Superb Fight Back By Daniel Zampieri In Magny-Cours

In the first race of the fifth meeting of the World Series by Renault 2011 held at the French circuit of Magny Cours, Daniel Zampieri, driver of the Pons Racing team, showed tremendous skill and determination as he negotiated his way to a fifth-place finish in tricky conditions. The 20 year-old Italian from Rome made a superb fight back having started in a lowly 16th position on the grid, and moved up 11 places through the field to finish fifth, the 3rd placed-rookie, and score six hard-earned points for the championship.

Daniel Zampieri Credit: World Series By Renualt

The other Pons Racing driver, Federico Leo, experienced problems adapting to the wet track conditions and retired from the race when he was in 20th place.

In the morning qualification session, both Pons Racing drivers found the going tough as they tried to come to terms with the unstable climatic conditions. The light drizzle which fell throughout the session made tyre-choice and set-up very difficult. Zampieri and Leo were off the pace and Zampieri could only qualify in 16th, his teammate one place behind in 17th.

The rain, however, intensified before the start of the afternoon race and Race Control declared a "Wet Race". Daniel Zampieri made a good start and had already made up five places as he crossed the start/finish line at the end of lap one. The young driver who forms part of the Ferrari Drivers Academy set a blistering pace far superior to his rivals ahead on the road and set about overtaking them. During the last few laps he had a good struggle with Sten Pentus, at one point the two cars collided but fortunately for Zampieri the damage was not sufficient to stop him securing fifth at the finish.

Starting from the eighth row of the grid, just behind his teammate, Federico Leo did not make up any ground at the start. On lap two he span in the wet conditions and although he rejoined the race immediately, he was relegated to the back of the field. Some way off the group ahead, Leo spent most of the race lapping alone, until he finally retired from the race with nine laps to go when running 20th.

Following his fifth place today, Daniel Zampieri moves up to seventh in the championship standings. Federico Leo, on the other hand, drops down to 15th. Tomorrow Race Two will take place at Magny-Cours and the weather forecast is for rain once more.

"I am happy but we must improve in qualification If we had qualified better I could have scored a podium finish. I am satisfied because I was much quicker than the other drivers. I slowed down on the last four laps to minimize the risks and guarantee my fifth place. The most important thing is that we are competitive once again."

"Another race to forget… We must improve in qualification so that I can fight with the front group during the race. My objective for tomorrow's race is to score points."

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