24 March 2008, BY BERNAMA
SEPANG, March 23 (Bernama) -- In the humid heat of the Sepang Circuit, the BMW Sauber team clinched 11 points and their first podium finish in 10 years before the home crowd as Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld captured second and sixth position respectively in the 2008 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix.
After two-rounds of 18-race championship, the team has accumulated 19 points.
Kubica, who clocked one hour 31 minutes 38.125 seconds, was 19.570 seconds adrift of the race winner, Kimi Raikkonen of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team. For his feat, the Pole added another eight points for the team.
Although he did not have a good start in the begining, Kubica managed to overtake Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli of Panasonic Toyota Racing to keep his pace with two Scuderia Ferrari drivers, who were leading the race from the begining.
"It is a fantastic day for the team, for Petronas and for me. After Monza 2006, I finally managed to get another podium myself. I want to thank everybody in the team who worked very hard over the last two months to improve the car.
"The Ferraris were too quick but I was able to narrow the gap. After the second pit stop, I reduced the revs to save the engine and took it easy. I didn't feel very well all weekend and it was very hot in the car, so the last ten laps were quite tough. But it all paid off with a brilliant result," said Kubica.
Team mate, Heidfeld secured three points after finishing in sixth position clocking 1'32:08.388s. Heidfeld also clocked the fastest lap of 1:35.366s on lap 55.
In the opening race at Albert Park, Melbourne, the team clinched their first podium finish for the season through Heidfeld, who is from Germany.
"I have mixed emotion about today;s race. Of course I am happy to have clocked my first fastest race lap in F1 and 11 points are also the best ever result for our team. The pace of the car was really good...about the same level as McLaren.
"That's all very positive and makes it even more disappointing that I only finished sixth," said Heidfeld.
As for BMW Motorsports Director, Dr Mario Theissen, he was happy with the drivers performance at Sepang, as the team had two podium finish in a row.
"This was another good performance for our team. Kubica was able to establish himself behind the Ferrari right from the start. He drove a very strong race and claimed not only his second podium but also his best result in F1.
"Heidfeld had no luck in the first corner and lost some positions. I regard it as a success that he still managed to finish sixth and also clocked up the fastest race lap. To have 11 points in a race is a new record for us. That's all very positive and a good basis for the next race," said Theissen.
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