GP2 R1, Valencia - The Event Thread

[Kidzer]

Good race today by Ammermuller!

AC had an interesting end to his, a testament to the strength of the car.

[luke]

Carroll had quite a crash....

[flexible-flyer]

ammermuller walked it, like piquet yesterday. ART still look good though. arden strong too. carroll's crash doesnt surprise me. his car is god awful so he is trying new an innovative ways to get past people.

arden though, i think i underestimated them for this year, they look good. piquetsports and ART are the top guns though. and supernova.

[Kebab]

Watched with interest today - Hamilton is looking very impressive & dangerous!! Seems hard to overtake without the person in front making a big mistake or having a terrible car, which is disappointing - there may be less overtaking as the season goes on and teams find their setups.

Which makes reversing the grid for the 2nd race rather daft, I'd say.

[Knowlesy]

Hamilton is really confirming his promise! Great to see!

Feel sorry for Carroll, drove excellently all weekend and has no reward whatsoever.

[SALEEN S7R]

Indeed 2 great races for Hamilton, a bad weekend for Carroll but maybe things will go more smoothly at San Marino.

[nickyf1]

that was a huge crash carrol had! not a good crash, that was nasty, when he got out and smiled, it reminded me of when Jaques Villeneuve was dissapointed that his crash was'nt as big as Zontas in the Qually for the 99 belgian GP!

[strider]

Overtaking is particularly difficult around Valencia, as the commentators said. Viso was clearly holding up Lapierre and Piquet.

I think the revised cars, with slick tyres and less rear wing, are great - much better to watch.

Overall, I was slightly disappointed by Hamilton this weekend, but that's better than having him dominate totally from the start, which was what testing suggested. We want a real competition this year! In any case he certainly overshadowed his far more experienced team-mate.

I hope that when they rebuild/replace Adam's car it comes back much better than new!

[IceStar]

Race 2 results:

1 Ammermuller Arden International 38:44.066
2 Viso iSport International + 9.756
3 Lapierre Arden International + 10.213
4 Piquet Jr. Piquet Sports + 10.975
5 Bruni Trident Racing + 16.537
6 Hamilton ART Grand Prix + 18.510
7 Negrao Piquet Sports + 32.746
8 Glock BCN Competicion + 37.391
9 Villa Racing Engineering + 44.084
10 Fauzy Super Nova International + 55.125
11 Gommendy iSport International + 60.402
12 Yoshimoto BCN Competicion + 63.704
13 Zuber Trident Racing + 66.274
14 Perera DAMS + 69.772
15 Pla DPR + 81.534
16 Di Grassi Durango + 1 Lap (DNF)

Fastest lap: Zuber 1:21.244 on lap 3

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by foxy mole

Overall, I was slightly disappointed by Hamilton this weekend,

Overall, I thought he did a sterling job.

His starts did leave a lot to be desired it must be said....but thereafter he drove well and didn't get tangled up or throw it off the road.

Good effort.

[IceStar]

After the race, Zuber was deemed ineligible for the fastest lap as he began the race from the pitlane. The fastest lap was awarded to Nelson. /piquetsports.com/

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by nickyf1

that was a huge crash carrol had! not a good crash, that was nasty, when he got out and smiled, it reminded me of when Jaques Villeneuve was dissapointed that his crash was'nt as big as Zontas in the Qually for the 99 belgian GP!

Did he smile because he (indirectly) took off López from the race???

[SALEEN S7R]

No I dont think it was like that Mekola, I think it was more of a releived smile. The crash was pretty big and to walk away from it unharmed was very fortunate even in this day and age where the car safety is so good.

[Russfeld]

How is starting from the pitlane an advantage.

[Sephirot1]

GP2 Analysis:

Round 1: Valencia.

Race 1 results:

1 PIQUET Piquet Sports 45 1:03:15.360
2 HAMILTON ART Grand Prix 45 +16.665
3 VALLES Campos Racing 45 +19.490
4 LAPIERRE Arden International 45 +31.309
5 LOPEZ Super Nova International 45 +33.526
6 BRUNI Trident Racing 45 +33.994
7 AMMERMULLER Arden International 45 +35.387
8 VISO iSport International 45 +48.275
9 PREMAT ART Grand Prix 45 +53.028
10 PLA DPR Direxiv 45 +59.040
11 PERERA Dams 45 +65.229
12 MONFARDINI Dams 45 +71.427
13 NEGRAO Piquet Sports 45 +71.719
14 CARROLL Racing Engineering 45 +74.261
15 FAUZY Super Nova International 44 1 LAP
16 GLOCK BCN Competicion 44 1 LAP
17 DI GRASSI Durango 44 1 LAP
18 VILLA Racing Engineering 42 3 LAPS

Not Classified

YOSHIMOTO BCN Competicion 27 DNF
ZUBER Trident Racing 23 DNF
FILIPPI FMS International 15 DNF
PORTEIRO Campos Racing 7 DNF
HERNANDEZ Durango 4 DNF
GOMMENDY iSport International 2 DNF
PICCIONE DPR Direxiv 1 DNF
TAHINCI FMS International 0 DNF

Fastest lap: LAPIERRE Arden International 1:22.168


Race 2 results:

1 Ammermuller Arden International 38:44.066
2 Viso iSport International + 9.756
3 Lapierre Arden International + 10.213
4 Piquet Jr. Piquet Sports + 10.975
5 Bruni Trident Racing + 16.537
6 Hamilton ART Grand Prix + 18.510
7 Negrao Piquet Sports + 32.746
8 Glock BCN Competicion + 37.391
9 Villa Racing Engineering + 44.084
10 Fauzy Super Nova International + 55.125
11 Gommendy iSport International + 60.402
12 Yoshimoto BCN Competicion + 63.704
13 Zuber Trident Racing + 66.274
14 Perera DAMS + 69.772
15 Pla DPR + 81.534
16 Di Grassi Durango + 1 Lap (DNF)

Fastest lap: Zuber 1:21.244 on lap 3


Alexandre Premat: for the looks of both races, it may be a hard year for Alex. In the first race, having Hamilton in the rear made him make a mistake and that was the end of his race, all the sand in his already damaged tyres meant his race finish. Bad luck took him out of the second race.

Rating: 5/10

Lewis Hamilton: both starts were really awful but he was one of the most aggressive drivers this weekend. He is showing his true potential amd he is a title contender but we still have to see how ART do.

Rating: 9/10

Michael Ammermüller: he has really surprised me. After some regular tests, he classified very up in the grid and did a great job overtaking Viso. His second race was simply great too, he had no problems controlling it from the beginning.

Rating: 9/10

Nicolas Lapierre: very good job. Arden had a very strong car this weekend and Nicolas took advantage of it. In the first race, he took Zuber out the track and he wasn’t able to overtake Viso in the second one.

Rating: 7.5/10

José MarÃ*a López: not enough. He should have done way more. Not bad in the first race and he got involved in the accident during the second one but that wasn’t enough.

Rating: 6.5/10

Fairuz Fauzy: he did two typical races, always in the rear. One of the very few not-deserving drivers in GP2.

Rating: 2/10

Ernesto José Viso: he had a very strong performance yet he got beaten by Ammermüller everytime they met. He has a good car but I still wonder if he will be able to be regular this year.

Rating: 7/10

Tristan Gommendy: he classified second but lost a place in the start. His car said goodbye soon afterwards. He was nowhere to be seen in the second race.

Rating: 6/10

Adam Carroll: he did almost all the spectacle in the races. With a bad car, he overtook Fauzy, di Grassi and Negrao but he had big problems with his tyres. His second race ended with an spectacular accident.

Rating: 8.5/10

Javier Villa: with some motor problems in the first race, he had a strange race and did almost nothing. However, he did a pretty good job in the second race. He has future.

Rating: 6/10

Nelson Angelo Piquet: he did the best weekend in his whole life. One pole, one absolute victory and a peaceful fourth place locks him in the top position of the leaderboard. Will he continue this way? We will see.

Rating: 9.5/10

Alexandre Negrao: nothing special, although his car seems to be in a very good pace. He did a nasty move with Carroll.

Rating: 5/10

Ferdinando Monfardini: I almost didn’t see him, he was overtaken by Perera and that is not good for a second year driver.

Rating: 5/10

Franck Perera: he beat his team’s leader but that was all he did. He seemed to be doing well in the tests but...

Rating: 5.5/10

Luca Filippi: FMS is not a good team, that is pretty clear, however Luca was not doing a really bad job in the first race when his car stopped.

Rating: 5/10

Jason Tahinci: bad luck and bad racing drove him out of both races. He was even close to crying in the pit.

Rating: 0.5/10

Hiroki Yoshimoto: he doesn’t seem to show his true potential. He didn’t do anything special.

Rating: 5/10

Timo Glock: nothing special, I was expecting more. He even crashed in the first race.

Rating: 4/10

Olivier Pla: DPR-Direxiv is very far away from a nice pace, Pla suffered from that problem.

Rating: 5/10

Clivio Piccione: one crash, two crashes... What a bad weekend!

Rating: 2.5/10

Lucas di Grassi: I think it is the car but he didn’t do a good race, he even had a mistake and was close to hit one of the Ardens because he didn’t look while returning to the track.

Rating: 5/10

Sergio Hernández: bad luck, big problems, bad driver... He doesn’t deserve a seat in GP2.

Rating: 4/10

Adrián Vallés: a podium in the first race was a real surprise but his fast pace deserved it. He wasn’t able to score a point in the second race because his tyres were in a really bad state.

Rating: 8/10

Félix Porteiro: he had problems with the car twice. I wasn’t able to see him but his start in the first race was awful.

Rating: 5.5/10

Gianmaria Bruni: Trident looks to be a force to be reckoned with. Bruni did a good job but his races were just too simple, his car is fast but he doesn’t try to make any move to overtake.

Rating: 7/10

Andreas Zuber: he showed great pace but an accident with Lapierre destroyed his weekend, he is going to have hard fights with his teammate.

Rating: 7.5/10

[chunterer]

Sound analysis Sephirot!

For what it's worth my own views are thus:

Piquet was much stronger than i'd suspected so full marks to him and his team for finding something extra over the winter.

Glad my predictions are right that ART aren't in a different league this year (mind you that's not to say they might not find a special ingredient after a few rounds like they did last year?)

Overall strong signs of close competition throughout the season already. I don't buy into the suggestion that certain people gained from lots of local knowledge, like Valles and ex Nissan WS people.

Both Arden drivers will be strong. Ammermuller is clearly a new ace and lets see if he can sustain it throughout the year.

Lapierre did quite well but he really ought to have done Viso early on in R2and then probably had the pace to challenge his younger teammate afterwards. Remember he suffered a lot last year through poor reliability more than lack of pace and his A1 drives will have given him lots of confidence so I fully expect him to be in the hunt regularly.

Hamilton looked pretty racy - there is no doubt that he is a title contender - and Premat will have it tough against him this year.

Valles looked pretty strong (I suspect that will be the case at most races and he is looking like a dark horse for honours). He was good in WSR 3.5 last year at most venues so it can't be down to local circuit knowledge. The guy is clearly good.

Lopez will need to find a bit to run at the front.

Shame for Gommendy - he did an ace job to qual P2 and robbed by mechanical failure early on. Race 2 kept out of trouble and was one of those starting from pits wasn't he? We'll obviously see more of him throughout the season.

Carroll is going to be wasted at RE unless they get a set up on the cars. He is clearly best racer in the field but thatis not much good if he's battling back up the field from the lower orders because he isn't able to get the thing to work in qualifying..

[flexible-flyer]

well with the first weekend over my thoughts are that the top few teams are closer than last year. ART are still top gun but piquetsports have improved big time and arden look fantastic. super nova have also improved. isport look pretty good. on the other hand i think racing engineering have gone downhill. DPR, BCN, durango, dams. these guys look pretty tame. trident look handy though. FMS would be interesting to watch if they had a decent enough driver. campos is interesting, but can they do it outside of iberia?

driver-wise, hamilton, piquet, lapierre. top guys of the top teams. they all look good. surprised that lopez was not as quick as testing showed but he will be back. ammermuller was very good in race 2. maybe he could jump into the top 3 pool soon? viso looked handy and gommendy would have been interesting to watch in race 1 had his car held up. valles. nice performace. but will it just be another irvine/suzuka thing?

other notable guys-
premat- despite his problems, still outperformed, as expected, by the hammer.
negrao- clearly benefitting from a quicker car this season but still pretty much out of his depth in my view
glock- i think he might start to regret his move. he is in a bad car and just because he is a veteran of f1 and champcars doesnt mean he has a divine right to look good here. i feel for him because he is a better driver than his car would suggest.
carroll- complete idiocy for not pitting early in race 1 in my view. yes he did alot of overtaking but in fauzy, glock, di grassi and negrao he was overtaking drivers he shouldnt even be behind in the first place. same as glock- car not up to speed.
di grassi- durango are not a great team but i still expected a bit better. still one of the best drivers.
zuber- never rated him in the past but he looks capable this year. i would keep an eye out for him
bruni- solid

[Croc]

Originally Posted by chunterer
Carroll is going to be wasted at RE unless they get a set up on the cars. He is clearly best racer in the field but thatis not much good if he's battling back up the field from the lower orders because he isn't able to get the thing to work in qualifying..

The team definitely has potential, the owner is rich, they have good sponsors, a good race engineer and a skilled driver, these are some very good reasons to believe they'll improve soon.

But, i agree with you, they should concentrate efforts on qualifying, specially for Imola, where overtaking is extremely difficult.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by Mekola

Did he smile because he (indirectly) took off López from the race???

He smiled because the bank of fans in front of him were giving him a huge cheer and applause.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by Russfeld

How is starting from the pitlane an advantage.

Clear air to set an early fastest lap I guess, which is pretty much what happened.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by Sephirot1

Alexandre Premat: for the looks of both races, it may be a hard year for Alex. In the first race, having Hamilton in the rear made him make a mistake and that was the end of his race, all the sand in his already damaged tyres meant his race finish. Bad luck took him out of the second race.

Actually, Premat lost his brakes and his pedal was really, really long. I know because I pulled it with my hand and there was just nothing there.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Jackman

Actually, Premat lost his brakes and his pedal was really, really long. I know because I pulled it with my hand and there was just nothing there.

Aren't you supposed to push the brake pedal, not pull it?!?

Seriously, I don't see any reason to be as dismissive of Premat as people have been in this thread. There's a long season ahead.

[Boro]

Were they not allowed to have practice starts in tests?

I thought Hamilton raced great, but those two starts were just mind-blowing (in a bad way) from a driver of his calibre

[OWaddict]

Originally Posted by Russfeld

How is starting from the pitlane an advantage.

Maybe the clock started when he left the pitlane?

[flexible-flyer]

i think its the same rule as last year where for the second race, if your car is in the pits at all then you are not eligable for fastest lap points (unless when a pitstop is truely needed, like if it rains). but i didnt know that applied to starting in the pitlane also.