Hungary: Neel Jani Scores First GP2 Victory

Neel Jani
By Jamie Makin
July 31 2005

Former SAUBER PETRONAS test driver Neel Jani converted pole position in today's GP2 race at the Hungaroring into his first series victory today. He held off championship leader, Heikki Kovalainen, and former Jordan Grand Prix race driver, Giorgio Pantano in an action-packed race.

"I had a good start, the car was really good in the beginning, and it didn’t go down in performance as much as in the other races," said the Swiss racer. "It went down, but not so much, and I really have to say thank you to the team for this good improvement."

Claiming a first victory is an important psychological hurdle for young drivers and has given Jani the confidence to challenge for more wins in the future. "Well for myself it is at last done, and now for sure there is more to come," Jani said. "But I think for you guys you were starting to not believe me a little bit! I have proved it now, because I always knew that I could do it and that I could compete with these guys here – we just needed to get it a little bit right, and now I think it is more or less right. And there is more to come."

The win is also the first for Jani's team, Race Engineering. "I think it’s there first win at that level, and for a Spanish team also it’s really important. It’s quite important for Telefonica and Repsol as the team sponsors, and for me and Red Bull it is perfect – that’s what they’ve always watched for, and I’ve delivered and I’m very happy about that," explained Jani. "I think everybody won today in our team, and of course I’m the first Red Bull driver to take a win in GP2, so even if I don’t have the best car like the other guys do sometimes, I can still do it too!"

Jani will start 8th in tomorrow's shorter sprint race, as the first eight finishers from today's endurance race are inverted on the grid.