29/08/2004

Grand Prix of Belgium - Race Report

Ricardo Zonta was robbed of fourth place in a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix when he suffered an engine failure three laps before the end. The Spa race saw three Safety Car interventions following high-speed incidents and resulted in Kimi Raikkonen breaking Michael Schumacher's victory streak by winning for West McLaren Mercedes. Schumacher's second place however was good enough to secure his seventh world championship title.

Zonta who started the race from last position on the grid following a crash in Saturday's pre-qualifying session took advantage of a chaotic opening lap to come round in 10th place. Team-mate Panis meanwhile was involved in a first lap collision at the first corner La Source hairpin and was forced to pit.

After Safety Car deployments to clear debris following puncture-related accidents to Jenson Button and David Coulthard Zonta found himself in fourth place right behind leader Raikkonen and the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello with just three laps to go. It was then that the Panasonic Toyota Racing team witnessed Zonta's RVX-04 engine expire in a cloud of smoke as he exited the Eau Rouge corner on lap 42. The desperately unlucky Brazilian was classified 10th two places behind Panis who managed to salvage a point for the team.

"The race performance was a great turnaround after my accident in pre-qualifying which compromised my starting position Zonta said. There is no doubt that we could have held onto fourth which would have been a dream. It's the kind of chance I've been wanting for many years. If you had told me I would have been looking at a Ferrari rear wing three laps before the end I would have been more than happy. It's just that the ending was a great shame for the entire team."

Commenting on his own race Panis explained: "The first corner at Spa is always a bit busy and unfortunately I was caught up in the La Source scramble and lost my front wing. I had some tyre damage as well and had to pit immediately. The problem at the end after the Safety Car interventions was that we were the only ones who had opted for the harder compound Michelin tyre and they were taking more time to heat up. That made me a little bit vulnerable on the restarts and meant that David Coulthard got past."

Behind Raikkonen and Schumacher Rubens Barrichello finished third in the second Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro car with Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella taking a double helping of points for the Sauber Petronas team. Christian Klien finished sixth for Jaguar Racing ahead of Coulthard and Panis.

Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne said: "It was heart-braking for Ricardo when he was so well placed but you have to appreciate as well that the engine reliability so far this year has been exemplary. Things like that happen it's motor racing but we have to take heart from our performance as a team."

The championship now heads for another high-speed circuit Monza for the Italian Grand Prix in a fortnight.