UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > GP2: Piquet makes it a perfect weekend

Nelson dominates in the wet

Nelson Piquet Jr is the first driver in GP2 history to have a perfect point scoring weekend after dominating in miserable conditions to win race two at the Hungaroring, finishing well ahead of the ART pair of Lewis Hamilton and Alex Premat.
Piquet's took pole position, both race wins and both fastest laps, and he made the drenched track in today's race look like perfect racing conditions as he took the chequered flag by almost thirteen seconds.
The heavy rain forced the race officials to start the race behind the safety car, but Giorgio Pantano was not with the grid as they moved off, having spun into the wall on his way around to the grid, forcing the Italian into the pits for some rapid repair.
The race went live on lap three, with a number of drivers unable to brake hard enough for turn one as everyone searched for their wet race pace. Adam Carroll was the first man to find it after pressuring pole man Jose Maria Lopez into a spin at turn two: the Argentine driver was into the wall and out of the race as the Ulsterman steamed off in the lead.
Behind him Xandi Negrao headed Premat and teammate Piquet, who had a strong start to move up four places from eighth but had title rival Hamilton right on his tail. Unfortunately for Negrao his race too was about to end when he spun under braking into the wall at turn one next time by.
Piquet was on a mission, and his pressure soon paid dividends when Premat ran wide, leaving a gap large enough for Piquet but not for his teammate, clearing the track for the Brazilian to allow him to create the first of a string of fastest laps.
Next time around and there was heartbreak for Carroll, who slid off the kerbs and into the wall, tearing his front wing off in the process. Piquet snapped up the lead and was gone as the Ulsterman was slipping and sliding his way back to the pits for a new nose.
Further back and Timo Glock was on a mission to reclaim the positions he lost after running wide earlier in the race. On lap nine he easily dispatched Ferdinando Monfardini into turn two, and with Lucas di Grassi spinning by himself into the wall at turn three the German gained two places up to fifth in as many corners.
Further around the track Hamilton took his chance to muscle past his teammate, seeing his lead in the championship being eaten into as Piquet pulled further away at the front of the field and determined to do what he could to mitigate the damage.
Ernesto Viso was also reveling in the treacherous conditions, catching Premat hand over fist as he tried to break his string of fourth place finishes with a podium. Having his teammate catching up merely added to his incentive to push up, and the iSport pair were soon on the tail of the unhappy Frenchman.
The three were together at lap eighteen, and with Viso unable to find a way past Glock took his chance and slid up the inside of his teammate into turn two. Unfortunately for him it meant he also missed his braking point, and Viso was back through as Glock slid harmlessly wide.
With so many drivers spinning off in the soaking conditions there was no chance of the race running its full length, but at the front Piquet continued on imperiously, continuing to set fastest laps to which Hamilton had no reply.
And at the end of the 45 minutes Piquet was greeted by the chequered flag, much to the delight of his father in the pit lane, while Hamilton had to make do with second place, much to his chagrin.
Premat managed to hold the iSport pair behind him to finish, just, on the podium, with Viso and Glock crossing the line on his tail, while Monfardini did enough to hold on for the final point in sixth place in a race which saw only 14 drivers finish on track.
The Piquet Sports team were ecstatic in the pit lane as their driver rolled to a halt in front of them, jumping straight out to hug his father and salute his team. And they had every right to be pleased; having just seen Piquet cut the 26 point deficit to Hamilton at the start of the weekend to just 11.
Race Results

CLASSIFIED

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Piquet Jr. Piquet Sports 45:59.804
2. Hamilton ART Grand Prix + 12.921
3. Premat ART Grand Prix + 26.202
4. Viso iSport International + 26.872
5. Glock iSport International + 27.231
6. Monfardini DAMS + 41.114
7. Valles Campos Racing + 47.508
8. Bruni Trident Racing + 50.314
9. Zuber Trident Racing + 55.918
10. Petrov DPR + 63.711
11. Ammermueller Arden International Ltd + 66.434
12. Porteiro Campos Racing + 95.075
13. Pantano FMS International + 110.317
14. Tahinci FMS International + 1 Lap
15. Villa Racing Engineering + 2 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED:

Driver Team Laps
Yoshimoto BCN Competicion 18
Hernandez Durango 17
Lapierre Arden International Ltd 12
Carroll Racing Engineering 12
Di Grassi Durango 10
Perera DAMS 8
Fauzy Super Nova International 7
Piccione DPR 5
Negrao Piquet Sports 4
Filippi BCN Competicion 4
Lopez Super Nova International 4

Falsest lap: Piquet Jr., 1:51.716 on lap 13

Written: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:49:14