Gene 'Dreaming' after Racing Return

A delighted Marc Gene said he thought he was dreaming when he was told he would stand in for Ralf Schumacher at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.

The Spaniard, a test driver for the Williams team since the start of the 2001 season, last race a Formula One Grand Prix for Minardi in Malaysia in 2000. Gene scored just one point for the small Anglo-Italian squad and never qualified higher than 15th.

Today Gene seized his opportunity and put on a solid performance, qualifying in fifth position on his first qualifying lap under the new one-lap format.

"I thought I was still dreaming this morning when I was woken by a surprising call telling me that I was standing in for Ralf," said Gene. "I was fortunate to test on this track last week. It is also beneficial that besides my job of test driver, I have been busy racing in other series and I therefore have plenty of race practice.

"I hope I can support the team here in their battle for the Championship and I am sure that Ralf will be okay for the next race. However, my qualifying lap wasn't the best ever as I made a couple of mistakes in the first and second chicanes, but my best qualifying in F1 so far was 15th on the grid."