GP2 Bahrain 2015 races

[skells22]

now the time for one of the main supports to the F1 gets it season going and all the drivers can use DRS this year as it part of the rules. also any guesses who will be in the box for the races as we still not had a update on that.

time of the races 11:10am BST for race 1 (pit stop race) on Saturday 18th April and race 2 (top 8 Revesre of result of race 1) at 12.15pm BST on April 19

winners last year Vandoorne and Palmer from this race

looking forward to seeing this

who else is looking forward to this 1st race of 2015 for these guys?

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

It will be very interesting to see who's where. Obviously Vandoorne is expected to be champion based on last year but surely Gasly, Evans, Lynn, etc should push him.

Finally a grid where talent may succeed over experience!

As for the DRS, meh. I understand why but it's not necessary as a tool for entertainment, because I'm pretty sure the sorts of people who watch GP2 are into motorsport more than most F1 viewers!!!

[bella]

i think it's more an entertainment tool for the drivers, not for the spectators

it's probably the second year in a row that this has been said, but evans really needs to start delivering now.

[Mies7337]

Who are the favourites for the last available seats? One MP and 2 Hilmer seats still available. I'm looking forward to the races this year, the action should be good!!

[10TENTHS]

Canamasas gets the MP Motorsport seat: http://www.paddockscout.com/canamasa...n-opener/26519

Hilmer won't be participating so 24 cars for Bahrain: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118512

[Formulahistory]

I think we will see the end of the Hilmer team in the near future.

That's really a shame after that promise debut in 2013...

[chunterer]

They should go out with a bang by running Frijns and some other hotshot for as long as they can survive!

[WSR Fan]

So, Vandoorne gets pole position with ART team-mate Matsushita alongside him on the front row!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118551

[ptclaus98]

Well done Nobu-kun.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Matshushita had one of the worst starts I've ever seen, and ended lap 1 P14!

Marciello cannot buy himself any luck, Nato will probably be penalised for that crash.

The current safety car means Vandoorne's strategy will be hampered...

[tux]

Im not sure DRS is enjoyable.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

DRS wasn't really effective, as most cars were within 1s of each other!

But what a drive from Vandoorne! Haryanto and King were mega too, and Matshushita did well to recover to P6. Rossi must be gutted though! 2 laps to go and he's leading, but then finishes P3!

[Nikki Katz]

What the flip was up with the timing screen? It's really distracting having the commentators talking about Vandoorne passing for the lead when the graphic at the bottom shows him in 13th. About half of the drivers seemed out of position to reality, the gaps were also fabrication. Are we just supposed to ignore that graphic? If so, could they just not put it there in the first place?

Weirdly, they occasionally popped up the running order elsewhere on the screen, which seemed correct...

Could've done with Will Buxton also.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

I got fed up and put on the live timing, which was correct!

Matshushita was classified 10th, oops...

[p-matt]

Matsushita got a 5s penalty for erratic driving. I'm guessing the wild weaving when Markelov(?) passed him after the stop.

It's all well and good to praise Stoffel rightly for a brilliant drive. But the soft tyre was better and they had more time on it than the early stoppers. So much so that they could overcome the free pit stop that the early stoppers had. In that sense, arguably Rossi and King hanging on to P3 and 4 was more impressive

[10TENTHS]

Berthon and Leal on the front row for the reverse grid race...

[bella]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Marciello cannot buy himself any luck, Nato will probably be penalised for that crash.

i did wonder how marciello thought he was going to stop once he'd passed nato. even if nato had called his bluff and gone for the cutback he'd have struggled to stop in time before he too used pic as a braking aid. it was quite a spectacular display of tunnel vision from the pair of them!

[tux]

DRS

[Juntos]

Vandoorne superb. Haryanto excellent. Gasly shy. Marciello wasted. Lynn rubbish.

[JakeC]

I can't help but notice that both Haryanto and Rossi did very well now that they have left Caterham Racing. Status GP, who were formerly Caterham Racing, did poorly. Clearly not a coincidence.

[bella]

lol. that sounds like the usual driver or drivers dad justification for leaving an old team.

[cds_uk]

Well chuffed with the podium for Berthon.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Vandoorne superb. Haryanto excellent. Gasly shy. Marciello wasted. Lynn rubbish.

Lynn was pretty strong in the first race I thought?

Got into the rookie trap of not working the tyre strategy well in race 2 though?

That first race Frenchie shunt was hilarious! I thought Nato moved to defend early enough to make Marciello think twice about carrying on with the move but clearly he was going for it no matter what so that collision was inevitable and Pic was s just in the wribng place at the wrong time.

Surely Gasly could've braked to avoid hitting the stationery Pic though?!!!!

The second race was a classic 'to push on, or not to push on' wasn't it?

Leal had no other option but to go for it from the start and perhaps might have expected his tyres to last a bit longer than they did, but Haryanto did well to wait for a few laps before pushing (he only had 2 cars to pass), Vandoorne waited longer, as did Rossi (from much further back) and it paid off for them. Maybe if Stoffel has pushed a couple of laps earlier he might have had a pop at Rio at the end.

Berthon (I've now realised why he can't excel in top line single seaters...) maybe left it a tad too late, but then he was coming from a bit further back, so not sure....

It seems there was a 2-3 lap window where drivers could make a huge difference in pace v durability.

Early days but I think Vandoorne will be really tough to beat, but Rossi might well keep him honest if he can keep that form up every weekend.

The other may well ebb and flow?