Press Releases - Trophy Slipping Away

Trophy Slipping Away

Monty Semprini feels that a top three finish in North American F2 might be falling through his fingers after a determined and smooth drive could only net him sixth place at Sonoma.

"It was a very good drive today but unfortunately I had a terrible start in the sprint race and never caught back up," explained the shades-wearing Canadian. "It's not the easiest place to overtake and we all drive the same car, so starting on the fourth row cost us a lot today."

Taking the leap into F2 this year, Monty didn't think any hardware would be possible, but a pair of podiums from third on the grid in the opening round in Mexico City showed him otherwise. Since then the the point hauls have dropped off but consistent finishes have kept the Canadian in the thick of things. Guido di Rado (9 wins) and Nikolay Heydfeldov (10 podiums) may be unassailable at this point but Semprini is in the mix for that coveted third place, a position he held for the first five rounds after a season peak result of second place at Mid-Ohio. Elkhart Lake however was a different story as he was lucky to sneak into tenth and keep his streak of points in every race alive after an error-filled afternoon. The result slipped Semprini to fifth on the table.

Marko Vujovic may have barged his way past with two more podiums this week on 151 points and Kimi Raikkonen also elbowed into fourth on 141 to Monty's 136, but it was not all bad news for the Vancouver driver as Lubos Kubka had a series of off track moments leading to retirement and now yields 25 points of breathing room adrift in sixth spot.

"Vujovic has been extremely quick lately. He has found some serious pace," said Monty, "but Raikkonen was catchable today. He held us up the entire last stint. That is encouraging because usually it's the other way around. Usually I qualify well but then I'm the one backing up the traffic."

Semprini my be the only driver in the series to score at every race but the top five has eluded him for the last two rounds. Still the dashing Canadian has not given up hope of feeding his habit of spraying champagne just yet.

"This isn't over yet by any stretch," heeds Semprini, "but I will need a little luck."

There are three rounds left.