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May 01, 2012 Issue 218Words | Clint Derric EgbertDI RESTA SETSGRAND PRIXTRACKS ABLAZEIt was an exciting week for Sahara Force India at the BahrainGrand Prix 2012 last Sunday, when Paul Di Resta delivered oneof his best performances of the 2012 season, earning him and histeam a valuable eight points after finishing in sixth place, with NicoHulkenberg following in 12th.Hulkenberg, who appeared upset with his vehicles performance,says “I think my race was decided at the very start when I hadsome clutch issues and the anti-stall kicked in, which reallycompromised my getaway and dropped me right to the back ofthe pack. From then on it was a long, hard fight back throughthe field, and it was hard work coming through the traffic. Imade it to P12, but there wasn’t much more I could do. So, atough race for me, but great to see Paul pick up some points.”– Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal of Sahara Force Indiais ecstatic with the team’s performance. He says, “Consideringeverything that has gone on this week, I am delighted to see sucha strong team performance in today’s race. We took a brave call onthe strategy with Paul, but it paid off, and having saved the tyresyesterday allowed us to push the two-stop window right to thelimit. Once again, Paul drove a superb race, lapping consistentlyand making the strategy work perfectly. This sixth place is welldeservedand matches his best result in Formula One. It’s a shamethat Nico was the victim of a clutch issue on the opening lap,otherwise I’m sure he would have been up there fighting for pointsas well. Before we leave Bahrain I want to pay tribute to the teamonce again and thank each and every one of them for helpingmake today’s result possible.”Di Resta, who had started ninth on the grid, outdid racers thelikes of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (7th), McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton(8th), Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa (9th) and the legendaryMichael Schumacher (10th). He says: “The result today is massivefor us. The team did an amazing job all weekend, the strategycame together and the pit-stops were perfect. We knew it wouldbe a big task to make only two stops and it was a close run thingat the end because my tyres completely went away on the finallap. I had Fernando [Alonso] very close behind me, but I saved abit of KERS coming out of the final corner and managed to stayahead. Apart from that, the car has been awesome. So we goaway from here as a very happy team with a few weeks to reflecton things; determined to arrive in Barcelona in fighting form.”Apart from the racers, even off-track celebrations were in full flow38