2009 GP2 Series

[Hans Sneep]

Hülkenberg wins Hungaroring feature race

25 July 2009

After his successful double victory at the Nürburgring a fortnight ago Nico Hülkenberg has claimed his third victory of the season on Saturday at the Hungaroring. The German finished well ahead of Lucas di Grassi and Javier Villa.

The German made a strong start when the lights went out, moving up two places to third behind poleman di Grassi and Villa, with front row starter Vitaly Petrov making a slow getaway after being last man to make the grid while Davide Rigon went the other way: the Russian was ninth by the end of the lap while the Italian moved up from ninth on the grid to fourth on the road.

But with the twisting, undulating nature of the circuit making overtaking as difficult as ever it was clear that pitstop strategies were going to be all important, and so it proved: Villa was setting fast laps until he was the first of the front men to make a stop on lap ten, forcing the German to come in on the next lap. He emerged ahead and, with di Grassi coming in one lap later ahead of his rivals, it looked like the race was run.

But that lead was only to last for two corners, as Hülkenberg made a brave move around the outside at turn two and achieved the impossible by overtaking di Grassi for the effective lead of the race. As the drivers ahead of them eventually pulled into the pits the German pulled away from his rivals, none of whom could stay within sight.

The final result was never in doubt: as the laps rolled away it was Hülkenberg who was first to the chequered flag, 15 seconds ahead of di Grassi who lead Villa across the line by a second. Behind them Pastor Maldonado held on for fourth after pushing a little too hard on the penultimate lap to get on the podium and just won the drag race to the line with Davide Valsecchi, who was rewarded with fifth after running around the outside of Luca Filippi at turn one late in the race, with Giedo van der Garde in seventh and Davide Rigon claiming Trident's first point of the season in eighth.

As title rivals Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov both finished out of the points, with the Frenchman slicing up to tenth from last on the grid but the Russian retiring midway through the race with a suspected misfiring engine, the smile of Hülkenberg face was wider than usual: he extended his lead to 57 points, 15 ahead of Grosjean who leads his teammate by one, while di Grassi has now closed up on the pair with 36 points.


Results Race 1:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:04:46.079
2 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 15.338
3 J. Villa Super Nova International + 16.370
4 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 17.093
5 D. Valsecchi Durango + 17.156
6 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 23.102
7 G. van der Garde iSport International + 31.965
8 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 32.556
9 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 34.174
10 R. Grosjean Campos + 38.635
11 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 46.053
12 E. Mortara Arden International + 50.977
13 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 51.269
14 N. Panciatici Durango + 1:11.155
15 M. Herck DPR + 1:11.230
16 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 1:11.997
Did not finish
17 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 2 laps
18 D. Nunes iSport International + 6 laps
19 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 9 laps
20 V. Petrov Campos + 22 laps
21 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 41 laps
22 A. Zuber FMS International + 42 laps
23 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 42 laps
24 S. Perez Arden International + 42 laps
25 L. Razia FMS International + 42 laps
GP Update

 

[Hans Sneep]

Van der Garde claims maiden win in GP2

26 July 2009


Giedo van der Garde has won his first race in the GP2 series on Sunday morning. The iSport driver took the lead at the start and was unchallenged until the chequered flag was waved. Van der Garde finished ahead of Luca Filippi and Lucas di Grassi.

The victory was set up at the start when the Dutchman stormed off the line when the lights went out to slice his way past poleman Davide Rigon and into the lead, with Filippi slotting in behind him into turn one. Unfortunately for Rigon his getaway was slow and Pastor Maldonado was all over him, with the pair touching at turn nine: Rigon was out on the spot, with his rival eventually returning to the track at the back of the field.

Javier Villa avoiding the accident to slot into third position with his Italian teammate playing a waiting game, hoping that the rookie race leader would destroy his tyres and hand Filippi an opportunity to claim the top spot later in the race as he relied on his teammate to protect him from the advances of title challengers di Grassi and Romain Grosjean just behind.

But the Dutchman was not to be denied: he clung to his tiny lead despite everything, including a safety car, that was thrown at him to record his maiden victory with Filippi still breathing his fumes as they cross the line, with di Grassi and Grosjean crossing the line one second later after moving past Villa when he ran wide late in the race. The disappointed Spaniard had to make do with fifth place just ahead of Alvaro Parente, who soaked up enormous pressure from Nico Hülkenberg for the final points paying position.

Nevertheless the German maintains a strong lead in the championship with 57 points, while Grosjean closes the gap slightly by moving up to 45 points ahead teammate Vitaly Petrov, who capped a disappointing weekend by spinning out of contention today to remain on 41 points, now just one ahead of di Grassi after his two podium haul in yet another successful Hungaroring weekend for the Brazilian.

Results Race 2:
1 G. van der Garde iSport International 44:17.552
2 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 0.385
3 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 1.078
4 R. Grosjean Campos + 1.599
5 J. Villa Super Nova International + 2.093
6 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 3.461
7 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 3.748
8 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 4.089
9 D. Valsecchi Durango + 4.820
10 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 10.341
11 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 11.731
12 V. Petrov Campos + 11.822
13 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 12.353
14 E. Mortara Arden International + 13.112
15 D. Nunes iSport International + 13.552
16 S. Perez Arden International + 15.157
17 A. Zuber FMS International + 21.727
18 F. Perera DPR + 22.046
19 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 25.285
20 N. Panciatici Durango + 39.825
21 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 2 laps
Did not finish
22 L. Razia FMS International + 10 laps
23 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 15 laps
24 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 19 laps
25 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 28 laps
26 M. Herck DPR + 28 laps
GP Update

 

[Hans Sneep]

Next Round Valencia

22-23 August Street circuit Valencia:


General Information

Date: 22-23 August

Track info: length 5.440 km // Race 1: 34 laps - 185 km // Race 2: 23 laps - 125 km

Track surface: Smooth

Grip Level: Medium

 

[Wido Rossen]

Fisichella leaving GP2 serie`s

It has been a long and intense summer for Coloni Motorsport, busy with future planning of its motor racing activities. Coloni Motorport has now gone back to full management control of Scuderia Coloni, having completed the full acquisition of the share package from Fisichella Motor Sport Spa.

Together with the acquisition of this important asset, Coloni Motorsport is pleased to announce the multi-year agreement with its new title sponsor Party Poker Racing.com, a leader among online poker players, which has recently opened a site in italian language. Party Poker will debut as a title and main sponsor on the Coloni Motorsport GP2 cars from this weekend in Valencia.

The agreement with Party Poker will not be limited to GP2, but will extend to the Formula BMW Europe team. For technical reasons the new BMW team will not be competing in Valencia and Spa, but will debut in the final round of the championship in Monza in September


( source paddocktalk.com )

 

[Hans Sneep]

Hülkenberg on Valencia pole

21 August 2009



ART Grand Prix's Nico Hülkenberg has converted the fastest practice time into pole position for Saturday's first race of the weekend on the streets of Valencia. The championship leader, with former title contender Romain Grosjean now in Formula One, set the best time to start alongside now-closest rival Vitaly Petrov.

The German was at the sharp end of the timesheets throughout the session, but his best lap of 1:45.025 set late in the period put him four tenths ahead of his rivals and, when Petrov was struck down with an electrical gremlin and had to stop in the pits, the war was over.

Luca Filippi and di Grassi set the early running, but normal service soon returned as Petrov and Hülkenberg made the battle their own: the pair seemed to be on a different circuit to their rivals, who were unable to get close to the laps the title contenders were pulling in.

Filippi looked to get a jump on the field by getting out early on fresh tyres while the others sat in the pits, but the plan failed when he had a heavy shunt at turn 20, shattering his car and bringing out the red flags: thankfully he was unhurt, but the rest of the field had to sit in the oppressive heat of their cars while the track was cleared.

And when it was the remaining bunch sprinted out, with most improving their times, including Hülkenberg. Petrov looked to be catching him until he unexpectedly returned to the pits, and after a call onto the weighbridge was unable to restart the car due to an electrical problem: the German continued to circulate in case of emergency, but as the clock ran out the pole was his.

Behind the top three Sergio Perez returned to form with a fine fourth place, just ahead of Roldan Rodriguez, Alvaro Parente, Dani Clos and Karun Chandhok, but with the three title contenders in the first three positions it's fair to say that tomorrow all eyes will be glued to the front of the grid as the lights go out.

Start Positions Race 1:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:45.025
2 V. Petrov Campos 1:45.450
3 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering 1:45.654
4 S. Perez Arden International 1:45.669
5 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:45.758
6 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:45.901
7 D. Clos Racing Engineering 1:46.040
8 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:46.063
9 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:46.086
10 D. Nunes iSport International 1:46.203
11 J. Villa Super Nova International 1:46.264
12 D. Valsecchi Super Nova International 1:46.408
13 E. Mortara Arden International 1:46.496
14 L. Filippi Super Nova International 1:46.545
15 M. Herck DPR 1:46.648
16 A. Zuber FMS International 1:46.740
17 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS 1:46.745
18 A. Valerio Piquet GP 1:46.748
19 D. Rigon Trident Racing 1:46.826
20 K. Kobayashi DAMS 1:46.850
21 F. Perera DPR 1:46.945
22 L. Razia FMS International 1:47.089
23 N. Panciatici Durango 1:47.843
24 R. Teixeira Trident Racing 1:48.155
25 S. Coletti Durango 1:49.296
26 G. van der Garde iSport International 1:51.855
GP Update

 

[Omer Said]

Wow Hulkenberg really made a good gap with Petrov. I believe he won't lose that place easily because of Valencia's narrowness.

Thank you for keeping us update Hans :thanks:

 

[Wido Rossen]

Ai ai ai van der Garde....what happend there ?

 

[Hans Sneep]

Ai ai ai van der Garde....what happend there ?

Hit the wall in the beginning of the Quali.bent a whisbone and quit Quali.

Hans

 

[Hans Sneep]

Petrov wins Valencia feature race

22 August 2009

Russian's Vitaly Petrov made the most of a mistake by pole sitter Nico Hülkenberg to move in front and clinch the first race victory of the weekend in Valencia. The Campos Barwa Addax driver passed his rival on the second corner of the first lap and closes in on the championship leader in the process.
Perez, who made an equally impressive getaway to force his way by Lucas di Grassi, also took the opportunity presented to him to get alongside the German, but had to give way a few corners later, while Alvaro Parente and Roldan Rodriguez looked in vain similarly for a way by the Brazilian.

With overtaking at a premium on the fast, technical circuit all thoughts turned to pitstop strategy as the lead pair streaked away from the rest of the field. Edoardo Mortara, taking advantage of a great start to move up five spots from 13th on the grid, decided to risk even more by taking an early stop, but it was Hülkenberg stop on lap 11 and Petrov's one later that everyone was waiting for.

The Russian had a torrid first lap back as his rival, on warmer tyres, threw everything he had and more at his rival, who lived up to his imperious reputation as a rock solid defender, forcing Hülkenberg into using his tyres violently every time they came to the final turn, the main overtaking spot on the circuit.

Round and round they went, with no let up in the battle until, at last, the chequered flag dropped and Petrov was the victor by just 0.3 seconds. Perez was next, some 16 seconds behind the pair, while di Grassi lost out on fourth when he stopped a few laps from the end with suspected hydraulic issues. Parente claimed the spot the hard way, fighting back from a slower stop to force Roldan Rodriguez backwards after running too deep off the bridge.

Mortara crossed the line in sixth after a strong run to the flag, staying out of the trouble behind him, while Luca Filippi made up for his qualifying crash by finishing seventh from 14th on the grid, just ahead of Pastor Maldonado, who spun on the first lap and fought all afternoon for the final point. But while Petrov won the battle, Hülkenberg fastest lap extended his lead in the championship war to 17 points over the Russian, 68 points to 51.

1 V. Petrov Campos 56:24.157
2 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix + 0.396
3 S. Perez Arden International + 16.004
4 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 22.922
5 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 26.891
6 E. Mortara Arden International + 38.444
7 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 44.153
8 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 52.496
9 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 59.464
10 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 59.959
11 D. Valsecchi Campos + 1:05.003
12 D. Nunes iSport International + 1:07.196
13 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 1:07.612
14 M. Herck DPR + 1:14.817
15 G. van der Garde iSport International + 1:16.354
16 F. Perera DPR + 1:17.358
17 A. Zuber FMS International + 1:19.836
18 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 1:44.040
19 J. Villa Super Nova International + 1 lap(s)
20 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 3 lap(s)
Did not finish
21 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 26 lap(s)
22 S. Coletti Durango + 16 lap(s)
23 L. Razia FMS International + 3 lap(s)
24 N. Panciatici Durango + 3 lap(s)
25 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 2 lap(s)
26 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 0 lap(s)

15 th place van der Garde is not that bad after starting from last place.
GP Update-GP2 series

 

[Hans Sneep]

Maldonado excluded from race one

22/08/2009
Pastor Maldonado has been excluded from the results of this afternoon's race one in Valencia after post-race scrutineering discovered that the floor of the Venezuelan's car was too low on the right side of the vehicle.

Maldonado, who was tapped into a spin on the first lap after a coming together with Edoardo Mortara before staging a strong comeback to finish the race in eighth place and claim a point along with the reverse pole for tomorrow's race, had a bolt which held much of his car's floor in place work lose during the event.

As a result the car was in breach of the Technical Regulations, as the right side of the vehicle did not comply with the proscribed dimensions, and the exclusion was advised to the team.
GP2 Series

Kamui Kobayashi has been promoted to eighth in the results, and will start the race tomorrow morning from pole position, while Maldonado will start from the rear of the grid.

 

[Hans Sneep]

Hülkenberg claims another win

23 August 2009



ART Grand Prix driver Nico Hülkenberg has won Sunday's sprint race in Valencia after losing out on Saturday to Vitaly Petrov. The German dominated the incident-packed race before being joined by Sergio Perez and Petrov on the podium.

The win was set up at the start: Hülkenberg made a storming start to put himself in the best position to capitalise on any problems ahead. It was a smart move: Luca Filippi made an equally impressive getaway from the dirty side of the track to edge past poleman Kamui Kobayashi, who tapped his real wheel and spun the Italian at turn one, blocking the track and causing a predictable mess and a visit by the safety car.

At the restart Kobayashi held on despite his broken front wing, with Roldan Rodriguez trying to get by and spinning himself into the wall instead, promoting Hülkenberg to second as the safety car made a return, which became the lead just ahead of Perez at the restart as Kobayashi answered the black and orange flag being waved for his front wing.

The Mexican threw everything he had at his rival, while immediately behind him teammate Edoardo Mortara knocked Alvaro Parente into a spin to scatter the field behind, with Petrov finding the right line through the tyre smoke to put himself side by side with Jérôme d'Ambrosio, although he had to wait until the final turn before the move could stick for fourth, just as the safety car returned once more.

Mortara cut across the Russian's bow at the restart but was soon handed a drive through for causing the Parente spin, and yesterday's top three were back in control, albeit in a different configuration. Hülkenberg was able to set a string of fastest laps to build another strong lead over Perez, who held on admirably for the rest of the race to claim second just ahead of Petrov.

D'Ambrosio was fourth, a suitable reward for a patient drive, although he had his mirrors full of Diego Nunes' iSport for the second half of the race. Karun Chandhok claimed the final point to make up for losing out on the point he lost yesterday due to broken suspension, although Davide Rigon pushed him all the way to the flag for the position, while in the championship battle Hülkenberg stretched his legs once again to lead rival Petrov by 20 points as they look towards next weekend in Spa-Francorchamps.


Race Results:
1 N. Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 44:36.664
2 S. Perez Arden International + 11.609
3 V. Petrov Campos + 13.279
4 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS + 28.588
5 D. Nunes iSport International + 29.195
6 K. Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology + 31.608
7 D. Rigon Trident Racing + 32.181
8 P. Maldonado ART Grand Prix + 32.342
9 J. Villa Super Nova International + 34.554
10 A. Valerio Piquet GP + 35.134
11 K. Kobayashi DAMS + 39.416
12 E. Mortara Arden International + 40.955
13 L. Razia FMS International + 45.176
14 R. Teixeira Trident Racing + 48.860
15 N. Panciatici Durango + 1:18.378
16 F. Perera DPR + 2 lap(s)
Did not finish
17 D. Clos Racing Engineering + 12 lap(s)
18 S. Coletti Durango + 13 lap(s)
19 A. Parente Ocean Racing Technology + 18 lap(s)
20 R. Rodriguez Piquet GP + 21 lap(s)
21 L. Filippi Super Nova International + 22 lap(s)
22 D. Valsecchi Campos + 22 lap(s)
23 M. Herck DPR + 22 lap(s)
24 G. van der Garde iSport International + 22 lap(s)
25 A. Zuber FMS International + 22 lap(s)
26 L. Di Grassi Racing Engineering + 22 lap(s)
GP Update

 

[Hans Sneep]

Next Round Spa Francorchamps

28-30 August Spa Francorchamps

 

[Ross Balfour]

Crazy stuff and brilliant entertainment!!! Was like watching a real life public server!!

 

[Wido Rossen]

 

[Wido Rossen]

GP2 at Monza

The Monza event to be hold on the 12 / 13 th off September.

 

[Wido Rossen]

Qualifying times:

1. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team 1:30.007
2. Giedo Van der Garde iSport International 1:30.398 0.391 0.391
3. Nico Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:30.436 0.038 0.429
4. Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 1:30.460 0.024 0.453
5. Lucas Di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Engineering 1:30.504 0.044 0.497
6. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:30.596 0.092 0.589
7. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:30.634 0.038 0.627
8. Diego Nunes iSport International 1:30.729 0.095 0.722
9. Davide Valsecchi Barwa Addax Team 1:30.768 0.039 0.761
10. Andreas Zuber Scuderia Coloni 1:30.803 0.035 0.796
11. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:30.831 0.028 0.824
12. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:30.911 0.080 0.904
13. Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:30.922 0.011 0.915
14. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Engineering 1:31.021 0.099 1.014
15. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:31.024 0.003 1.017
16. Johnny Cecotto DPR 1:31.080 0.056 1.073
17. Luiz Razia Scuderia Coloni 1:31.112 0.032 1.105
18. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.160 0.048 1.153
19. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:31.303 0.143 1.296
20. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.325 0.022 1.318
21. Michael Herck DPR 1:31.347 0.022 1.340
22. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:31.455 0.108 1.448
23. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden International 1:31.887 0.432 1.880
24. Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:32.640 0.753 2.633

 

[Wido Rossen]

Results off race 1.

1. Giedo Van der Garde iSport International 32 0
2. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team 32 2.320
3. Lucas Di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Engineering 32 13.281
4. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 32 14.370
5. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden International 32 24.668
6. Nico Hulkenberg ART Grand Prix 32 24.967
7. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 32 30.785
8. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 32 34.057
9. Luiz Razia Scuderia Coloni 32 40.584
10. Davide Rigon Trident Racing 32 43.870
11. Diego Nunes iSport International 32 47.665
12. Andreas Zuber Scuderia Coloni 32 69.511
13. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 32 71.089
14. Davide Valsecchi Barwa Addax Team 32 71.994
15. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Engineering 32 108.139
DNF Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 31
DNF Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 31
DNF Johnny Cecotto DPR 30
DNF Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 29
DNF Michael Herck DPR 28
DNF Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 18
DNF Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 6
DNF Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 6
DNF Alberto Valerio Piquet GP

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Just saw race 1 on tv. What a great example of driving skills and teamwork that brought Guido victory! Awesome wet race. Wondering what they will make of it today

 

[Omer Said]

Just watched the Portugal GP. Was a wonderful fun. Never been a lap without an overtake. Kobayashi's attacks on last laps were perfect. Also i saw this track for the first time. IS it a new Track ?

 

[Martin Bulgin]

The track looks great, they said it was built in 2007.