UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > GP2- France and Great Britain

Reports from last two meetings

France

The GP2 series finally returned to action at Magny-Cours, France after a long break while the Formula One circus toured North America.

After round three in Monaco, the championship was lead by Timo Glock driving for iSport who has 34 points. Luca Fillippi of Super Nova is second with 19 points with Bruno Senna third for Arden with 18 points.

The big news on the driver front was that former Formula One driver Antonio Pizzonia had been dropped by FMS International. His place would be taken by former GP2 race winner Adam Carroll, currently racing for Audi in the DTM. Also, ART driver Michael Ammermuller returned to the cockpit after missing the Spanish and Monaco rounds with a wrist injury. Another driver returning to GP2 action was Ernesto Viso who replaces Sergio Jimenez at Racing Engineering.

In the Friday practise session the timing sheet showed as always iSport topping the times. This time it was Andres Zuber who twice this season has stalled from the front row of the grid and lost big points. Less that a tenth-of-a-second behind was Giorgio Pantano driving for Campos Racing who was impressing many with his pace this weekend. Third place went to Pastor Maldonado of Trident, trying to prove that his incredible win in Monaco was not a one off. The returnees all struggled; Ammermuller was fifteenth with Viso eighteenth and Carroll could only mange to set the 22nd fastest time and was over a second and a half slower than Zuber.

Qualifying was the same as we have come to expect this year. iSport one-two. Championship leader Glock is on pole and Zuber is second hoping he can finally get of the line. Third place belongs to Bruno Senna driving for Arden on a grid where there is just one second separating pole man Glock and Xandi Negrao who will start fifteenth for Minardi Piquet Sports. Ammermuller will start twelfth on his return with Viso nineteenth and Carroll improved on practise and will line-up fourteenth.

The sprint race was won by Pantano in what was a dramatic restarted race to give Campos their first ever GP2 win. It started in comical fashion as the two iSport cars that locked out the front row in qualifying had a collision just seconds into the race eliminating both on the spot. This is now the third time in a row that Zuber has started on the front row and failed to make it to the third corner.

Just seconds later events would take a horrific turn. Ernesto Viso driving for Racing Engineering who attempted a risky move through the middle of two cars in front however Viso hit the back of Ammermuller’s car and was catapulted into the air barrel rolling over a wall and coming to rest on the other side. Thankfully the FIA Medical Delegate has reported that he is “stable and conscious”.

During three laps behind the safety car most of the field made their mandatory pit stop before the organisers took the decision to stop the race while the medics were tending to Viso. After an hour the race restated with Kohei Hirate leading for Trident from Karun Chandhok of Durango as the only two drivers not to have pitted before the race was stopped.

The race resumed behind the safety car. After one lap the safety car pulled in and the race resumed. At the Adelaide Hairpin on the first racing lap there was another clash between teammates. Mike Conway was tipped into a spin by Super Nova teammate Fillippi. With the field still compact after the restart Conway had to wait until the entire field had passed.

The order was shaken up again when race leader Hirate was called into the pits for a drive through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags before the race was stopped. Soon after second place Chandhok spun off into the gravel. This gave the lead to Pantano from ART driver Lucas di Grassi.
With the early stops there were always going to be tyres problems. Later into the race DAMS driver Nicolas Lapierre was starting to move up through the field and into the points.

In contrast Maldonado was going the other way. He was fourth but in the final few laps he dropped all the way down to tenth.

During Lapierre’s rise and Maldonado’s fall they came across each other. Maldonado was very slow and it caught Lapierre by surprise and the Frenchman spun attempting to avoid the Venezuelan. The spin dropped him behind Petrov, Zaugg and Javier Villa of Racing Engineering. However he was able to catch and pass Maldonado to claim the final point

At the front Pantano was leading comfortably with di Grassi equally comfortable in second. The battle for third was heating up. There was nothing left of Fillippi’s tyres and on the last lap he locked up and Senna was able to sneak past into the final podium place.

The remaining points went to Petrov in fifth, Zaugg in sixth, Villa in seventh and after an eventful race Lapierre in eighth. The bonus point for fastest lap went to Roldan Rodriquez of Minardi Piquet Sports with a time of 1:23.405 set on lap 39

Villa won the sprit race on Sunday morning from second on the grid in one of the least memorable GP2 races ever. It was a race that was dominated by pole sitter Lapierre before throwing it into the wall with just a few laps to go.

After overnight rain uncertainty greeted the drivers as they raced into the first corner. Not surprisingly they ran in grid order for the first few corners until they found the grip. It was Lapierre building up a huge advantage over Villa with the two Arden cars behind.

This weekend will be remembered for team mates taking each other out of the race. The example set by iSport and Super Nova in Saturday’s race was copied by the Arden cars. In a battle Senna attempted to pass Zaugg. Zaugg was sent into the gravel before limping back to the pits to retire. Senna was able to resume but soon dropped down the order.

Rain threatened throughout the race with mechanics and team bosses alike with their heads pointed skywards looking for the first signs of rain. However the rain did not put in an appearance and the race remained dry.

Out the front Lapierre was dominating on his home track and was clear ahead of Villa in second. However in the last few laps Lapierre while leading comfortably skidded off the track at the Adelaide Hairpin, right over the run off the run off area, across the gravel and into the tyre wall.

When Villa approached the corner he braked hard to ensure that he made it around and not follow Lapierre off the road but it emerged that it was a technical problem caused the accident and not a driver error by Lapierre.

Villa was able to stay on the road to take victory. Second place went to Fillippi with Pantano completing the podium. The rest of the points went to di Grassi in fourth, Petrov fifth and Nakijima scored the final point for sixth. Zuber earned himself the bonus point for setting the fastest lap setting a time of 1:23.614 set on lap seven.

After round four of the championship Glock is still leading the championship. After only picking up the two points for pole he now has 39. Second is Fillippi who has 31 points just ahead of di Grassi in third with 29.

Great Britain

The GP2 championship returns just one week since the dramatic events at Mangy Cours as the support race for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After round four of the championship Timo Glock leads the championship for iSport with 39. Second is Super Nova driver Luca Fillippi who has 31 points just ahead of Lucas di Grassi of ART in third with 29.

Following his horrific accident in the Mangy Cours feature race, Ernesto Viso obviously misses the race. His place in the Racing Engineering team is taken by Filipe Albuquerque who is a regular in the World Series by Renault this season.

Fridays practise session saw the usual sight of Glock at the top of the times. Second place went to Britain’s own Mike Conway driving for Super Nova. Conway made his GP2 debut at this event last year and his experience is obviously helping him. Third fastest was Kazuki Nakijima for DAMS less than three-tenths of a second off Glock’s pace. Newcomer Albuquerque had problems. He had to pull off the track after only two corners and therefore set no time.

Qualifying in cold conditions caught out many drivers on new tyres. Andres Zuber starts from pole for iSport just ahead of home hero Conway in second. Di Grassi starts third for ART. Drivers who had problems in the session included Glock who spun and was only able to qualify fifth. Bruno Senna had bigger problems. He also spun but unlike Glock he wasn’t able to rejoin in the Arden and will start in twenty-sixth and last place. Albuquerque will start from a respectable nineteenth on his debut.
The feature race on Saturday afternoon saw a much needed return to form for Zuber. From his fourth front row start of the season he finally made it to the first corner in one piece.

The original start was abandoned due to Andy Soucek stalling his DPR car. Despite the fact that he was starting from last on the grid the start was abandoned.

When the race eventually got going Zuber lead around the first corner under intense pressure from Conway, Di Grassi. Nakijima got a slow start falling behind Glock and FMS racer Adam Carroll. Further back Giorgio Pantano made a lightning start moving from thirteenth on the grid up into ninth place.

All the leaders made their pit stops with in a few laps of each other apart from Carroll. This left Carroll in the lead from Vitaly Petrov for Campos. Zuber had dropped to third still just ahead of Conway.

Carroll was making the most of the clear track in front of him by building an advantage over Zuber in an attempt to keep his lead after he had pitted. On lap fifteen Glock returned to the pits and stopped at the top of the pit lane. It later emerged that his battery had given up on him.

When Carroll made his pit stop the FMS team did a great job getting him back out right in third place right on Conway’s tail. However his challenge would soon be ended when he was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He would drop to sixth place one he had taken the penalty.

The was a big accident further back down the pack featuring Nicolas Lapierre. The Frenchman had a mechanical problem causing the car to pitch left approaching the fast right handed turn one. Due to the damage caused in the crash Lapierre was forced to sit out of Sundays sprint race.

Senna was moving up the field well after being allowed to start despite not setting a time within 107% of pole after his off in qualifying yesterday. His progress was halted when he caught Ammermuller in tenth place.

With Carroll’s penalty Nakijima was promoted into third. Di Grassi finished fourth, Fillippi fifth. Carroll was sixth despite his penalty; Pastor Maldonado was seventh for Trident with Roldan Rodriquez scoring the final point and pole for the sprint race by finishing eighth for Minardi Piquet Sports.

The fastest lap was set my Glock after he had rejoined following his earlier problems. He set it on lap twenty with a time of1:30.952

Thousands of fans piled into Silverstone on Sunday morning hoping to see a British driver win his home Grand Prix. Unlike Lewis Hamilton in the main race, Adam Carroll ensured that they did not leave disappointed after claiming victory in the GP2 sprint race.

Starting third on the grid he immediately moved into second place when Rodriquez had a bad start from pole. Carroll followed the other front row started, Maldonado into the first corner.

Championship leader Timo Glock started in twenty-first place after his retirement on Saturday and was determined to make up as many places as possible. All was going to plan until he came up behind the two Arden cars. After an incredible battle he was able to pass Senna and then a lap latter he passed Zaugg for twelfth place. However he would not get any further up the order as just over halfway through the race Zaugg hit the back of Glock’s car punting him into retirement for the fourth race running. Zaugg was able to resume and eventually finished nineteenth.

At the front Maldonado was still leading comfortably for Carroll until there was seven laps to go where a mistake from him allowed Carroll to pass and move in the lead for victory.

Approaching the end of the race there was a train of cars behind Di Grassi in fourth. In the train was Conway, Fillippi and Zuber. With Glock out of the race Fillippi needed to points to close the gap to Glock. When attempting to pass teammate Conway he spun losing his point for sixth place to Glock’s teammate, Zuber. Di Grassi was able to hold onto fourth to the end of the race, where he was followed by Conway and Zuber.

In between the two battles Nakijima had an uneventful run to third. He also set the fastest lap on lap twenty-one with a time of 1:30.590.

After five rounds and nine races of this years championship there has now been nine different winners driving for eight different teams. Glock still leads the championship despite no points over the last two races. He still has 39. Di Grassi is now in second place with 37 points and Fillippi is third with 35 points.

Written: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:20:14