Esteban Gutierrez

Istambul, Turkey – Although things didn’t go as expected due to a contact with other car at the beginning of the practice session and a 23rd spot on the grid after qualifying, Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez is calm and focused on doing a good job in the first race of the GP2 Series 2011 season.

The track in Istambul, Turkey, was the stage for the launch of the F1 feeder series where Gutierrez had a few difficult moments during practice and qualifying.

“The truth is that this has not been such a positive day but it is always important to see the bright side of things; I made a mistake in the practice and later on, during qualifying, I couldn’t do many laps because there were a number of yellow and red flags that affected the session and my self confidence, and there were other aspects that didn’t help either.

“The track was wet during the first practice and because of that I lost the car and went off the track. Now the sky is clear and it’s going to be like this tomorrow and we expect a better time for the race”, said the driver after qualifying.

Esteban will start race one from 23 on the grid after he posted a best lap time of 1:35.973. Because of that, his mind and that of team Lotus ART is set to make an intelligent race to try and gain positions and eventually a good result.

“I am just going out just to make a clean and smart race trying to reach a good position. I will take the race with patience and whatever result I get will be positive.

“It is a little difficult to predict a result because we haven’t had a lot of time track, we didn’t do many laps in qualifying and so far our plan is to go with one pit stop. Tire management is critical for a good result tomorrow”, he added.

 One of Esteban’s priorities in his series debut is to gain as much experience as he can and to try and adapt to the car, and because of that, all that he went through in practice is a valuable learning.

“I gained experience. The important thing is to learn how much a little mistake can affect  you, not only in one session but all the weekend because if you don’t have practice time it is difficult to get to qualifying and make a good time”, he remarked.

TIMETABLE:

SATURDAY, MAY. 7th
Race 1 - (60 mins)
07h40 (CT Mexico)
15h40 (EEST Istanbul)
13h40 (UTC/GMT +0 hrs, London)

SUNDAY, MAY. 8th
Race 2 - (45 mins)
03h35 (CT Mexico)
11h35 (EEST Istanbul)
09h35 (UTC/GMT +0 hrs, London)

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For more information about Esteban Gutierrez, the Lotus ART Team, the GP2 Series, or his sponsors Multigama, Telmex, Fastenal, Vector Casa de Bolsa, Interproteccion, DeAcero, Alpinestars and Bell, visit their official websites at: www.estebanracing.com, www.art-grandprix.com,  www.gp2series.com, www.escuderiatelmex.com, www.fastenal.com, www.vector.com.mx, www.interproteccion.com.mx, www.deacero.com, www.alpinestars.com, www.bellsports.com.