Given Fernando Alonso's impressive race in Hungary – until the unfortunate wheel nut incident after his first pit stop – the interest of the Spanish fans was likely to go up for the Valencia event. Having the chance to see their own two-time world champion actually have a shot at winning a home race after 2 years of struggle was enough of a reason for ticket sales to suffer a significant boost.
However, as the FIA found Renault guilty of knowingly letting Alonso rejoin the track with a loose wheel nut – which later resulted in his front right-hand tire bursting and becoming airborne around the Hungarian circuit – the Enstone based team can only hope for a favorable decision at their appeal.
Earlier today, Briatore's team got an unexpected help from the Valencia organizers, who urged the ruling body to think of the fans also when judging Renault's appeal.
“We believe it (the FIA) must also think of the fans and, as everybody knows, a lot of them have bought tickets to see Fernando Alonso racing in Valencia. We believe they must not be the ones paying for this decision,” said Jorge Martinez Aspar, vice-president of Valmor Sport, for the EFE news agency.
“We are going to be looking closely at the verdict of the appeal and we have been in contact with the Spanish Federation, with the Renault team, and with Fernando Alonso's people. We would like to have him on the grid in the Valencia grand prix. What happened is serious, but we hope it doesn't hurt the European Grand Prix or the fans,” added Aspar.
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