20 March 2010 21:13
Hispania sets sights on race finish
The Hispania team says its goal for next weekend's Australian Grand Prix is to get one of its cars to the finish of a race for the first time.
After its eleventh hour rescue by co-owner Jose Ramon Carabante and new team boss Colin Kolles, Hispania arrived in Bahrain having not tested and with neither car ready to hit the track.
Bruno Senna eventually made it out in Friday practice and reached lap 20 of the race before retiring due to overheating, while his team-mate Karun Chandhok could not run until qualifying and then crashed on lap two of the race.
Kolles says the team has put in a huge effort since Sakhir to ensure it can complete more mileage in Melbourne.
"We have worked extremely hard since the Bahrain season opener," he said. "We have worked long hours and successfully with Bridgestone, Cosworth and Xtrac learned from our first laps with the car and found a good basis from which to start preparation for our second grand prix in Australia in a few days.
"Our goal is to improve steadily and the next step is to work towards our first race finish. I am confident we will achieve this goal very soon and having seen how we came together as a team in Bahrain I can see just how much potential and commitment we have."
Chandhok agreed that just seeing the chequered flag would be hugely satisfying at this stage.
"Finishing the race would be a fantastic achievement we will strive for," he said.
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