Monaco: Fabio Carbone race report

Carbone shows pace, but is defeated by wet race

Brazilian Fabio Carbone finished 12th after a chaotic race at Monaco, the third meeting of the World Series by Renault, last weekend.

The 27 year-old had impressed earlier by occupying provisional pole position for much of the qualifying session on Saturday, but was caught out by a drying track that dropped him down the order. When it came to race day, it was instead wet weather that would catch him out.

He started from 13th on the grid; a position from which he hoped to improve. However, because of persistent rain, the race actually got underway from behind the safety car, so competitors did not get the chance to overtake until much later in the race.

However, a series of incidents and accidents meant that neutralisations were a common feature of the race, and in fact there was only one overtaking manoeuvre within the entire top 10.

Fabio himself was one of many to have a small off near the swimming pool, but nonetheless he struggled home to finish 12th. The race ended just as it had started: under flags. Such was the number of incidents that the race was stopped at its 44 minute time limit, as marshals struggled to clear up a number of crashed cars.

"This whole weekend was an opportunity missed for us really," said Fabio afterwards. "We were in a very strong position to qualify on pole during Saturday, and in Monaco especially that is most of the way to securing the victory -- as today's race once again proved. Looking on the positive side, we know that the car can be competitive and quick on any type of circuit -- from the flat-out straights of Monza to the twisty confines of Monaco. It's just a question of stringing everything together to make sure that we have a competitive package all weekend and make the most of it."

Joint Ultimate Signature team principal Philippe Sinault commented: "It was a weekend that started off with a lot of promise, but circumstances meant that we could not deliver. There were a combination of reasons behind this, but the most important thing is to learn from these experiences in order to profit from them in the future. The clear thing is that the speed of the car is there."

The next World Series by Renault meeting takes place at Silverstone in England from June 7-8.

-credit: fc/qs