One week after scoring one more point at their home race in Malaysia, My QI-Meritus.Mahara started today's race one at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit in hot and sunny conditions with
air reaching 37 degrees Centigrade.
Italian Marco Bonanomi and Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente started
the 34-lap race in Bahrain from twelfth and eighth respectively for
the final weekend of the GP2 Asia season. Parente's race ended after
13 laps when he was pushed off track by Edoardo Mortara (Arden
International Motorsport). Parente flew off track at turn 10 after
contact with Mortara, but the Portuguese driver managed to bring the
car back to the pits, hoping the damage could be repaired.
Marco Bonanomi pitted on lap seven but was then given a drive-through
penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Marco Bonanomi commented: "I am glad to finish 14th. I had problems
with the tyres from the start, and this caused our decision to make
an early pit stop. It was a tough race starting from P12. Then I had
the drive-through penalty and it took me a long time to come back. I
will push again tomorrow for a good finish in race two as I want to
finish well in the last race of the Championship."
Alvaro Parente commented: "The start almost made my race as I could
gain positions from and later on when Javier Villa had a
drive-through penalty. But then it went awfully wrong on lap 10 as
Mortara touched me and pushed me off from the side. There was nothing
I could do to finish. The car was too damaged."
Peter Thompson, team founder: "The team has already scored one podium
finish this season, with Earl Bamber in China last October, and a
point for fastest lap this season. We have the potential but there
wasn't much we could do here and we feel that we lost the chance of
having a top ten finish for both cars. I would like to congratulate
Kamui Kobayashi and Dams for clinching the Championship."
Raad S. Abduljawad added: "These racing incidents threw our chances
away. The drivers had a good potential. We have to try harder
tomorrow for the last race of the season".
Photos available at
ftp://wriftpgpsf:sakon@217.112.180.20/Meritus_Bahrain/index.htm
Contacts for press enquiries
International media -
Agnes Carlier
tel: + 41794554422 or + 971502489433
email: acarlier@capp.ch
For Malaysian Media -
Dhinnesh Kumaran
tel: +60193827962
email: dhinnesh@media247.com.my
For Middle East Media -
Haytham Al-Shurooqi
tel: +97339650655
email: haytham@meritusracing.com
For Chinese Marketing and Communication -
Karim al Wadi
mobile: +86139 1011 9592
email: karim@meritusracing.com
About QI Ltd
QI Ltd, a multinational conglomerate with regional offices in
Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, was established in 1998 to
spearhead the development of a dynamic group of companies. The
rapidly expanding QI Group of Companies' business portfolio covers
retailing, travel and leisure to interactive marketing, technology,
financial services, corporate investments, training and education,
business consulting and logistics. The QI Group, through its
subsidiaries and associate companies, has a presence in nearly 30
countries, including an operational headquarters in Malaysia, a
marketing and product development team in Thailand and a
telecommunications arm in the United Kingdom. The QI Group has over
1,000 employees, and a global customer base of more than three
million spread across 160 countries. For more information, please
visit http://www.qi-ltd.com/.
About QuestNet
QuestNet is the "proud sponsor of My Qi-Meritus.Mahara in the 2009
GP2 Asia Series" and flagship business of Qi Ltd. It is a leading
network marketing company serving almost four million entrepreneurs
across the globe. Through its industry leading marketing services,
QuestNet is a distributor of wellness products, limited edition coins
and medallions, watches and jewellery, holiday memberships, and
technology products. QuestNet is supported by an extensive network of
representative offices and associate companies in Malaysia,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea,
Thailand, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, India and Brazil. Find out
more at www.quest.net.
About The V
V Global Management Sdn Bhd (The V) is an international marketing,
training events, network management and development company focussed
on providing quality training to a growing number of global
entrepreneurs. The V is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with
offices and V Training Centres (VTCs) in Philippines, India and
Canada. Its subsidiaries include V- Studios (Production Company),
GITA (Training Academy) and PR World Wide Live (Events Company). The
V is a member of the QI Group of Companies. For more information,
please visit http://www.the-v.net/.
