Bird dissatisfied with Cape Town FE flag hold-ups, “startled” by radio
In the group certifying phase, Mortara brought excessive speed through Turn 9 and was spat into the wall, bringing the session to a stop.
Any proof of a red or yellow flag was not right away evident and, for a lot of the motorists, a radio message from race director Scot Elkins was their earliest piece of details.
Bird, who was approaching the Turn 8-9 area of the Cape Town circuit, struck the brakes in action and eventually spun in reverse into the wall. He followed Mortara’s trajectory, coming to rest after reaching the Swiss motorist’s Maserati MSG.
” No yellow flags, no warnings, a crash in front – it was a dish for catastrophe,” Bird informed Motorsport.com.
” I got alarmed by the radio message from Scot. I braked too tough in a location where you should not brake so hard, which fired the brake predisposition to the back. It’s a location where you do not require that, and I spun.
” But why existed no yellow, or why existed no instant red?
” Apparently there were 21 seconds in between Edo striking the wall and me striking Edo. 21 seconds suffices time to have a warning.”
Car of Edoardo Mortara, Maserati Racing after the crash
Photo by: Andreas Beil
Owing to the damage to his cars and truck, Bird’s Jaguar mechanics did not have adequate time to guarantee the Briton might make it onto the grid for Cape Town’s inaugural race.
Despite considering the fight amongst the front-runners early on, Bird’s team-mate Mitch Evans had a likewise unpleasant time following a drive-through charge for an overpower spike. This left the Kiwi to complete 11 th, without any points on the board for the works Jaguar team.
Looking for the positives, Bird felt that Jaguar’s rate in practice would a minimum of bode well for the next round in Sao Paulo.
” It felt fantastic [around Cape Town] In FP1, we were extremely fast. In FP2, we were really fast. We’ve been among the criteria all season for rate on one-lap speed,” stated Bird.
” But sadly we as a group leave from this without any points. Fortunately is that we fast, so that’s at least a favorable.”
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