US GP - Toro Rosso Cosworth - RaceWhile Scott Speed was flat out of luck in his home race, Tonio Liuzzi escaped the lap one carnage and put in a great fight with Red Bull racer David Coulthard and Williams racer Nico Rosberg to score Toro Rosso' first championship point
with a fine drive to eighth position.
Liuzzi started the race from the back of the field and following the first lap incident was a contender for a top eight position. A great pass on Nico Rosberg in the closing stages gave the Italian the valuable point and moves the team ahead of MF1 Toyota and Super Aguri Honda in the championship standings.
Speed started the race from a solid 13th but was eliminated just seconds into the race.
Tonio Liuzzi
“That’s great – we’ve come close before but now we’ve got the team’s first point. We can go forward from now on, looking for more points. At first I was worried for Scott, because I thought he might have been hurt, until the team told me he was fine. Then I was racing with Coulthard, but he was a bit quicker than me in the second stint. We are on fire now!! Hopefully we can continue to improve for the rest of this season.”
Scott Speed
“I had a great start again, getting by Webber and Ralf at Turn 1 and then it all fell apart at Turn 2.
It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d tried to go inside or outside as the whole track was blocked with cars flipping all over the track. That’s motor racing and as long as it’s not my fault, there’s nothing I can do about bad luck. I’m just sorry for all the home fans who turned up to see me race. Well done to Tonio for getting the team’s first point.”
Gerhard Berger
“A positive day. A shame for Scott as the accident was not his fault and he had done a great job in the first corner, when he got into a really good position. I am very happy that we have our first point. We have been trying very hard and finally we have done it. It was a tough race and even if lots of cars went out, we competed with Red Bull, we competed with Rosberg. And well done to the whole team: pit stop, strategy, everything went really well. Everyone did a great job.”
Source Toro Rosso Cosworth
