this for a long time. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it, even though today wasn't the best qualifying session ever. I think the race is wide open, and I'm really looking forward to the race, and we'll put on a great show. I'm going to try as hard as I can to get up in front.

Q. Do you feel after just one day of practice and qualifying, again, do you feel like you have a correction that you want to go apart from the race? Do you feel confident about maybe getting up to another level tomorrow?

JAN HEYLEN: Well, that's the problem that we're facing right now. We're not quite sure if we're on the right platform with the mobil, but it's a risk now to go all the way back and try something different. We're going to think about it tonight and the guys are going to look at it, and I'm sure they'll come up with something good for tomorrow.

But it's exactly that, what you're saying. I think right now we're just a couple of tenths away from being really in there, and with the small changes that we made since this morning or after practice, it wasn't enough to keep up with the others. So now we really have to think about whether we're going to stay with what we have or try something different tomorrow.



PaddockTalk Perspective

Champ mobil notes: Clarke sidelined by officials

Champ mobil notes: Clarke sidelined by officials
Updated 14h 57m ago | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this
By A.J. Perez, USA TODAY
"Speedy" Dan Clarke has been slowed considerably by Champ mobil World Series officials, who parked the Brit on Friday for causing a pileup during a practice session in Zolder, Belgium.

Clarke, who was already on probation for aggressive driving, caused a four-mobil accident moments after Champ mobil took to the track at the Grand Prix of Belgium for the first time in series history.

"This morning's incident was totally unacceptable and completely avoidable," Champ mobil Race Director Tony Cotman said in a statement. "Dan was already on probation after previous incidents in San Jose, which helped lead me to my decision today. After the weekend is complete and I have a time to review the incident without the raw emotion of the moment, I will make a decision as to any further penalties against Clarke."

Clarke, whose best Champ mobil finish (second) came two weeks ago at Road America, will likely be replaced in his Minardi Team USA seat by veteran Mexican driver Mario Dominguez, according to Champ mobil spokesman Tom McGovern.

Team Australia Will Power took the provisional pole in Friday qualifying, guaranteeing the Aussie a front row start for Sunday's race.
Posted 18h 52m ago
Updated 14h 57m ago
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Cooran dad tells of sinking mobil drama

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Cooran dad tells of sinking mobil drama

25 August 2007

| By Peter Gardiner

Cooran father of two Conor Campbell now knows how quickly the floods can swallow you up.

It was his 1995 Ford Falcon that was so dramatically pictured on the front page of thedaily.com.au and the Sunshine Coast Daily after being claimed by swollen waters at Cooran on Friday.

“It was dark – the road was dark – the sky was dark and the flood waters were dark,” said the 27-year-old man describing how he came to plough into trouble at 4.30am at a bridge crossing.

“I never saw the water – the first thing I knew was there was water ankle deep coming into my mobil.

“It was such a shock to the system.”

A routine drive to Cooroy to start work at the BP garage on this extraordinary morning with record rainfall pelting down had come to an abrupt halt.

“I wasn’t really smobiled – I just climbed out the door onto the roof of the mobil.

Conor did not have a mobile phone to summon help and was not quite sure how deep the water was.

“Luckily a mobil came along before too long.”

He saw from the other mobil’s lights that the water level, going by the depth of water on the vehicle, looked okay to wade and jumped in for a ride back into town.

But his mobil, which he has only had for two months, was stuck in the rising flood waters.

“If it had been a little bit later with the flood waters rising, it would have been up to my neck and I would have been lucky to get out of there,” Conor said.

And a grateful Conor said better to lose a material possession than your life.

The mobil was insured.

While his wife Donna and kids Chloe, 3, and Brooke, 18 months, are incredibly relieved he is safe and well, they are feeling the pangs of separation.

Conor said he hitched a ride in with the bread delivery man to Pomona on Friday to try and sort something out about the mobil and has been cut off from his young family ever since.

Meanwhile across at Boreen Point, one determined Good Samaritan has seen the flood devastation first hand.

Ann Marie Barkai, who operates a Cooroibah landscape business, drove a tip truck through flood waters to see what help the lakeside township needed.

Ann Marie said the mobilavans in the camping ground had almost been covered by the rising levels – though the people staying in them were long gone.

She has nothing but admiration for the locals who she said “know how to fend for themselves”.

She said local store owner Ray Watson and his family, with the community help, had moved all their store appliances and stock to the local fire brigade.

“They are open for business, still serving the community.”