The Big GP2 Thread

[Anna]

For all news on the GP2 championship which is being merged with the GP2 Asia series for 2012.

For 2011 Romain Grosjean has already been crowned GP2 champion.

[Anna]

Charles Pic takes initiative in battle for GP2 runner-up spot with race one pole at Monza
By Glenn Freeman Friday, September 9th 2011, 14:41 GMT

Addax driver Charles Pic beat Coloni's Luca Filippi to GP2 pole position at Monza, while the two drivers leading the fight for second in the championship could only make the 10th row of the grid.

The front row men took up those positions early in the session, and then remained at the top of the pile as very few drivers improved on
their second sets of tyres.

Fabio Leimer (Rapax) was one of the few drivers to put in a better lap in the second half of the session, and that was enough to earn him third on the grid ahead of Alvaro Parente (Carlin).

DAMS' Romain Grosjean had to settle for fifth after a messy 30 minutes which included a wild off on the exit of the first Lesmo with just over five minutes remaining.

But it was towards the back of the field where the real action was. Both Giedo van der Garde (Addax) and Jules Bianchi (ART) had failed to get a quick lap in before Esteban Gutierrez crashed the other ART car on the exit of the Ascari chicane nine minutes into qualifying.

The second and third placed men in the championship initially stayed out on track, but both pitted due to the prolonged yellow flags that were out while the Mexican's car was recovered. At that stage, Bianchi was 18th and van der Garde 21st.

Both then had their second runs heavily disrupted by traffic. Bianchi had a near miss when Parente tried to pass him into the first chicane, while van der Garde hit traffic in the middle of Ascari on his final flying lap.

That meant the Dutchman could only improve to 19th, which became 20th when Bianchi improved by fractions with his final lap of the session.

Their misfortune hands the initiative to Pic in the battle for second in the standings, as the Frenchman is just five points behind van der Garde thanks to his two points for pole.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Charles Pic Addax 1m32.349s
2. Luca Filippi Coloni 1m32.460s + 0.111s
3. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m32.485s + 0.136s
4. Alvaro Parente Carlin 1m32.600s + 0.251s
5. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m32.630s + 0.281s
6. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m32.684s + 0.335s
7. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1m32.727s + 0.378s
8. Adam Carroll Super Nova 1m32.761s + 0.412s
9. Sam Bird iSport 1m32.801s + 0.452s
10. Max Chilton Carlin 1m32.811s + 0.462s
11. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m32.848s + 0.499s
12. Josef Kral Arden 1m32.858s + 0.509s
13. Michael Herck Coloni 1m32.865s + 0.516s
14. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m33.019s + 0.670s
15. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m33.121s + 0.772s
16. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m33.129s + 0.780s
17. Brendon Hartley Ocean 1m33.183s + 0.834s
18. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m33.206s + 0.857s
19. Jules Bianchi ART 1m33.293s + 0.944s
20. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m33.297s + 0.948s
21. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m33.452s + 1.103s
22. Johnny Cecotto Ocean 1m33.571s + 1.222s
23. Julian Leal Rapax 1m33.646s + 1.297s
24. Stephane Richelmi Trident 1m34.150s + 1.801s
25. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m35.228s + 2.879s
26. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m39.190s + 6.841s

[Anna]

Jules Bianchi Fan Club
Good come back for Jules in Feature Race: started 19th, he arrives 8th achieving one important point for the championship ! Tomorrow in Sprint Race (at 10.30am) Jules will start from the pole position !! Come on our champion !



I'll get the results up later

[r1ch91]

Results


Luca Filippi dominates first GP2 race at Monza for Coloni
By Glenn Freeman Saturday, September 10th 2011, 14:43 GMT

Luca Filippi hauled himself into contention for second in the GP2 championship with a dominant win on home soil at Monza.

The Coloni driver took the lead from polesitter Charles Pic off the line, and then held on to the position despite locking up and cutting across the first chicane.

From there he controlled the race, and also came out on top of a fierce fight for fastest lap which netted him another potentially crucial point.

Pic (Addax) survived late pressure from DAMS' Romain Grosjean to take second, and he now holds the same place in the standings, just one point ahead of Filippi. Four drivers are covered by three points in that battle, with Giedo van der Garde (Addax) and Jules Bianchi (ART) also in the hunt.

Van der Garde had a day to forget, pitting to repair damage early on then receiving a drive-through penalty for cutting the first chicane. Bianchi raced his way from 19th to 11th in the early laps, then jumped AirAsia's Luiz Razia during the pitstops and took advantage of drive through penalties for Carlin's Alvaro Parente and Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) to move up to eighth place.

That result gives the Frenchman hope of overhauling Pic and Filippi, as he will start from pole in the season finale while they will share row four.

Behind the top three, Sam Bird came through the field to take fourth for iSport from 10th on the grid, while category veteran Adam Carroll took fifth for Super Nova.

Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering) and Fabio Leimer (Rapax) were the other points finishers, just ahead of Bianchi.

Results - 30 laps:

Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Luca Filippi Coloni 47m47.704s
2. Charles Pic Addax + 5.627s
3. Romain Grosjean DAMS + 6.214s
4. Sam Bird iSport + 9.992s
5. Adam Carroll Super Nova + 14.904s
6. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering + 16.710s
7. Fabio Leimer Rapax + 18.058s
8. Jules Bianchi ART + 22.787s
9. Esteban Gutierrez ART + 28.444s
10. Luiz Razia AirAsia + 31.661s
11. Pal Varhaug DAMS + 36.000s
12. Alvaro Parente Carlin + 44.096s
13. Dani Clos Racing Engineering + 46.877s
14. Marcus Ericsson iSport + 49.690s
15. Stephane Richelmi Trident + 50.876s
16. Julian Leal Rapax + 58.003s
17. Johnny Cecotto Ocean + 1m06.275s
18. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova + 1m10.221s
19. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident + 1m20.119s
20. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia + 1 lap
21. Giedo van der Garde Addax + 1 lap
22. Brendon Hartley Ocean + 1 lap

Retirements:

Max Chilton Carlin 2 laps
Josef Kral Arden 1 lap
Jolyon Palmer Arden 1 lap
Michael Herck Coloni 1 lap

[r1ch91]

Vietoris takes a lights-to-flag win at Monza
By Glenn Freeman Sunday, September 11th 2011, 09:18 GMT

Christian Vietoris took a lights-to-flag victory in the GP2 finale at Monza, while Luca Filippi sealed second in the championship with fifth place.

Vietoris jumped into the lead from third on the grid at the start, as he and Fabio Leimer got ahead of pole-sitter Jules Bianchi.

From there, the top two pulled away in the early laps. They fell back into the clutches of Bianchi and Sam Bird when Vietoris had to defend for a couple of laps, but as he opened out a small margin over Leimer they were both able to get away from the chasing pack again.

Bianchi could do nothing about the leaders and instead had to turn his attentions to keeping Bird and Filippi at bay. Bird dropped back during the last couple of laps, while Filippi recovered from going straight on at the first chicane to set fastest lap and earn an extra point.

That put him clear of Bianchi in the standings, but the Italian was on course for second even if they tied on points because he has more race wins.

Of the other contenders for second, Charles Pic's race lasted only two corners as he collided with Filippi at the start and ran over the back of Romain Grosjean's car.

Filippi escaped relatively unscathed, while Grosjean rejoined two laps down with a new rear wing to complete his final GP2 race.

Giedo van der Garde climbed from 21st to 14th, completing a miserable end to the season which cost him the runner-up spot to Grosjean.

[Anna]

I'm proud of how confident he is but it did make me laugh

F1 cars would suit me better than GP2 - van der Garde


"It is formula one or nothing"

Monday 19 September 2011 - 11h11, by GMM
According to Giedo van der Garde, success in feeder category GP2 is no guide as to whether a driver will succeed in formula one.

The management of the 26-year-old Dutchman, who reportedly has sponsorship in tow, recently revealed talks about 2012 with three F1 teams.

Van der Garde has, however, finished just fifth in this year’s GP2 championship after a poor final two rounds in Belgium and Italy.

He wrote in his formule1.nl column that he will not be returning to the series in 2012.

"What now? That’s the big question. It will not be another season in GP2, I am now 26 and need to be realistic. It is formula one or nothing," said van der Garde.

"My results in GP2 do not say anything about my skills as a driver. Look at Kobayashi and d’Ambrosio, two drivers who are doing well in formula one, but in GP2 they were nowhere.

"I am ready for formula one and would love the chance to show what I can do in those cars. They are much better for me than GP2," said van der Garde, who has been a F1 test driver with Spyker.

"These (GP2 cars) are sometimes like a rally car, with F1 cars requiring a much more refined style. That’s my style and I hope I can prove it," he added.

[r1ch91]

Can't see any of this years GP2 field cept for Grosjean in F1 to be honest. From what I saw of this years races it was a pretty weak field

[Anna]

Yeah but he does make a point, being good in GP2 doesn't equal being good in F1 as much as being mediocre in GP2 doesn't point to being bad in F1.

But to be honest I can only see Jules getting into F1 and that's purely because he's a Ferrari driver so they'll get him in like they got Sergio in.

[victor]

The GP2 field are about the same as always, I do not mean they are the same people which most of them are, but Romain was just so much in front of everyone else. There is potential, just not van der Garde.

[Lucius]

JEREZ TEST DAY 1 DRIVERS ENTRY LIST

Twenty-seven names revealed
Twenty-seven drivers will take part of tomorrow’s session. Among them, seven GP3 Series graduates including the 2011 top 4 drivers – Champion Valtteri Bottas, runner-up James Calado, third placed Nigel Melker and fourth placed Nico Muller. Also joining, race winner Rio Haryanto, Simon Trummer and Antonio Felix Da Costa. At Scuderia Coloni, 2011 GP2 SeriesTM runner-up Luca Filippi will take the wheel of the #18 car in the morning session and will be replaced in the afternoon by countryman Kevin Ceccon.

Rapax
01 – Daniele Zampieri (ITA)
02 – Sam Bird (GBR)

Barwa Addax Team
03 - Dani Clos (ESP)
04 – Johnny Cecotto (VEN)

Lotus ART
05 – Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
06 – Nathanaël Berthon (FRA)

Racing Engineering
07 – Fabio Leimer (SUI)
08 – Rodolfo Gonzalez (VEN)

iSport International
09 – Carlos Iaconelli (BRA)
10 – Jolyon Palmer (GBR)

Dams
11 – Nico Muller (SUI)
12 – Rio Haryanto (INA)

Arden International
14 – Simon Trummer (SUI)
15 – Nigel Melker (NED)

Super Nova Racing
16 – Javier Villa
17 – Adam Carroll

Scuderia Coloni
18 – Luca Filippi (ITA) // Kevin Ceccon (ITA)
19 – Fabio Onidi (ITA)

Trident Racing
20 – Julian Leal (COL)
21 – Josef Kral (CZE)

Ocean Racing Technology
22 – Stéphane Richelmi (MON)
23 – James Calado (GBR)

Carlin
24 – Max Chilton (GBR)
25 – Alvaro Parente (POR)

Caterham Team AirAsia
26 – Yelmer Buurman (NED)
27 – Antonio Felix Da Costa (POR)

[Anna]

FABIO LEIMER TOPS DAY 1

Racing Engineering driver quickest in Jerez post-season test

The first 2011 post-season testing opened today at Circuito de Jerez under clear blue skies, warm temperatures and in slightly windy conditions. Today’s entry list comprised of a total of twenty-seven drivers who ran around the Spanish track on Pirelli P Zero hard compounds for this first day. Among them, seven GP3 Series graduates including the 2011 top 4 drivers: reigning Champion Valtteri Bottas at Lotus ART, runner-up James Calado at Ocean Racing Technology, third-placed driver Nigel Melker at Arden International and fourth place finisher Nico Muller at Dams. Also joining from GP3 was race winner Rio Haryanto at Dams, Simon Trummer at Arden International and Antonio Felix Da Costa at Caterham Team AirAsia.

As soon as the pitlane opened, most drivers dove onto the track for their installation laps. It was Fabio Onidi at Scuderia Coloni who set the early pace in 1:29.040. Finnish ace Bottas proved he could adapt quickly to the GP2/11 by going top, five tenths faster than the Italian, while Fabio Leimer at Racing Engineering slipped in between the pair. The dying minutes of the first hour saw Josef Kral at Trident Racing topping the timesheets, but Onidi claimed back the top spot, with Max Chilton and Sam Bird completing the provisional top 3. With thirty minutes left in the session, Fabio Leimer at Racing Engineering went quickest, 0.1s from Filippi. The session was then briefly red flagged after Cecotto went wide at Turn 8 and stopped in the gravel bed. When it resumed, Leimer’s best laptime remained unbeaten. Bird, Cecotto, Onidi, Yelmer Buurman, Jolyon Palmer, Dani Clos, Josef Kral and Felix Da Costa completed the top ten.

Filippi was replaced by Kevin Ceccon in the afternoon session. It opened in rising temperatures and with Muller the first back on track. The Dams driver was soon followed by the remainder of the field. But it was Bottas who went quickest thirty minutes into the session and stayed on top of the timing sheets until the last half-hour of the trouble-free afternoon. Carlin’s Alvaro Parente and Max Chilton were in the Finn’s tow. With thirty minutes left on the clock, Leimer found extra pace again and claimed the top spot. In the closing stages, Buurman at Caterham Team AirAsia moved up to P2 a shy tenth from the Swiss while Clos edged Bottas out of P3. Kral, Parente, Chilton, Bird, Palmer and Melker rounded out the top ten.

The testing will resume tomorrow at 9am local time.

Morning session
1. Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering - 1:27.282 // 29 laps
2. Luca Filippi - Scuderia Coloni - 1:27.291 // 29 laps
3. Sam Bird - Rapax - 1:27.555 // 33 laps
4. Johnny Cecotto - Barwa Addax Team - 1:27.566 // 25 laps
5. Fabio Onidi - Scuderia Coloni - 1:27.587 // 32 laps
6. Yelmer Buurman - Caterham Team AirAsia - 1:27.786 // 32 laps
7. Jolyon Palmer- iSport International - 1:27.801 // 31 laps
8. Dani Clos - Barwa Addax Team - 1:27.894 // 24 laps
9. Josef Kral - Trident Racing - 1:27.909 // 20 laps
10. Antonio Felix Da Costa - Caterham Team AirAsia - 1:28.090 // 32 laps
11. Adam Carroll - Super Nova Racing - 1:28.212 // 20 laps
12. Alvaro Parente - Carlin - 1:28.289 // 22 laps
13. Max Chilton - Carlin - 1:28.317 // 21 laps
14. James Calado - Ocean Racing Technology - 1:28.369 // 26 laps
15. Rodolfo Gonzalez - Racing Engineering - 1:28.443 // 25 laps
16. Valtteri Bottas - Lotus ART - 1:28.459 // 28 laps
17. Simon Trummer - Arden International - 1:28.597 // 33 laps
18. Stéphane Richelmi - Ocean Racing Technology - 1:28.703 // 27 laps
19. Julian Leal - Trident Racing - 1:28.709 // 24 laps
20. Nigel Melker - Arden International - 1:28.779 // 34 laps
21. Javier Villa - Super Nova Racing - 1:28.907 // 14 laps
22. Daniele Zampieri - Rapax- 1:29.091 // 29 laps
23. Rio Haryanto - Dams - 1:29.097 // 26 laps
24. Nathanël Berthon - Lotus ART - 1:29.241 // 30 laps
25. Nico Muller - Dams - 1:29.288 // 25 laps
26. Carlos Iaconelli - iSport International - 1:30.029 // 23 laps

Afternoon Session
1. Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering - 1:27.777 // 20 laps
2. Yelmer Buurman - Caterham Team AirAsia - 1:27.874 // 28 laps
3. Dani Clos - Barwa Addax Team - 1:28.049 // 17 laps
4. Valtteri Bottas - Lotus ART - 1:28.113 // 31 laps
5. Josef Kral - Trident Racing - 1:28.194 // 26 laps
6. Alvaro Parente - Carlin - 1:28.254 // 18 laps
7. Max Chilton Carlin 1:28.259 21 laps
8. Sam Bird - Rapax - 1:28.373 // 31 laps
9. Jolyon Palmer - iSport International - 1:28.490 // 32 laps
10. Nigel Melker - Arden International - 1:28.574 // 26 laps
11. Nathanël Berthon - Lotus ART - 1:28.576 // 29 laps
12. Javier Villa - Super Nova Racing - 1:28.606 // 23 laps
13. Stéphane Richelmi - Ocean Racing Technology - 1:28.613 // 25 laps
14. Fabio Onidi - Scuderia Coloni - 1:28.648 // 18 laps
15. Johnny Cecotto - Barwa Addax Team - 1:28.727 // 27 laps
16. James Calado - Ocean Racing Technology - 1:28.731 // 28 laps
17. Rodolfo Gonzalez - Racing Engineering - 1:28.868 // 26 laps
18. Antonio Felix Da Costa - Caterham Team AirAsia - 1:28.875 // 32 laps
19. Daniele Zampieri - Rapax - 1:28.924 // 32 laps
20. Kevin Ceccon - Scuderia Coloni - 1:28.996 // 30 laps
21. Rio Haryanto - Dams - 1:29.160 // 28 laps
22. Simon Trummer - Arden International - 1:29.202 // 26 laps
23. Nico Muller - Dams - 1:29.678 // 28 laps
24. Julian Leal - Trident Racing - 1:29.823 // 8 laps
25. Carlos Iaconelli - iSport International - 1:30.253 // 24 laps
26. Adam Carroll - Super Nova Racing - 1:31.734 // 8 laps

[Anna]

JEREZ TEST DAY 2 DRIVERS ENTRY LIST

New line-ups
Tomorrow’s entry list will some drivers come and others go. While Arden International, Super Nova and Scuderia Coloni will keep the exact same line-up as the one in action today at Circuito de Jerez, the remaining teams will test new drivers. At Rapax, Daniele Zampieri will be joined by Stéphane Richelmi. Barwa Addax Team will welcome Jake Rosenzweig and Jolyon Palmer. Lotus ART will be on familiar ground with race winner Jules Bianchi and GP3 graduate James Calado.

Swiss Fabio Leimer will stay at Racing Engineering joined by rookie Rupert Svendsen-Cook. It will be a 100% French line-up at iSport with rookie Tom Dillman and Nathanaël Berthon. Rodolfo Gonzalez will move to Dams and will be paired with rookie Giovanni Venturini. At Trident, Julian Leal will continue his work with the Italian team while race winner Sam Bird will test with them for the first time. Ocean Racing will welcome countryman Antonio Felix Da Costa and Yuki Siraishi. Max Chilton will be paired at Carlin with GP3 graduate Nico Muller, and finally Alexander Rossi returns to GP2 at Caterham Team AirAsia along Ricardo Teixeira.

The session will start at 9am local time. There will be a one-hour break. The afternoon session will conclude at 4pm, local time.

Rapax
01- Daniel Zampieri (ITA)
02- Stéphane Richelmi (MON)

Barwa Addax Team
03- Jake Rosenzweig (USA)
04- Jolyon Palmer (GBR)

Lotus ART
05- Jules Bianchi (FRA)
06- James Calado (GBR)

Racing Engineering
07- Fabio Leimer (SUI)
08- Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GBR)

iSport International
09- Tom Dillmann (FRA)
10- Nathanaël Berthon (FRA)

Dams
11- Rodolfo Gonzalez (VEN)
12- Giovanni Venturini (ITA)

Arden International
14- Simon Trummer (SUI)
15- Nigel Melker (NED)

Super Nova Racing
16- Javier Villa (ESP)
17- Adam Carroll (GBR)

Scuderia Coloni
18- Kevin Ceccon (ITA) // Luca Filippi (ITA)
19- Fabio Onidi (ITA)

Trident Racing
20- Julian Leal (COL)
21- Sam Bird (GBR)

Ocean Racing Technology
22- Yuki Shiraishi (JAP)
23- Antonio Felix Da Costa (POR)

Carlin
24- Max Chilton (GBR)
25- Nico Muller (SUI)

Caterham Team AirAsia
26- Alexander Rossi (USA)
27- Ricardo Teixeira (POR)

[Anna]

FABIO LEIMER DOMINATES JEREZ TESTS

Racing Engineering driver once again quickest on final day

The final session of a two-day 2011 post-season test took place today at Circuito de Jerez. Twenty-six drivers sat behind the wheel of the GP2/11 car. While Arden International, Scuderia Coloni and Super Nova Racing did not change their line-up for today, the other teams welcomed new faces, including newcomers Rupert Svendsen-Cook at Racing Engineering, GP3 graduate Tom Dillmann at Barwa Addax, Giovanni Venturini at Dams, and Yuki Shiraishi at Ocean Racing Technology.

The morning session opened in cooler temperatures than the day before. Javier Villa set the early pace but his best laptime was soon improved by the Coloni pair Fabio Onidi and Kevin Ceccon. At the half hour mark, it was yesterday’s fastest man Fabio Leimer at Racing Engineering who took advantage of better grip to claim again the top spot and his laptime of 1:26.701 remained unbeaten until the chequered flag, one tenth quicker than Onidi. GP3 graduate Nigel Melker finished a mere five hundredths from the Italian proving that he is adjusting well to his Arden machine on his second day of testing with the British team. Villa, Ceccon, roolie Felix Da Costa, Jules Bianchi, Sam Bird, Max Chilton and Julian Leal rounded out the top ten.

After a one hour lunch break, the pitlane re-opened. The session was quickly red flagged after Ceccon spun and stopped in the gravel bed. At the re-start, rookie James Calado at Lotus ART was free to set the early pace ahead of Bianchi and Bird. But just before the one-hour mark, Bird at the wheel of his Trident car went top, half a second quicker than his countryman. It was then Bianchi’s turn to claim top spot going one tenth faster than Bird as Julian Leal also at Trident moved up to P3. The session was briefly red flagged three times again before the last hour of the session. At the chequered flag, Bianchi retained his top spot ahead of Bird, Leal, Arden’s rookie Simon Trummer, Calado, GP2 returnee Alexander Rossi at Caterham Team AriAsia, iSport’s Nathanël Berthon, Chilton, Ceccon and Jolyon Palmer at Barwa Addax. Onidi ended this testing as best rookie.

Next 2011 post-season test session will take place in Barcelona on October 19-20 and will be the final stop before flying to Abu Dhabi for the 2011 GP2 Final on November 11-12-13.

Morning Session
1.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:26.701
30
2.
Fabio Onidi
Scuderia Coloni
1:26.843
29
3.
Nigel Melker
Arden International
1:26.899
36
4.
Javier Villa
Super Nova Racing
1:26.913
24
5.
Kevin Ceccon
Scuderia Coloni
1:26.954
23
6.
Antonio Felix Da Costa
Ocean Racing Technology
1:26.991
28
7.
Jules Bianchi
Lotus ART
1:27.125
28
8.
Sam Bird
Trident Racing
1:27.127
12
9.
Max Chilton
Carlin
1:27.158
32
10.
Julian Leal
Trident Racing
1:27.211
39
11.
Stéphane Richelmi
Rapax
1:27.272
37
12.
Nathanaël Berthon
iSport International
1:27.410
18
13.
Simon Trummer
Arden International
1:27.421
40
14.
Jolyon Palmer
Barwa Addax Team
1:27.691
30
15.
Tom Dillmann
iSport International
1:27.697
25
16.
Adam Carroll
Super Nova Racing
1:27.752
24
17.
Daniele Zampieri
Rapax
1:27.771
35
18.
Alexander Rossi
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:27.897
37
19.
James Calado
Lotus ART
1:27.903
31
20.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Dams
1:27.985
31
21.
Nico Muller
Carlin
1:28.359
31
22.
Giovanni Venturini
Dams
1:28.805
32
23.
Jake Rosenweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:28.870
37
24.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook
Racing Engineering
1:29.106
37
25.
Ricardo Teixeira
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:29.788
29
26.
Yuki Shiraishi
Ocean Racing Technology
1:30.871
20

Afternoon Session
1.
Jules Bianchi
Lotus ART
1:27.651
31
2.
Sam Bird
Trident Racing
1:27.740
21
3.
Julian Leal
Trident Racing
1:27.924
23
4.
Simon Trummer
Arden International
1:28.016
22
5.
James Calado
Lotus ART
1:28.244
40
6.
Alexander Rossi
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:28.479
31
7.
Nathanaël Berthon
iSport International
1:28.515
25
8.
Max Chilton
Carlin
1:28.515
23
9.
Kevin Ceccon
Scuderia Coloni
1:28.554
19
10.
Jolyon Palmer
Barwa Addax Team
1:28.728
27
11.
Tom Dillmann
iSport International
1:28.787
30
12.
Adam Carroll
Super Nova Racing
1:28.807
15
13.
Rodolfo Gonzalez
Dams
1:28.868
34
14.
Jake Rosenzweig
Barwa Addax Team
1:28.910
31
15.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook
Racing Engineering
1:29.110
28
16.
Daniele Zampieri
Rapax
1:29.227
18
17.
Stéphane Richelmi
Rapax
1:29.413
31
18.
Giovanni Venturini
Dams
1:29.437
31
19.
Nico Muller
Carlin
1:29.460
26
20.
Nigel Melker
Arden International
1:29.934
32
21.
Ricardo Teixeira
Caterham Team AirAsia
1:30.411
25
22.
Fabio Onidi
Scuderia Coloni
1:30.554
30
23.
Fabio Leimer
Racing Engineering
1:30.885
24
24.
Yuki Shiraishi
Ocean Racing Technology
1:30.990
28
25.
Antonio Felix Da Costa
Ocean Racing Technology
1:32.065
18

[Anna]

GP2 Series 2012 season calendar unveiled


Twelve is the word

Friday 16 December 2011 - 10h51, by Olivier Ferret
The GP2 Series organisers have revealed their 2012 calendar today which will consist of twelve rounds in total. Eleven of them will be support events of the official Formula OneTM World Championship whilst one round will be a standalone event. Two new venues have been added to the otherwise familiar circuits: Sepang and Singapore.

The Series will see its eighth season open for the first time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 23rd. Although the GP2 Asia Series raced in Sepang in 2008 and 2009, it is a new venue to the GP2 Series calendar and it will be the first time the GP2/11 cars have raced on this demanding track. The thirteen GP2 teams will then fly to Bahrain for back-to-back rounds in Sakhir, the first one as support event to F1 on April 20-22 followed by the only standalone event of the season on April 26-28.

The month of May will mark the return of the Series to Europe, starting with Barcelona on May 11-13 and Monaco two weeks later. After a short break, the action will resume in the streets of Valencia, Spain on June 22-24. The month of July will once again be extremely busy with three events – Silverstone, Hockenheim and Budapest.

After the summer breather, the Series will return to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on August 31st followed a week later by the Italian round in Monza. Finally, the 2012 season will be concluded two weeks later in Singapore at one of F1’s most magnificent venues, marking the GP2 SeriesTM first visit to the Asian city.

GP2 Series CEO Bruno Michel commented: “GP2 being the natural and logical path to Formula One, it is imperative that our calendar carries as many F1 tracks as possible including tracks outside Europe which is why we added Bahrain, Sepang and Singapore this season. However, the Series has also to remain affordable, therefore we did not want to add more overseas circuits.

“Racing on eleven F1 tracks in 2012 with a car close to F1 in performance and using the same tyres, GP2 drivers will gain as much experience as possible which will enable them to be immediately competitive in the next category as previously demonstrated by all our graduates. We have also made sure that we remain affordable by working together with our partners in order to keep down freight and spare parts costs.

“I am glad that we will be going back to Kuala Lumpur: we’ve seen during the Asia Series some very exciting races there. It is a splendid venue to open a new chapter of our Series which includes new sporting regulations. We’ve always raced in Bahrain since the inception of our Series – Nico Rosberg won both races in 2005. We will close our season in Singapore. It will be the first time ever that our Series goes there. It is very exciting!”

In addition to these twelve rounds, two pre-season test sessions will be organised first at Jerez de la Frontera on 28-29 February and 01 March, followed by Barcelona on 06-07-08 March.

2012 calendar
28-29 Feb - 01 March - Jerez de la Frontera, Spain - Test
6-7-8 March - Barcelona, Spain - Test
23-25 March - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Race
20-22 April - Sakhir, Bahrain - Race
26-28 April - Sakhir, Bahrain - Race
11-13 May - Barcelona, Spain - Race
24-26 May - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Race
22-24 June - Valencia, Spain - Race
06-08 July - Silverstone, Great-Britain - Race
20-22 July - Hockenheim, Germany - Race
27-29 July - Budapest, Hungary - Race
31 Aug - 02 September - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium - Race
07-09 September - Monza, Italy - Race
21-23 September - Singapore, Singapore - Race

[Anna]

Valsecchi joins DAMS for 2012 season

20 January 2012

Caterham’s 2011 Formula 1 reserve driver, Davide Valsecchi, has joined the title-winning DAMS team for this year’s GP2 season. Headed up by Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier, the French squad carried Romain Grosjean to the title last year.

Hailing from the Como region of Italy, Valsecchi – who turns 25 next Tuesday – claimed the GP2 Asia Series title of 2009-10 and now aims for overall success.

“It's a great honour for me to join the DAMS team,” says the seven-time race winner. “It'll give me the chance to drive a really competitive car and battle with the front-runners on a regular basis. In the light of the team's performance last season, I'm convinced that it'll provide me with a first-class single-seater in 2012.”

Valsecchi switches to DAMS from Tony Fernandes’ Team AirAsia.