2009 GP2 Series

Hans Sneep · May 24, 2009

Monaco-first race

23 May 2009 (edit second race)

Pastor Maldonado took victory in Monaco's sprint race on Saturday after ORT driver Karun Chandhok snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, aided by technical problems. Maldonado took the chequered flag for ART from Jerome d'Ambrosio and Nico Hülkenberg, although a big accident for championship leader Romain Grosjean brought a premature end to the race.

Venezuelan Maldonado didn't have it all his own way though: despite starting from pole he was handily beaten to Ste Devote by front row starter Karun Chandhok, who was in imperious form as he left the rest of the field in his smoke, while d'Ambrosio and Hülkenberg started their own race long battle for supremacy.

Further back Michael Herck took himself out of contention with an ill-advised move on Edoardo Mortara at the hairpin, after which the order of the race stayed fairly static as they accordioned around the fabled circuit.

Tiago Monteiro's Ocean Racing were looking to claim their first ever win with Chandhok easily in control of the race until the end of lap 20 when the Indian slowed across the line, heartbreakingly stopped with a suspected broken drive shaft, which handed the lead to Maldonado and prompted a safety car to compact the pack behind him.

Five laps later and Andreas Zuber was once again under pressure by Romain Grosjean, who jinked right but caught the Austrian's rear wheel and was sent flying and rolling into the barriers at Tabac, narrowly missing a fortunate cameraman and prompting another track visit for the safety car. With just two laps remaining and plenty of debris to clear, the race was red flagged soon after.

The upshot of which was another Monaco win for Maldonado, just ahead of d'Ambrosio and Hülkenberg, with Lucas di Grassi and Zuber in an improbably undamaged car just behind, while Vitaly Petrov picked up a point for sixth and another for fastest lap. The Russian closed his teammate's championship lead down to 13 points, with Grosjean on 31 and d'Ambrosio joining Petrov on 18 points.

GP Update

Hans

edit;this is the second race!

Hans Sneep · May 24, 2009

Compleet Result Monaco

Second race:

1 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix no time
2 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 1.505
3 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 3.545
4 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 4.480
5 A. Zuber FMS International + 6.494
6 V. Petrov Campos + 9.349
7 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 10.448
8 J. Villa Super Nova International + 53.234
9 S. Perez Arden International + 56.237
10 L. Razia FMS International + 57.770
11 G. van der Garde iSport International + 58.582
12 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 59.696
13 E. Mortara Arden International + 1:03.710
14 D. Nunes iSport International + 1:04.840
15 N. Panciatici Durango + 1:07.681
16 M. Herck DPR + 1 laps
Did not finish
17 R. Grosjean Campos + 2 laps
18 D. Valsecchi Durango + 2 laps
19 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 4 laps
20 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 4 laps
21 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 4 laps
22 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 6 laps
23 G. Ricci DPR + 9 laps
24 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 12 laps
25 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 25 laps

GP Update
Hans

Hans Sneep · May 24, 2009

First race Monaco

Result First race
Romain Grosjean has scored his second win of the season at Friday's Monaco Grand Prix. The Frenchman finished well ahead of team-mate Vitaly Petrov. Racing Engineering's Lucas di Grassi finished third in the GP2 feature race.

Grosjean led the field away as the lights went out, with Petrov forcing his way in front of a fast starting Nico Hülkenberg as the rest of the field looked for a way through St Devote: Andreas Zuber, di Grassi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio were the next men to follow in their wake as they climbed the hill towards the Casino.

The famously tight circuit lived up to its reputation as the Belgian held a train of cars in his wake, leaving pit strategy to write a new story: Luca Filippi did the best job with his stop to become the man to beat out of the pits, leapfrogging up to effective sixth position while di Grassi repeated that form further up the field to put himself onto a potential podium.

Filippi was stuck once again though, as Davide Rigon left his stop to the closing laps of the race: when he was finally released he pushed too hard to catch Zuber and clipped the kerb at the final corner to immediately finish his race, while Alvaro Parente, Javier Villa and Edoardo Mortara tripped over each other at the hairpin to shake up the order behind.

But it was Grosjean who punched the air with delight as he crossed the finish line 6.6 seconds ahead of his teammate Petrov, while di Grassi held off Hülkenberg for the final podium position. Zuber finished a strong race in fifth position ahead of d'Ambrosio and Karun Chandhok, while Villa claimed eighth despite a very crooked front wing in the closing laps. With Grosjean also taking a point for fastest lap, the Frenchman's lead in the championship continues to grow as his rivals look towards tomorrow's sprint race in an attempt to claw back some points.

1 R. Grosjean Campos 1:03:06.299
2 V. Petrov Campos + 6.600
3 A. Zuber FMS International + 31.040
4 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 47.984
5 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 49.443
6 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 59.777
7 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 1:01.789
8 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 1:20.236
9 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 1:21.248
10 J. Villa Super Nova International + 1:35.089
11 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 1:36.546
12 S. Perez Arden International + 1 ronde(n)
13 L. Razia FMS International + 1 ronde(n)
14 G. Ricci DPR + 1 ronde(n)
15 D. Valsecchi Durango + 2 ronde(n)
16 M. Herck DPR + 2 ronde(n)
Niet gefinisht
17 G. van der Garde iSport International + 7 ronde(n)
18 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 9 ronde(n)
19 E. Mortara Arden International + 10 ronde(n)
20 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 11 ronde(n)
21 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 27 ronde(n)
22 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 29 ronde(n)
23 D. Nunes iSport International + 32 ronde(n)
24 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 40 ronde(n)
25 N. Panciatici Durango + 41 ronde(n)

GP Update

Hans

Ivo Simons · May 24, 2009

Nice :skywalker:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5rsV0XCHLY[/ame]

Gareth Hickling · May 24, 2009

I was watching live on setanta in the UK. I bet the camera man has brown pants now!

Hans Sneep · May 25, 2009

That's a Big one happily no one get hurt (driver and camera man)

Thanks
Hans

Hans Sneep · May 31, 2009

Istanbul Park

Next race: June 5-6-7

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jun 6, 2009

First GP2 pole for Nico Hülkenberg

05 June 2009

Nico Hülkenberg has claimed his first ever GP2 pole position in qualifying for Saturday's feature race. The ART driver will start from the front at the circuit on which Lewis Hamilton stormed through the field to snatch place for the team in 2006. Luca Filippi impressed with a front row slot as championship leader Romain Grosjean lines up third.

21-year-old German Hülkenberg bided his time throughout the session before unleashing a lap of 1.34.404, setting all three fastest sectors with just five minutes remaining, and with Vitaly Petrov and Pastor Maldonado stopping on track immediately after with mechanical gremlins there were two yellow flag zones, and the session was effectively over.

With the drivers taking to the track once again in steaming conditions Hülkenberg set an early quick lap before Petrov took the top spot: the Russian driver looked untouchable, but his competitors kept nibbling away at his time, with Lucas di Grassi, Filippi and Karun Chandhok all closing in from behind.

Grosjean finally bested his teammate with six minutes remaining, but Hülkenberg was already on a charge, taking the top spot seconds later with Filippi in tow: Petrov suddenly slowed from a quick looking lap and pulled off to the side of the track, and when Maldonado's car started smoking there was no chance for anyone else to improve their times.

Petrov will nevertheless start from fourth tomorrow, ahead of Chandhok, Andreas Zuber and Alvaro Parente. With a number of drivers caught out of position on the grid, there promises to be fireworks when the lights go out in Istanbul tomorrow afternoon.

Provisional Starting Grid:

1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:34.404
2 L. Filippi Super Nova International 1:34.515
3 R. Grosjean Campos 1:34.586
4 V. Petrov Campos 1:34.713
5 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:34.762
6 A. Zuber FMS International 1:34.922
7 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:35.017
8 J. Villa Super Nova International 1:35.020
9 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:35.105
10 D. Valsecchi Durango 1:35.113
11 A. Valerio Piquet GP 1:35.141
12 G. van der Garde iSport International 1:35.151
13 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:35.193
14 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering 1:35.226
15 E. Mortara Arden International 1:35.284
16 D. Rigon Trident Racing 1:35.327
17 K. Kobayashi DAMS 1:35.360
18 D. Nunes iSport International 1:35.395
19 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS 1:35.412
20 L. Razia FMS International 1:35.806
21 G. Ricci DPR 1:35.850
22 D. Clos Racing Engineering 1:35.974
23 N. Panciatici Durango 1:36.031
24 S. Perez Arden International 1:36.050
25 M. Herck DPR 1:36.111
26 R. Teixeira Trident Racing 1:37.278

GP Update

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jun 7, 2009

Petrov claims Saturday thriller

06 June 2009

Vitaly Petrov took the chequred flag in a high eventful first GP2 race of the weekend in Istanbul. The Russian performed a fantastic double overtaking manourvre to enable him to take control before winning the feature race by a healthy six and a half second margin from Luca Filippi as Davide Valsecchi collected the final podium position.

Petrov's win was set up on the second lap when Filippi bravely threw his car inside race leader Nico Hülkenberg at the final corner: the pair narrowly avoided touching but both slid wide, giving Petrov a narrow but clear line through and into the lead by the end of the front straight, with the Italian slotting in behind him.

The front two made their excuses and left the rest of the field to their madness, with cars overtaking each other constantly up and down the remainder of the field who were running side by side throughout the race. Andreas Zuber looked to be the only other driver to be able to escape the melee when he slid past Hülkenberg, handing the German a large problem in the shape of Alvaro Parente.

Ultimately the Portuguese driver pushed too hard, spinning into retirement at Turn 8 and prompting a safety car period just after Filippi and Zuber had narrowly avoided each other as they escaped from the pits: Petrov was given a free pass in the pits and held on to the top spot ahead of the pair as he set about rebuilding his lead once again.

Behind him the second half of the race was less enjoyable for Zuber, who dropped like a stone over the last laps to fall out of the points: with Filippi holding on for a strong second place, Valsecchi took advantage of a safety car pitstop to leapfrog from tenth on the grid to push his countryman all the way to the flag for third, while Alberto Valerio drove a mature race to slot into fourth place, one ahead of a disappointed Hülkenberg, while Pastor Maldonado, Giedo van der Garde and Javier Villa rounded out the points.

But Petrov's win, along with his fastest lap, was enough to propel the Russian to second place in the championship table with 29 points, just two behind his championship leading teammate Romain Grosjean who retired from today's race, while Jérôme d'Ambrosio clings on to third on 18 points ahead of Maldonado, Hülkenberg and Filippi.

Complete list:
1 V. Petrov Campos 57:57.260
2 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 6.563
3 D. Valsecchi Durango + 7.155
4 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 19.649
5 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 19.948
6 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 23.967
7 J. Villa Super Nova International + 27.011
8 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 28.508
9 A. Zuber FMS International + 28.835
10 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 29.312
11 D. Nunes iSport International + 29.712
12 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 31.849
13 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 34.559
14 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 39.001
15 G. van der Garde iSport International + 50.216
Did not finish
16 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 8 laps
17 R. Grosjean Campos + 9 laps
18 E. Mortara Arden International + 14 laps
19 N. Panciatici Durango + 16 laps
20 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 19 laps
21 G. Ricci DPR + 20 laps
22 L. Razia FMS International + 21 laps
23 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 27 laps
24 M. Herck DPR + 30 laps
25 S. Perez Arden International + 33 laps
26 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 33 laps

Hans Sneep · Jun 7, 2009

First win of the season for Di Grassi

07 June 2009

Lucas di Grassi has taken his first win of the season, never headed in Istanbul's sprint race on Sunday morning. The Brazilian controlled the race comfortably for Racing Engineering, leading home Javier Villa and feature race winner Vitaly Petrov, who goes to the top of the standings after another poor result for Romain Grosjean.

The Brazilian led the field away from pole when the lights went out, and that was the closest they got to him all race, while behind him Davide Valsecchi and Luca Filippi resumed their battle from late in yesterday's race: the pair came together at turn one, with the former spinning around and into Andreas Zuber while the latter had his rear tyre shredded and had to limp all the way back to the pits for a replacement.

Di Grassi was determined to break his pursuer's spirits, and set a string of fastest laps with Villa the only driver who could stay within sight of the leader, albeit only just, while yesterday's race winner Petrov squeezed in behind them but didn't have the pace to stay with either man.

With the front men stringing out, the battle to watch was further back between Edoardo Mortara, Diego Nunes, Alvaro Parente and Romain Grosjean for ninth place: the Italian held on to the end despite race long pressure from Parente, but the then championship leader was unable to find a way by any of his competitors.

When the flag dropped it was di Grassi who was the object of everyone's applause, finishing almost four seconds ahead of Villa with Petrov 1.5 seconds further back after claiming third position by nipping inside Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado at the final corner of the first lap, while further back Alberto Valerio did a solid job to finish in the points for the second time this weekend.

Petrov's second Turkish podium gave him the championship lead from teammate Grosjean, with the Russian ahead by 33 points to 31, while di Grassi's victory moves him up to sixth spot with 16 points, 2 points behind Jérôme d'Ambrosio and one off the ART pair of Hülkenberg and Maldonado. It sets up an intriguing contest to come in Silverstone in just two weeks time.

Results:

1 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering 37:37.705
2 J. Villa Super Nova International + 3.853
3 V. Petrov Campos + 5.351
4 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 8.991
5 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 10.426
6 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 11.197
7 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 16.281
8 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 20.066
9 E. Mortara Arden International + 24.368
10 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 24.696
11 D. Nunes iSport International + 28.671
12 R. Grosjean Campos + 32.766
13 G. van der Garde iSport International + 34.631
14 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 35.446
15 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 40.023
16 S. Perez Arden International + 41.171
17 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 42.313
18 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 52.238
19 A. Zuber FMS International + 1:02.332
20 L. Razia FMS International + 1:37.768
Did not finish
21 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 4 laps
22 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 5 laps
23 G. Ricci DPR + 9 laps
24 N. Panciatici Durango + 11 laps
25 M. Herck DPR + 20 laps
26 D. Valsecchi Durango + 23 laps
GP Update

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jun 15, 2009

Silverstone

Next Race : Silverstone June 19-20-21-2009

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jun 21, 2009

Silverstone First race

Valerio takes first win at Silverstone
20 June 2009

Alberto Valerio claimed an impressive first GP2 race victory at Silverstone on Saturday. The Brazilian Piquet GP driver overhauled pole-sitter Romain Grosjean to lead home Lucas di Grassi by just over a second. Dropping to fifth, Frenchman Grosjean re-takes the championship lead for Campos after a first-corner incident for Vitaly Petrov dropped the Russian to the tail end of the field.

A conservative start for Valerio meant poleman Romain Grosjean led the field, minus a stalled Jérôme d'Ambrosio, into Stowe when the lights went out, but a string of fast laps saw the Brazilian all over the rear wing of the race leader, while behind them Alvaro Parente tapped Vitaly Petrov wide at the first corner to give di Grassi, Javier Villa and Nico Hülkenberg a chance to slot in behind the front pair.

With Sergio Perez the first man to take a pitstop from the rear of the field on lap seven the teams were nervously eyeing each other to see who was going to blink first, but back on track one lap later Valerio finally capitalised on all of the pressure he was bringing to bear by sliding easily inside and through Grosjean for the lead at Abbey before sailing off into the distance, with the Frenchman's mirrors soon full of another Brazilian as di Grassi attacked.

Two laps later and Grosjean lost another spot when he ran wide at Stowe and then tried to squeeze his rival, pushing too hard and running wide at Beckets before slotting back just in front of Hülkenberg, who was soon in to the pits rather than lose any more time on track. The move worked out: the German was the man to beat out of the pits, with Valerio the only man to manage it after his eventual stop on lap 15.

There were battles up and down the field after the stops shook out, most notably with Karun Chandhok looking everywhere for a way past Grosjean while Andreas Zuber sat behind them and waited to see what happened. But while Valerio was untouchable out in front, Hülkenberg was dropping back to the pack at the end of the race as a consequence of his early stop and now worn tyres, with di Grassi finally slipping by at Abbey, which forced the German to slide across to cover a fast charging Perez.

But when the flag dropped it was Valerio who was punching the air with joy at claiming his maiden win ahead of di Grassi, with Hülkenberg just holding on to claim the final podium spot ahead of Perez, who did an amazing job to move up from 25th on the grid to fourth place. Grosjean was next across the line, holding off Chandhok for fifth, while Pastor Maldonado slipped inside Zuber on the final lap for the final two points paying spots.

In the championship, Grosjean reclaims his slender lead by 37 points to 33 over teammate Petrov, with di Grassi moving up to third on 24 points, level with Hülkenberg but five ahead of Maldonado, with d'Ambrosio staying on 18 and Valerio now moving up to sixth place on 16 points.

The list:
1 A. Valerio Piquet GP 55:32.255
2 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 1.238
3 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 5.289
4 S. Perez Arden International + 5.550
5 R. Grosjean Campos + 14.409
6 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 16.392
7 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 22.184
8 A. Zuber FMS International + 26.889
9 M. Herck DPR + 36.321
10 D. Valsecchi Durango + 39.715
11 D. Nunes iSport International + 40.509
12 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 41.479
13 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 45.601
14 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 46.247
15 V. Petrov Campos + 46.415
16 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 59.096
17 G. Ricci DPR + 1:10.760
18 N. Panciatici Durango + 1:16.251
19 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 1:19.149
20 L. Razia FMS International + 1 laps
Did not finish
21 J. Villa Super Nova International + 6 laps
22 G. van der Garde iSport International + 8 laps
23 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 28 laps
24 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 35 laps
25 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 36 laps
26 E. Mortara Arden International + 36 laps
GP Update
Hans

Hans Sneep · Jun 21, 2009

Maldonado grabs feature race win

21 June 2009

Pastor Maldonado has taken victory in the second race of the weekend at Silverstone. The Venezuelan ART driver, who passed pole man Andreas Zuber off the start line, eventually crossed the line to win ahead of the FMS team's car under safety car conditions as Karun Chandhok registered the first ever podium finish for Ocean Racing Technology.

The victory was set up at the start when poleman Zuber made a good start but Maldonado made a better one, slipping inside and through into Stowe before pulling away to build a strong lead that did not look in doubt after the first few laps.

Behind the front pair Lucas di Grassi stalled on the grid, leaving the rest of the field to cycle by as best as they could: Chandhok and Romain Grosjean had the advantage of being ahead of the Brazilian on the grid and slotting in behind the front pair, along with Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Perez, with the rest of the grid unable to challenge them off the line.

Unfortunately the grid then stretched out behind Maldonado, with cool heads matching the conditions and not looking to make too many silly moves. With 3 laps to go Dani Clos, who had earlier had a small coming together with Luiz Razia, lost the rear of his car before stalling after a spin in the middle of a corner, prompting a safety car period which lasted until the final turn of the race.

And so it was that Maldonado held on for the win from Zuber, Chandhok (who claimed Ocean Racing's first podium), Grosjean, Hülkenberg and Perez. The result means that Grosjean has extended his championship lead over Barwa Addax teammate Vitaly Petrov by 40 points to 33, with the ART pair all equal on 26 points, just two ahead of di Grassi.

The list:
1 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix 35:27.000
2 A. Zuber FMS International + 0.618
3 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 3.417
4 R. Grosjean Campos + 3.447
5 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 3.856
6 S. Perez Arden International + 3.936
7 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 4.316
8 M. Herck DPR + 4.524
9 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 5.030
10 V. Petrov Campos + 5.463
11 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 5.916
12 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 6.553
13 G. van der Garde iSport International + 7.188
14 D. Valsecchi Durango + 8.300
15 J. Villa Super Nova International + 15.200
16 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 34.800
17 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 36.200
18 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 36.600
19 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 1 laps
20 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 1 laps
Did not finish
21 E. Mortara Arden International + 4 laps
22 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 4 laps
23 N. Panciatici Durango + 6 laps
24 L. Razia FMS International + 12 laps
25 D. Nunes iSport International + 23 laps
26 G. Ricci DPR + 23 laps
GP Update

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jul 8, 2009

Nurburgring

July 10-11-12 2009

Hans

Hans Sneep · Jul 11, 2009

Hülkenberg on pole at home

10 July 2009

ART's Nico Hülkenberg has clinched pole position ahead of his home feature race at the Nürburgring on Saturday. The 21-year-old will head the front row from Spain's Roldan Rodriguez with Lucas di Grassi and Pastor Maldonado behind them. Championship leader Romain Grojean will start from Row 7 and in fourteenth place.

Hülkenberg's best lap of 1.38.161 came after a session-long battle with his rivals for the top spot when he found a clear track with just five minutes remaining to edge his way past.

With rain spotting the track as the session opened, all of the drivers were immediately out to save a banker lap but, with the weather immediately easing, everyone stayed out as long as they could on their first set of tyres to see what they could claim. Luca Filippi, Javier Villa, Lucas di Grassi and Hülkenberg swapped the top spot between them in the opening minutes but, with the Brazilian on top as they returned for fresh rubber, it seemed as though the fight was effectively over.

Rodriguez was the first man back on track and was soon pushing hard; a few minutes later he was on top of the timesheets but Hülkenberg too was on the attack, claiming the top spot just before Filippi, who was also on a hot lap, went too fast into the chicane and lost the rear of his car, spinning and stopping in the middle of the island and prompting yellow flags in the process.

With the difference at the front being just 0.089 seconds, the German pushed for more on the final clear lap but just missed out on improving his time. It was enough, however, and with the top three followed by Pastor Maldonado, Villa, Andreas Zuber, Vitaly Petrov - who fastest in morning practice - and Diego Nunes tomorrow's race promises to bring the heat to a very cold Nürburgring.

Qualifying:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:38.161
2 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:38.250
3 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering 1:38.320
4 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:38.320
5 J. Villa Super Nova International 1:38.733
6 A. Zuber FMS International 1:38.852
7 V. Petrov Campos 1:38.888
8 D. Nunes iSport International 1:38.924
9 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:39.014
10 E. Mortara Arden International 1:39.018
11 S. Perez Arden International 1:39.094
12 L. Filippi Super Nova International 1:39.105
13 A. Valerio Piquet GP 1:39.114
14 R. Grosjean Campos 1:39.122
15 K. Kobayashi DAMS 1:39.301
16 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:39.345
17 D. Clos Racing Engineering 1:39.354
18 M. Herck DPR 1:39.439
19 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS 1:39.441
20 D. Valsecchi Durango 1:39.480
21 G. van der Garde iSport International 1:39.774
22 F. Perera DPR 1:40.509
23 R. Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:40.703
24 N. Panciatici Durango 1:40.848
25 R. Teixeira Trident Racing 1:41.613
26 L. Razia FMS International 1:41.969
GP Update

Hans Sneep · Jul 12, 2009

Hülkenberg takes first GP2 victory

11 July 2009

Nico Hülkenberg has clinched his first ever GP2 Main Series victory in Germany, leading from pole position in his home country. The ART driver took the win by an enormous fourteen seconds from Roldan Rodriguez as Andreas Zuber rounded out the podium. Championship leader Romain Grosjean finished outside the points.

Hülkenberg's victory was set up at the start, with the German making a solid getaway and sliding across the track to cover fellow front row starter Rodriguez, while Lucas di Grassi slotting between the pair as the field arrived at the first corner, and behind them Zuber made a great start to move up two spots and into fourth place.

With Rodriguez pushing di Grassi hard for his place back Hülkenberg was able to steadily build a lead, and all eyes turned to the pit-stop strategy for a change in position: Romain Grosjean led a string of cars in when the pits opened, and was soon running at such a pace that, when di Grassi came in 7 laps later, he was unable to stop the Frenchman sailing by further around the lap, along with Alvaro Parente.

Back at the front Hülkenberg, as the last driver to pit, was able to re-emerge at the front of the field and 8 seconds ahead of Rodriguez, and so it remained: the German continued to pull away and took a peerless win from Rodriguez and Zuber, who claimed his team's first podium of the season with a measured drive to third, while Vitaly Petrov held on against race long pressure from Javier Villa to claim fourth.

Behind them Parente was promoted to sixth position due to a penultimate lap hydraulic problem for Grosjean, with di Grassi slotting in just ahead of Sergio Perez, who claims the reverse pole for tomorrow. With Hülkenberg also picking up the point for fast lap he has cut Grosjean's championship lead to the bone: the Frenchman, on 40 points, leads by just one point with Petrov just behind the pair on 38.

Results:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:00:10.875
2 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 13.931
3 A. Zuber FMS International + 21.765
4 V. Petrov Campos + 29.116
5 J. Villa Super Nova International + 31.534
6 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 48.000
7 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 50.366
8 S. Perez Arden International + 51.117
9 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 1:04.414
10 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 1:05.226
11 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 1:09.066
12 G. van der Garde iSport International + 1:09.909
13 D. Valsecchi Durango + 1:15.106
14 M. Herck DPR + 1:15.721
15 R. Gonzalez Trident Racing + 1:22.721
16 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 1 laps
17 E. Mortara Arden International + 1 laps
Did not finish
18 R. Grosjean Campos + 2 laps
19 N. Panciatici Durango + 2 laps
20 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 11 laps
21 F. Perera DPR + 14 laps
22 D. Nunes iSport International + 25 laps
23 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 25 laps
24 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 29 laps
25 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 35 laps
26 L. Razia FMS International + 35 laps
GP Update

Hans Sneep · Jul 12, 2009

Hülkenberg handed victory at Nurburgring

12 July 2009

Nico Hülkenberg was handed victory in the second race at the Nürburgring as race leader Petrov was penalised for controversial drivers by the German race stewards. Hülkenberg's home weekend has therefore been a perfect one, with two race wins completed with two fastest laps and two pole positions.

Sunday's GP2 sprint race started in the wet after heavy rain last night. Vitaly Petrov enjoyed the best start and was leading the race in the opening laps. Petrov was ahead of Kobayashi, Parente, Hulkenberg, Villa and Valsecchi. Lucas di Grassi and Petrov touched each other very lightly and received a controversial drive through penalty for his actions. Meanwhile Di Grassi ran into the back of Perez in the first corner causing Di Grassi to end up in the gravel.

Hulkenberg soon moved up the field and while his main rivals were fighting each other the German could create a gap that would become as big as 26 seconds. Alberto Valerio managed to complete the fastest lap time on slicks but as the Brazilian was unable to finish in the top then the fastest lap was handed to Hulkenberg as he was second fastest.

The fastest lap, giving Hulkenberg one more point, makes it a perfect weekend for the ART Grand Prix driver. The last time we saw a driver complete a perfect weekend was back in 2006 when Nelson Piqet won both races too, started from pole position and claimed both fastest laps.

Hulkenberg finished his sprint race ahead of Alvaro Parente and Kamui Kobayashi.

Race Result's:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 46:49.622
2 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 26.454
3 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 33.501
4 V. Petrov Campos + 33.688
5 R. Grosjean Campos + 44.754
6 J. Villa Super Nova International + 50.075
7 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 52.520
8 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 53.951
9 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 56.954
10 D. Valsecchi Durango + 1:14.351
11 D. Nunes iSport International + 1:29.582
12 M. Herck DPR + 1:33.085
13 N. Panciatici Durango + 1:34.600
14 L. Razia FMS International + 1:35.180
15 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 1:39.570
16 F. Perera DPR + 1 laps
17 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 1 laps
Did not finish
18 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 2 laps
19 R. Gonzalez Trident Racing + 2 laps
20 S. Perez Arden International + 3 laps
21 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 10 laps
22 A. Zuber FMS International + 13 laps
23 E. Mortara Arden International + 17 laps
24 G. van der Garde iSport International + 23 laps
25 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 24 laps
26 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 24 laps
GP Update