GP2 Imola

[Kidzer]

First race of the GP2 Series this weekend at Imola - here be the thread for general discussion: Predictions and general news

David

[chunterer]

Good one.

Right

If all things are equal this year (of course they never are0 then there will be a mammouth struggle for the title between the following:

Kovalainen
Lopez
Piquet
Carroll
Pla (very dangerous to ignore this guy)
Rosberg ( not sure that he's as good as people reckon though)
Jani

Bet i've missed a few out here?!!!

[chunterer]

Adding that this lot ought to be at the front at Imola too

[DanFlag]

Pantano and Bruni have got to win a few races

[Kicking-back]

It is the strongest field of any series bar F1 this season.

Talent, strength in depth.

I'm really looking forward to this.

[chunterer]

Yep Pantano'll be there too.

Yes the Second Series has alwas been my fav category right from the last days of F2 when you had the likes of Thackwell, Moreno, Streiff and Pirro

Loved F3000 up until last 3 years or so which lacked depth of talent to my mind.

However this new series is a new dawn...entry is pretty much a who's who of F1 door knockers Tremendous.

Can't wait to switch Eurosport on on Sat avo and Sun morning!!

[Sato san]

i cant wait for this . Im expecting Kovalainen to have much success , and im really interested to see how Piquet gets along .


Round of appaulse for Eurosport as the appear to be covering it quite well .

[chunterer]

Yeah hope the coverage is good

Piquet could be interesting because i might be wrong but from what i've seen of him, he seems the kind of driver who takes a little while to reach optimum speed with a car or circuit, but once he's found the sweet spot is very fast indeed!

Kovaliannen's prob my tip as well, but there's a lot of good boys in this entry...

What do the cars actually sound like?..i hope they're not like the last breed of 3000's because i much preferred the 'flatter' or deeper quad cam engine note rather than that squeal caused by the reconfiguered exhaust systems!!

[StickShift]

Does anyone know if there will be an online feed of the races? It's pretty disappointing that no one in North America has picked up the coverage.

[DanFlag]

it's not on Speed TV ?

[StickShift]

Nope. As far as I know, Speed have no plans to show GP2 this season. I've sent many emails, protested on their bulletin board and haven't even had a reply.

They bought us F3000 for Derek Hill and Townsend Bell, but they won't even bother with a championship candidate, apparently.

[flexible-flyer]

dont count out piquet. he is quick, and usually gets the chance to sample the circuits he doesnt know by driving other cars around them.

i would say viso is one driver people should not discount either. he has loads of pace and in bcn probably the best team there.

i would expect the main challengers to come from-

kovalainen (peoples choice for the title, quick driver)

lapierre (should be in with a shout, and could beat hiekki some times)

piquet (nelsinho has always been up the sharp end in testing almost a sure fire bet that he will be a top 3 finisher)

viso (another guy who seems qucik from testing, good team and his part season in f3000 should be excellent for him. he can be a bit of a crasher but i think he has matured)

pantano (he said himself he wouldnt drive if he didnt think he had a chance of the title. he looked quick when testing and his f1 experience should be worth a couple of points already)

carroll (lacks in testing mileage, yet once signed he outpaced pantano on both barcelona tests and the only other time he tested he was one of the fastest guys there. on equal terms he can beat anyone imo)

bruni (like pantano, f1 experience should prove a fantastic asset, this is the first time i think, other than f1 he has had a talent chocked grid to race against)

speed (i never rated him to highly before but a year racing formula renaults agaisnt drivers he knew he had to beat must have gave him a big boost, i just have to concede he has improved as a driver as i just cant ignore his testing times)

lopez (having raced on the circuits in f3000, lopez has good track experience and is a talented driver even if he hasnt)

even rosberg, premat, pla, sharp and garcia cant be left out.....gosh this series really is a talent spotter....im already more interested in gp2 than the f1 race this weekend....even the likes of champcar could only dream of having a driving lineup like this.

[JJ Jet Plane]

flexible-flyer: don't forget Speed was suffering from a REALLY debilitating illness when he 'raced' in British F3 in 2003. If you knew how bad this illness is you'd be amazed he ever did as well as he did. I assume he was no longer suffering from it in '04 and is still free from it now.

[flexible-flyer]

he didnt have his illness for all of the season though i dont think.

[JJ Jet Plane]

This illness (colitis) doesn't just hit you all of a sudden – it would have built up gradually and then come Rockingham (when he pulled out the night after qualifying) it was just impossible for him to drive anymore.

[chunterer]

No but he didn't do the whole season did he?

But if that was the case and it prevented him from showing true form, which i guess is what he showed us in Euro Renault last year, then he looks a good prospect by all accounts.

Flexible, I totally agree...i haven't been looking forward to the start of a second series season this much since about 1998/9 when Gonzo and Montoya were in 3000!

[flexible-flyer]

yeah rodriguez and montoya, i remember when that season was building. i was about 13 years old and internetless but thanks to magazines i knew enough that that was fantastic battle brewing. awful shame that gonz perished at laguna seca not long after. he was a star in the making.

as for speed, well bring on imola then. im sure he can do the business!

[chunterer]

Absolutely,

Gonzo was very much in the same mould as Monster, a hard charger type.

At Spa in '99 he was phenomenal coming through the field. he was miles quicker than anyone else up through Eau Rouge. I was disappointed that he was going to CART as i was sure he should have been given F1 drive, but he would have been in F1 by now i think.

Is there anyone in GP2 that have simialr styles to those 2?

[flexible-flyer]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Is there anyone in GP2 that have simialr styles to those 2?

if anyone i would say carroll. he likes attacking driving. and was miles quciker than anyone through eau rouge at spa last year too! maybe viso too.

[chunterer]

Right, cheers for tip off,

I'll be watching out for him.

Haven't seen much of AC since F3 couple years ago, as didn't see any apart from Donington FIA GT support race...and even then that was when they were tripping over each other down at the club racing support race paddock, by the entrance as i was going home!

Lopez and Viso have got that Latin go for broke attitude as well i think?

[chunterer]

I meant, I didn't see much of any F3 last year, apart from in the paddock at Donington!

[flexible-flyer]

yeah certainly, viso and lopez can be very ballsy drivers too.

[strider]

Originally Posted by JJ Jet Plane

This illness (colitis) doesn't just hit you all of a sudden – it would have built up gradually and then come Rockingham (when he pulled out the night after qualifying) it was just impossible for him to drive anymore.

Just to complete the story as to why Scott showed no Speed in BritF3, he was carrying quite a nasty hand injury in the early part of the season as well.

I wasn't sure about last season, but I've been totally converted by his recent form in GP2 and F1 testing. I'd put him, Piquet 2 and Kovalainen at the top of my list.

[chunterer]

Do they go out today at all, or is it just tomorrow and Sunday?

[strider]

There was a 30-minute free practice session at 09:30, but I haven't found any times yet. Qualifying is at 15:30, presumably CET.