23.5.2009 von Wolfgang.

Bridgestone’s super soft tyre provided the grip for Brawn GP Formula 1 Team driver Jenson Button to qualify on his fourth pole position of the season for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix on the streets of Monte Carlo.
Button set a time of 1min 14.902secs, just over two hundredths faster than Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Kimi Raikkonen. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP Formula 1 Team) went third fastest. ING Renault F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso used the super soft tyre to go fastest in the morning practice session with a time of 1min 15.164secs. The difference in lap time between the fastest and slowest driver in this session was a mere 1.7 seconds.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today’s running?
“Today we saw Jenson Button use Bridgestone’s super soft tyre for pole position here in Monaco, and as we all know, overtaking is very difficult here so pole is very beneficial. Lap times here were very close. The nature of the circuit means that the balance between mechanical grip and aerodynamic grip is more towards mechanical grip, and the close times show that all the teams can get good results from our tyres. It was also a good day for Ferrari with their first front row qualification of the season.”

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s race?
“The crucial question is whether the super soft tyre is durable enough to allow a one stop strategy. Our data shows that this should be possible, however a lot depends on track condition and the amount of rear tyre transverse graining. The track has changed from Thursday’s running but super soft is still around 0.4 seconds faster than the soft Bridgestone. Track temperatures were higher today, but heat degradation is not really a problem here as the track surface is smooth, so not too severe for tyres.”
Stats of the Day

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

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23.5.2009 von Wolfgang.

Romain Grosjean (Barwa Addax Team) and Pastor Maldonado (ART Grand Prix) both took race wins on Bridgestone’s new super soft compound tyre, making its debut in the second round of the Bridgestonesupported GP2 Series on the streets of Monaco.
In Friday’s 45 lap race, Barwa Addax Team took their second feature race one-two finish of the season with Grosjean winning from pole position and Vitaly Petrov crossing the line 6.6 seconds behind his team-mate. Grosjean also claimed a further point by setting the fastest lap. Andreas Zuber (FMSI) was awarded third position. All drivers, apart from one, changed only their rear tyres during their pitstop due to the higher concentration of wear experienced on the rears at this unique, traction demanding circuit.
Maldonado, Jerome d’Ambrosio (DAMS) and Nico Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix) were the podium finishers at the end of Saturday’s eventful 30 lap sprint race and Petrov set the fastest lap. Grosjean continues to lead the drivers’ championship on 31 points from Petrov and d’Ambrosio both on 18. Barwa Addax Team leads the teams’ championship with 49 points from DAMS on 21. ART Grand Prix is third with 20 points.
The next round of the 2009 GP2 Series will be held at Istanbul on June 5-7, where Bridgestone’s medium compound will be used for the second time this season in place of last year’s hard specification tyre.

Quote from Didier Perrin - Technical Director of the GP2 Series
“If you look at the top qualifying result here it is 1.559 seconds faster than last year and the impact on lap time is mainly due to the softer compound Bridgestone tyres and the 2009 Renault engine rebuilt by Mecachrome. Our data tells us that 0.3 seconds off the lap time is attributable to the engine at this particular track, so we can conclude from this that there is also a positive and considerable impact on times because of the new tyres. We insisted on having softer Bridgestone’s this year to improve the entertainment of the racing and to benefit lap times.”
Quote from Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development
“The performance of our Bridgestone super soft tyre was good this weekend and degradation levels were as expected. The GP2 Series is pleased with our choice of tyre for Monaco, it was the correct specification for this venue. All drivers changed their rear tyres in race one as wear here is known to be higher on the rears than the fronts, just one of the drivers actually changed all four. It was another fantastic result for Grosjean in the feature race and our general step towards softer specification tyres this season is working well.”

www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

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