Issue 49 - GP2 Series

the world’s best young drivers fighting for a place in Formula 1The insidermarcus ericssonrounds 2&3 bahrain, 20-22 & 27-28 April 2012valsecchi Q+Athe gallerygp3 previewsupplier to gp2/gp3davide’sdesert delightValsecchi has a week to rememberin Bahrain double-header read moredillman takesfirst winGp3 is go!evans topspre-seasontest timesSUBSCRIBE FOR FREEDOWNLOAD Ezine

GallerypirelliGp3GP2 Web hits new heightsThe thrilling start to the2012 GP2 Series has beenreflected in the figuresrecorded on the Official GP2Series website. After just threerounds of the championship,www.gp2series.com hasalready received over onemillion page hits, with the bestaudience of the year returninga 25 per cent increase on thelargest 2011 audience.The website also boasts over40 per cent new traffic, withthe site’s main visitors beingnot just from the traditionalEuropean heartland, but alsothe USA, Brazil, Mexico and,with the graduation from GP3to GP2 of Rio Haryanto, anincredible surge in interestfrom Indonesia.DavideValsecchiWhat can you say? Fourraces, three wins, onepodium, championshipleader. He was the manof the entire Bahrainexperience. An incrediblerun of results.DRIVERSTANDINGS1 Davide Valsecchi 1072 Luiz Razia 833 Esteban Gutiérrez 544 Max Chilton 455 Fabio Leimer 416 James Calado 397 Giedo van der Garde 318 Felipe Nasr 289 Tom Dillmann 2710 Rio Haryanto 1611 Stefano Coletti 1012 Marcus Ericsson 8TEAMSTANDINGS1 DAMS 1352 Lotus GP 933 Arden International 844 Carlin 615 Racing Engineering 426 Caterham Racing 317 Rapax 278 Scuderia Coloni 14racecard //bahrainAll Hail Valsecchirace report bahrain // race 1 winner: Davide Valsecchi //race 2 winner: davide valsecchiThe GP2 Series returnedto familiar surroundings atthe Bahrain InternationalCircuit for Round 2 and 3of the 2012 championship.Although having raced inBahrain during the GP2 AsiaSeries, it was the first time theMain Series had raced in Bahrainsince 2007, but on a trackknown well to the teams andfamous for providing excellentracing, everyone was lookingforward to getting into action.race 1Davide Valsecchi immediatelylaid down the gauntlet, takinghis second consecutive pole ofthe season, but with a poor startin Malaysia fresh in his mind, hewas determined not to let thingsslide in the race. He more thanmade up for his Malaysian woes,and when the lights went outhe blasted into the lead. It wasa lead he wouldn’t relinquish,despite a safety car begingdeployed for contact betweenFelipe Nasr and Johnny Cecotto.Behind Valsecchi a fabulousrace for the podium saw LuizRazia take second, with EstebanGutiérrez third, denyingbirthday boy Max Chilton apodium spot on the last lap.race 2The reverse grid Sunday racewas another thriller, with JamesCalado taking the lead at thestart before being passed byhis team-mate Gutiérrez. FabioLeimer soon passed them both,but lost that lead when he washanded a drive-through for notheeding yellow flags.All the while, however,Valsecchi was picking off hisrivals, and over the closinglaps showed incredible paceto catch and pass both Caladoand, on the last lap, Gutiérrez.Razia came home fourth aheadof Chilton and Nasr, who hadstarted from the pitlane.the blog //by the water coolerWe were greeted byan overly-excited Fabio Leimersporting his Fernando TorresChelsea jersey. And in case thatwas not clear enough, Arden hadstuck the result of the game ontheir garage door “Chelsea 3-2Barcelona” – Dani Clos did notlook very happy! Although wewere busy with preparations forthe race ahead, we still foundthe time to go check out thenew go-kart track. It is quiteamazing. We found the Tridentteam already there, led by JulianLeal and Stéphane Richelmi, andchallenged them. Not a goodidea. We lost.click for the blog latestValsecchi hada week torememberDillmann deniesDavide’s Double DoubleAfter a few days off, GP2reconvened in Bahrain forthe second consecutive raceweekend at the BIC.But those expecting trackconditions to be the same as thefirst time were left frustrated.Practice saw Max Chilton leading,with many drivers choosing to keeptheir running to a minimum. Lotusopted to not complete a lap, agamble which would come back tohaunt them. Giedo van der Gardestormed to pole, switching ontooptions at the right moment, andon the grid for the Feature Race, itwas just the Dutchman and DavideValsecchi on the front row who hadopted to start of those option tyres.race 1Van der Garde led as the lightswent out and looked to have thingsunder control until his tyres hit thecliff face and dropped him into theclutches of the double winner fromthe first weekend. Valsecchi tookthe lead and from that point thewriting was on the wall.Fabio Leimer made up for hisdisappointment in the sprint raceto blast through into second, withvan der Garde holding on for thirdahead of Luiz Razia, Max Chiltonand Rio Haryanto. With Felipe Nasrreceiving a post-race penalty, TomDillmann was promoted to eighthand reverse grid pole for the finalrace in Bahrain.race 2The Frenchman dominated therace, controlling the pace from theoff, keeping the iSport of MarcusEricsson at bay. The Swede pickedup damage however and droppedback, being passed by Razia andEsteban Gutiérrez. But all thewhile, there loomed Valsecchi. He’dnarrowly avoided the spinning vanDillmann deniedValsecchi a fourth winder Garde at the first turn, and hadstruggled to pass his rivals as easilyas he had in the previous Sprint,fighting his way into third andstarted to hunt down Razia.The Brazilian was in a fight of hisown however, squirming all overthe back of Dillmann in the finaltwo laps. But he couldn’t find a waythrough. Dillmann clung on for thewin ahead of Razia, with Valsecchifalling just two places short ofbeing the first man in GP2 historyto win four consecutive races.As it is, his three wins place himalongside Nelson Piquet and NicoHülkenberg in the record books,and most importantly put him ontop of the championship standings,24 points ahead of Luiz Razia.click here formore detailsThe rookiesTom Dillman, racewinner. James Calado,back on the podium.Felipe Nasr a constantpoint-scoring threat.Rio Haryanto fighting atthe front. Bahrain was apositive experience forGP2’s rookies.EstebanGutiÉrrezMissing out on a win onthe final lap will havehurt, but he turned thesecond weekend aroundto overcome adversityand score points.Barwa AddaxNot even the additionof the experienced DaniClos could turn aroundAddax’s fortunes. Theteam struggled inBahrain and will behoping for better onhome soil in Spain.iSportThe team arrived inBahrain with a ten-placepenalty hanging overMarcus Ericsson andthough it was alwaysgoing to be tough,nobody expected it tobe this difficult. That theSwede scored points willhave come as a hugerelief. Time to hit therestart button for Europe.morenews

gallery //The insider viewpirelliGp3MARCUSERICSSONisport international‘I wouldn’tbe herewithout...’...my father. He got me intoracing in the first place. Ican’t even begin to explainhow much I owe him.He bought me my firstgo-kart when I was nine. Hewasn’t a racer and he didn’tknow how to be a mechanic,he just loved racing. Welearned together and movedforward together.I played ice hockey inSweden until I was 16, butmotorsport was alwayswhere my heart lay. My Dadwas there supporting me inany way that he could.I have so much respectand love for my father. He isa house painter. He is not arich man. But he worked sohard and sacrificed so muchto be able to afford to getme started in racing. I don’tthink I will ever be able tothank him enough.Q&ADAVIDEVALSECCHIDAMSDavide Valsecchi took theplaudits in Bahrain with threerace wins out of four. Hereare his after-race thoughtson an amazing week...Feature Race 1“Leading helps you do whatyou want with the tyres, youcan preserve them better andthey last longer. When youare behind, it is much moredifficult. I finished the racesix seconds ahead of Razia,but because he starts aheadof me in the Sprint Race, hemay be able to preserve histyres better. I don’t think Istart tomorrow with a bigadvantage, but I am confidentwe can score points if we finishthe race and avoid incidentsat the start. I hear there was afantastic race behind me today.It should be fun tomorrow!”Sprint Race 1“This weekend, I droveperfectly. I want to say thankyou to my team because thecar was amazing. Everythingwas perfect but today, wewere a bit lucky. Yesterday, wedeserved the win. Today, wehad the luck with one driverstalling on the grid and Leimerreceiving a penalty. We werealso a bit lucky that we couldovertake Gutiérrez on the lastlap, but we were fast and Iwas determined.”Feature Race 2“I feel that it is moredifficult this weekend. Iwas confident during the raceand I had a good car today,but before the start, I was notfeeling too confident. So fortomorrow we will try to regainsome positions if possible. First,I would like to have a goodstart like today and then wewill try to do our best to scoresome points. I will start fromeighth and that’s already somepoints. So if I can do betterthan that it will be fantastic.”Sprint Race 2“Today was a great race youknow. I had to fight in the pack,so it was good fun! I really hopeto go to Barcelona and to beperforming well and fight withthe top drivers. We’ve workedwell so far and we will try ourbest to stay in the top five or sixand have a good race there. Itwill be another story, you neverknow. The only one who’s beencompetitive in all the racesso far has been Luiz Razia. Wewill try to be competitive inBarcelona and stay consistenttoo and keep fighting.”Bahrain Rd 2//The stats0.198secdillmann’s winningmargin inRACE 2James Calado and Esteban Gutierrezcelebrate their podium positionsFabio Leimer was in a bullish moodafter a first podium of the seasonTom Dillmann’s prayers were answeredwith his first GP2 win in BahrainFelipe Nasr (DAMS, right) storms pastBarwa Addax driver Johnny CecottoTrident Racing team-mates StephaneRichelmi and Julian Leal discuss strategyclick here formarcus’s profileclick here forfull interviewCarlin had a strong week in Bahrain,with Rio Haryanto picking up pointsCaterham’s Giedo van der Garde leadsafter gaining his first pole of the season

gp2 GallerypirelliAlice PowellVicky PiriaCarmen JordaJust as former GP3 graduates likeEsteban Gutiérrez, Tom Dillmann andRio Haryanto are adapting to life at ahigher level, the GP2 Series had muchto cheer in the last two Formula 1weekends, as one former championtook his first podium, and anothergained his first win.The Grand Prix of China saw2010 and 2011 champions PastorMaldonado and Romain Grosjeanrecord their first points of the year,while ahead of them, 2006 championLewis Hamilton recorded anotherpodium finish in third. But the mangirl powerThe GP3 Series will have an extracompetitive angle in 2012, as for thefirst time the championship will featurefemale racers. The signing of Alice Powellby Status, Vicky Piria at Trident andCarmen Jorda at Ocean has broughtmuch press attention to GP3 ahead ofthe new season.Powell (Great Britain) comes to GP3from Formula Renault UK, and has alreadyraced on an F1 weekend bill in the MRFSeries supporting the inaugural IndianGrand Prix in which she achieved twopodiums. A gritty and determined racer,she was the first female driver to win aFormula Renault race in the UK, and dulywon the 2010 Formula Renault BARCChampionship.Piria (Italy) arrives in GP3 after two yearsin Formula Abarth, racing in 2011 forPrema. Her single seater career began in2009 in Formula Renault, and it is worthnoting that although aged just 19, 2012will already be her fourth season in singleseaters.Jorda (Spain) is, at 23, the eldest of thethree and arrives with some pedigree.Although out of action in 2011, in 2010she competed in Indy Lights in America,after a successful career in EuropeanF3 championship, predominantly inher native Spain, in which she amassednumerous podium positions.gp2 & GP3 graduatescontinue to shineof the weekend was GP2’s 2005 hero,Nico Rosberg, who took his first F1pole position in China and recordedhis first ever F1 win on the Sunday.A week later in Bahrain and therewas yet more success for the GP2graduates. Although Rosberg andHamilton could not repeat theirChina successes, the podium still hadGP2 representation, with reigningchampion Romain Grosjean takingthird place with his very first F1podium. Afterwards, he stated thathe is confident his car is capable ofrace wins this season.Silverstonetesting resultsAs final preparations for the 2012 GP3 season, twodays of testing were held at Silverstone in April.Mitch Evans was fastest in two of the four sessions...Silverstone, 11 April. Morning sessionDriver Team Time1 Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.2762 A.Felix da Costa Carlin 1:50.8543 Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor 1:50.9424 William Buller Carlin 1:50.9515 Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:51.097Silverstone, 11 April. Afternoon sessionDriver Team Time1 Matias Laine MW Arden 1:50.2922 Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.6473 Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:50.9854 William Buller Carlin 1:51.4455 Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:51.509Silverstone, 12 April. Morning sessionDriver Team Time1 A.Felix da Costa Carlin 1:50.4572 Conor Daly Lotus GP 1:50.5613 Tio Ellinas Marussia Manor 1:50.5954 William Buller Carlin 1:50.6555 David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:50.740Silverstone, 12 April. Afternoon sessionDriver Team Time1 Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:50.1502 Robert Visoiu Jenzer Motorsport 1:50.6623 Aaro Vainio Lotus GP 1:50.8404 David Fumanelli MW Arden 1:50.9085 Daniel Abt Lotus GP 1:51.133