MAIDEN AUTO GP PODIUM SLIPS THROUGH DANIEL'S GRASP

02-08-2011, Auto GP newcomer MP Motorsport almost achieved its maiden podium in only its second outing in the championship at Oschersleben in Germany over the weekend, 30th/31st July.

Rising teenage star Daniël De Jong, who debuted with the Oudenbosch squad in Auto GP a couple of weeks ago at Donington Park in the UK, produced a fantastic performance in very difficult conditions during the second encounter, coming within just a couple of laps of finishing in second position.



Auto GP newcomer MP Motorsport almost achieved its maiden podium in only its second outing in the championship at Oschersleben in Germany over the weekend, 30th/31st July - a busy event for the Dutch team in which it also contested the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup races.

Rising teenage star Daniël De Jong, who debuted with the Oudenbosch squad in Auto GP a couple of weeks ago at Donington Park in the UK, produced a fantastic performance in very difficult conditions during the second encounter, coming within just a couple of laps of finishing in second position.





Rain before the start threatened to shake up proceedings but De Jong made a great start from third on the 'reverse grid', having finished sixth in the opening race, and passed Pasquale Di Sabatino on the opening lap before setting off after leader - and eventual winner - Giovanni Venturini.

Piling on the pressure, the MP Motorsport racer challenged hard and almost managed to pull off a pass for the lead on the 11th of 17 laps. Late in the race heavy rain started to fall and, disappointingly for the Dutchman, an unfortunate moment two laps from the finish dropped him to seventh - a real hammer blow after such a superb drive.

As at Donington Park during its Auto GP debut, the team made a terrific call during Saturday's first race to bring De Jong in early for his mandatory pit-stop. This enabled him to climb into an eventual finish of sixth place, having started 11th on the grid, matching his previous best.

"We're obviously disappointed, for Daniël especially, not to have finished on the podium in race two as he did a really fantastic job", said MP Motorsports Sander Dorsman, "In the first race we made the right call to pit early, that worked out really well, and then in race two he drove impressively in some tough conditions. It's a real shame there was a slight mistake, I think we all deserved second place."