My Qi-Meritus.Mahara scores in 2nd Malaysian GP2 Asia race

Race 2
Alvaro Parente  (no. 19) 9th
Marco Bonanomi (no. 18) 14th

The two cars began the race in 11th and 21st places respectively on a wet track after the start of the race had been delayed by 30 minutes because of torrential rain that fell just as the cars were lining up on the grid at the Sepang International Circuit. After the four first laps were run behind the safety car in a flood of surface water, Parente was running seventh  and Bonanomi 19th, but lap-by-lap the track began to dry out.

Alvaro Parente said: "I am very pleased to have scored a point for the team at their home Grand Prix. I was a bit careful behind the safety car because there was so much water on the track at the start. I tried to pass Yelmer Buurman, but we lost a bit of time as Kobayashi and Gonzalez went by, and as we touched wheels and I lost pace and fell back to ninth. It seemed such a short race! It felt as if the engine was not running cleanly until the last laps, due to all the water. There was not much we could do to improve, but I did set fastest lap with 2.03.693."

Marco Bonanomi said: "In the first laps, my car felt almost undriveable in the terrible conditions, but it felt better as the track dried and I had none of the problems I encountered yesterday. Even though this is a wide track, it was not easy to overtake here in the wet, and it was a tough race. By the end of lap 12 I had climbed up to 15th, and then 14th by lap 17. That's where I finished."

Peter Thompson, team founder, said: "I am very pleased that the team scored a point in their home race. It is good to have Alvaro do the fastest lap Alvaro, and Marco climbed from 21st to finish 14th. All this shows the potential of the team for the last race in Bahrain in a few weeks time. The team maintains its high level of motivation thanks to the incredible support of 7,000 fans at the circuit who were invited by sponsor QuestNet."

Firhat Mokzani, My Qi-Meritus.Mahara said: "The team improved today, and I am happy that we made progress that produced us a point. Were are now looking forward to the future and a good race in Bahrain, a track that both drivers like to race on."