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Ralf out, Gene in for Italian GP

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Venom XR Turbo 
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Ralf Schumacher will be replaced by Spaniard Marc Gene in this weekend's Italian Grand Prix after the German was withdrawn from the event on Saturday.

Schumacher, who is now likely to drop out of the race for this year's world championship, was injured in a testing crash here last week and decided to withdraw after feeling unfit in Friday's practice and qualifying sessions.

He had complained of suffering headaches in the build-up to the race and his Williams team said in a statement: "After driving in Friday's free practice and first qualifying sessions Ralf didn't feel 100 percent fit. "Together with the team and the FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins he decided not to continue his on-track duties and will now rest for a few days more to recuperate completely."

Schumacher's replacement, Williams' 29-year-old test driver Gene, has already competed in Formula One, taking part in 33 races for Minardi. He last raced in a Grand Prix in Malaysia at the end of the 2000 season. He has scored one point, for sixth place in the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in September 1999, and is now in his third year as a test driver with Williams.

Schumacher, who is currently 14 points behind his championship- leading brother Michael, is expected to make a return to the cockpit for the United States Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season, in two weeks' time. But the team's chief operations officer Sam Michael admitted : "Clearly that's it for the drivers' championship for Ralf. Now we have to get Mark in the best position to help us in the constructors' championship. We made the decision this morning to give Marc as much time in the car as possible. He has not raced since 2000 but he has done plenty of miles during testing."

It is crucial for Williams that Gene performs well this weekend to ensure they extend, or at least hold on to, their eight-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors' world championship.

He will be first out in Saturday qualifying but put in an encouraging performance to finish sixth fastest in the opening morning practice session, just four tenths of a second slower than team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. "For the team it should be okay," said Mario Theissen, the motorsport director of Williams' engine partners BMW. "I think Marc has done a lot of everything so he should be okay. Immediately we put Marc in the car and changed everything. It took about an hour to an hour and a half to change the settings for Marc and I'm sure he will do a good job."
 
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