Issue 49 - GP2 Series

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