Jani Allowed to Race
Neel Jani has been allowed to enter race one in Bahrain despite not setting a timed lap in either qualifying session
The Swiss was hit by a gearbox problem, the unit failing on his first lap around the circuit, relegating him to spectator status for the remainder of the morning.
"The stewards said under the circumstances they will allow me to race," Jani explained after being notified of the decision, "and I think there is no reason why I should not - it was not my fault, it was especially not the team's fault - it was just that the part didn't work."
Jani had an almost entirely new car for this weekend after a horrific crash in race two at Spa-Francorchamps, when he collided in the spray with an out of control Hiroki Yoshimoto, who had been hit by Gimmi Bruni at Eau Rouge, leaving his Racing Engineering team with an effectively scraped car.
Jani managed only half a lap in first qualifying today before the part failed, leaving him to limp back to the pits and forcing his team to strip down the gearbox, destroying his chances of a laptime in either session.
The reprieve means that the Swiss driver will now be able to take part in the race, and he will line up at the back of the grid this afternoon.
When asked how he had been allowed to enter the race, Jani noted: "It's my first time at this track, and in first qualifying I went out and did half a lap before the car broke down - the first sector time I did what was the second fastest sector at the time, and I think that helped the stewards to see that there was no problem.
"It is bad luck once again for me, but the team did a good job to get the car ready this weekend, with the last parts only arriving last night. It's not their fault at all - really there is nobody to blame."
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