FIRST PODIUM FOR STEFANO PROETTO IN FRV6 AT MAGNY-COURS

Rome, Italy. May 6, 2004 – At the sixth race in Formula Renault V6, in Magny-Cours, Stefano Proetto has reached the first podium in the Eurocup FRV6 Championship, behind the wheels of the # 50 Rotter Invest/GNI touch/Lista/Oakley/Eurointernational Tatuus FRV6.

Has been a very interesting week-end for the 19 years old Italian driver, after practice and qualify in dry and wet conditions. After have been in the top three in all practice sessions on Thursday, Proetto has faced for the first time dry conditions directly on the qualify for race one, when he posted the sixth time for a third row in the grid. The weather conditions changed from dry to wet for the qualify for race two, where Stefano has been able to clinch the third please after have been in provisional pole up to two minutes to the end. A spin in the last fly laps, has not allowed a better result in the last minute of qualify.

In Race 1, on Saturday with dry conditions, Stefano has started sixth but a spin at lap 3 and a slight contact with another car, has put him only 15th after 4 laps. An early but fast pit-stop at lap 8, with fresh rear tires, has put Stefano back in the battle.Running up to 1” faster a lap from the front runners, Proetto has passed 7 cars in 10 laps coming back from 15th to 8th.
A slower car has hold Stefano for 4 laps, not allowing any pass with too defensive maneuvers.
With 1 lap to go, Proetto has managed to go around to this slow car, with a slight contact, finishing 7th under the checker flag. After protest by the DAMS Team, the race director has given 30” penalty to Proetto for his part in the two crashes, and later the Chief Steward has disqualified Stefano from the race. “ I have been part of the crashes “ said Proetto” because in both cases the cars involved were out of control, recovering from driver’s errors in the corners.
It is not my style to push any car on the track, even if I am faster of a second a lap”.

In Race 2, on Sunday, after a dry grid, Mother Nature has shown all its power with a tremendous storm reaching the track few seconds before the green. After a long delay, the race finally started with cars fitted with rain tires, behind the Safety-Car. At lap 4, the Race Direction deemed the conditions too unsafe and the race ended under red flag conditions, with the standings two laps earlier. As 75% of the total race was not covered, were awarded only half of the normal points.
For Stefano Proetto, after difficult moments on the grid for a gearbox locked, the end of the race was a great moment, finishing third and reaching the first podium of the season.
“ Has been a very unusual finish “ commented Stefano” but I think that my results could be even better if I was able to complete the race in rain conditions and score the full points. After the bad luck in Valencia, Monza and Race 1 here, finally we smile, and now I am looking forward to race in Montecarlo“


Rain Stops Play For The FR V6

As the 20 participants in Sunday’s Super Sprint (minus Danielsson and Sandström (SRTS)) were lined up and ready for the green light, the rain started falling and soon turned into a tremendous storm.
The race was halted mid-way through the sighting lap by the Race Direction, the teams bringing their cars in to fit them with rain tyres. The race Director made two laps of Magny-Cours to check the safety conditions trackside, before giving the OK to get proceedings underway once more.
The race was finally started behind the Safety-Car, but on lap four the Race Direction deemed the conditions too unsafe and took the decision to call the cars back in definitively.
The results for the afternoon’s outing were established on the basis of the standings on lap 2. As 75% of the total race distance was not covered, the first 10 drivers will therefore be awarded just half the normal points. Mondini (EuroInternational) keeps the extra two points for taking pole position, and also the “win”, with Bruce Lorgere Roux (Dams) and Proetto (EuroInternational) completing a very wet podium.

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