2008/09 GP2 Asia & 2009 GP2 Main Series Off season/General discussion)

[kerrmanningjarv]

Bonanomi has suposedly quit European racing for Indy Lights,yes, but seeing as he is driving in GP2 Asia, maybe he couldn't get a good US deal.

[chunterer]

Well good luck to the guy if he goes stateside.

Marco's quite underrated I feel. He was pretty useful in WSR 3.5, and his only GP2 outings have been in the current and previous Asia series I think. He won at least one of the Asia races last season in pretty strong fashion, (was it with Durango, can't remember?) but didn't go on to get a full season drive last year.

It's been good to see him out with Meritus and assuming he continues alongside Parente there for the remaining 2 rounds, that will be quite a good match up!!

[kerrmanningjarv]

^ He won the last race of last year's Asia Series with Piquet Sports (a reverse grid race, but he did look strong yes) then did WSR for Comtec, where he looked quick at times but also was involved in too many collisions (he was even black flagged at Monza for running Rob Wickens off the track).

[OJB]

He also had that rather spectacular crash at the final round in Barcelona! One of the worst crashes I've ever seen - very lucky man!

[kerrmanningjarv]

Yes... touched wheels with Aleshin and went flying through the air upside down, hittig that big pole thing... lucky boy!

[bathceltic]

In danger of being told to go somewhere else to post this but as a resident of the British isles I fear that i will not be able to watch this exciting action in 2009 as the BBC apparently have the rights to show GP2 but have said that they have no plans to show it, so why not sell it on to ITV, or Eurosport or Motors tv? Any comments?

[OJB]

Arden announce Mortara and Perez for 2009, with Telmex providing their backing. They will be known as Telmex Team Arden.

[META4]

Luca Fillipi is comfirmed at Arden

[OJB]

Originally Posted by META4

Luca Fillipi is comfirmed at Arden

Do you mean Super Nova?

[OJB]

They are rolling in now... Parente confirmed at ORT

[Go_For_Pole]

Quite impressive for ORT to have such a line up on their debut season, a world away from BCN.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bathceltic

BBC apparently have the rights to show GP2 but have said that they have no plans to show it, so why not sell it on to ITV, or Eurosport or Motors tv? Any comments?

Yes I raised this couple of pages back, and we are still none the wiser i'm afraid.......

Originally Posted by OJB

Arden announce Mortara and Perez for 2009, with Telmex providing their backing. They will be known as Telmex Team Arden.

Excellent. 2 very promising and very hungry drivers there!

Originally Posted by OJB

They are rolling in now... Parente confirmed at ORT

Also excellent. lets hope they can give Alvaro the equipment to challenge for wins, maybe even the title.

Chandhok should keep him honest as well!

[Robbe]

According to italiaracing:

Filippi indeed confirmed at Super Nova
Rigon and Al Fardan testing for Trident
Panciatici testing for Durango

[Go_For_Pole]

Morning times, source italiaracing:

1 - Javier Villa - Super Nova - 1'12"325 - 20
2 - Kamui Kobayashi - Dams - 1'12"376 - 22
3 - Alberto Valerio - Piquet GP - 1'12"439 - 25
4 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova - 1'12"667 - 21
5 - Pastor Maldonado - ART - 1'12"679 - 19
6 - Romain Grosjean - Barwa Addax - 1'12"722 - 20
7 - Roldan Rodriguez - Piquet GP - 1'12"742 - 22
8 - Vitaly Petrov - Barwa Addax - 1'12"893 - 15
9 - Andreas Zuber - FMSI - 1'13"023 - 24
10 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - 1'13"102 - 22
11 - Dani Clos - Racing Engineering - 1'13"152 - 20
12 - Giedo Van der Garde - iSport - 1'13"221 - 23
13 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango - 1'13"303 - 24
14 - Diego Nunes - Piquet GP - 1'13"500 - 23
15 - Edoardo Mortara - Arden - 1'13"592 - 24
16 - Davide Rigon - Trident - 1'13"766 - 19
17 - Michael Herck - DPR - 1'13"788 - 23
18 - Hamad Al Fardan - Trident - 1'13"852 - 19
19 - Sergio Perez - Arden - 1'14"035 - 21
20 - Nico Hulkenberg - ART - 1'14"416 - 9
21 - Karun Chandhok - Ocean - 1'14"779 - 5
22 - Luiz Razia - FMSI - 1'15"060 - 18
23 - Nelson Panciatici - Durango - 1'15"216 - 26
24 - Lucas Di Grassi - Racing Engineering - no time - 2
25 - Giacomo Ricci - DPR - no time
26 - Alvaro Parente - Ocean - no time


I bet F3Rocks will be thrilled!

[sauber11]

... He clocked the best time in a 1:11.930 which makes him the track record holder after he bettered last year’s track record signed by Grosjean in 1:12.031.
1. Javier Villa ESP Super Nova Racing 27 1:11.930
2. Lucas Di Grassi BRA Fat Burner Racing Engineering 35 1:12.079
3. Kamui Kobayashi JPN Dams 28 1:12.140
4. Romain Grosjean FRA Barwa Campos Team 31 1:12.262
5. Pastor Maldonado VEN ART Grand Prix 36 1:12.270
6. Andreas Zuber UAE Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 32 1:12.300
7. Luca Filippi ITA Super Nova Racing 27 1:12.481
8. Davide Valsecchi ITA Durango 36 1:12.509
9. Jerome D Ambrosio BEL Dams 30 1:12.574
10. Edoardo Mortara ITA Telmex Arden International 33 1:12.607
11. Alberto Valerio BRA Piquet GP 29 1:12.623
12. Diego Nunes BRA iSport International 41 1:12.774
13. Vitaly Petrov RUS Barwa Campos Team 12 1:12.945
14. Nico Hülkenberg GER ART Grand Prix 22 1:13.010
15. Dani Clos ESP Fat Burner Racing Engineering 31 1:13.138
16. Sergio Perez MEX Telmex Arden International 23 1:13.182
17. Roldan Rodriguez ESP Piquet GP 26 1:13.279
18. Giedo Van der Garde NED iSport International 22 1:13.342
19. Karun Chandhok IND Ocean Racing Technology 24 1:13.356
20 Davide Rigon ITA Trident Racing 37 1:13.362
21. Hamad Al Fardan BRN Trident Racing 37 1:13.477
22. Luiz Razia BRA Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 30 1:13.584
23. Nelson Panciatici FRA Durango 29 1:13.860
24. Michael Herck ROM DPR 11 1:14.480
25. Giacomo Ricci ITA DPR 13 1:14.961
26. Alvaro Parente POR Ocean Racing Technology 1 --

[ivanalesi]

How that happened? Weren't they supposed to be slightly slower, not faster w/o the extra aero bits?

[runshaw]

What happened to Parente?

[the sniper]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

How that happened? Weren't they supposed to be slightly slower, not faster w/o the extra aero bits?

Well they've improved the power curve and added 25bhp to the engine.

Have they made aero changes then? The car certainly needed improving after some of last years lame races, I thought they were only upping the power though.

[runshaw]

The one thing I don't understand is that GP2 cars usually get slightly quicker every year, but this years F1 cars are going slightly slower, so they are bridging the gap. The gap between GP2 and F1 is much closer than the gap from F3000 to F1 ever was. There's only 5 seconds in it on some circuits!

[Spudy]

I believe many of the teams are running different progarmmes. on the iSport website they have reported that they are running aero simulations for different track types which are not for Paul Ricard so times are not relevant.

I think we'll start seeing some true representations of speed at Barcelona as they'll actually be racing there this season.

What do you all think of the liveries, who's do you like the best?

[Mak]

Originally Posted by runshaw

The one thing I don't understand is that GP2 cars usually get slightly quicker every year, but this years F1 cars are going slightly slower, so they are bridging the gap. The gap between GP2 and F1 is much closer than the gap from F3000 to F1 ever was. There's only 5 seconds in it on some circuits!

Mid nineties, before one make F3000 the cars were even closer to F1 times!

[the sniper]

Originally Posted by Spudy

What do you all think of the liveries, who's do you like the best?

Van der Garde's iSport looks pretty good, I still like ART's the best though. Ocean's is alright, fairly unique.

I like Arden's new livery but it's way too similar to DPR's, from the front they look virtually the same. *Looks forward to a season of misidentifications by commentators*

[strider]

Di Grassi moved to to the top of the time sheets this afternoon, which is only to be expected, to be honest. He has to win this year. Times courtesy of autosport.com.

Morning times:

Pos  Driver                Team                            Time      Laps
 1.  Romain Grosjean       Barwa Campos Team               1:09.015   34
 2.  Dani Clos             Fat Burner Racing Engineering   1:09.047   43
 3.  Javier Villa          Super Nova Racing               1:09.077   33
 4.  Pastor Maldonado      ART Grand Prix                  1:09.122   41
 5.  Michael Herck         DPR                             1:09.169   37
 6.  Lucas Di Grassi       Fat Burner Racing Engineering   1:09.180   33
 7.  Alvaro Parente        Ocean Racing Technology         1:09.215   35
 8.  Andreas Zuber         Fisichella Motor Sport Int.     1:09.221   38
 9.  Jerome d'Ambrosio     Dams                            1:09.335   38
10.  Nico Hulkenberg       ART Grand Prix                  1:09.335   41
11.  Luca Filippi          Super Nova Racing               1:09.367   45
12.  Roldan Rodriguez      Piquet GP                       1:09.417   38
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Dams                            1:09.422   36
14.  Davide Valsecchi      Durango                         1:09.524   36
15.  Alberto Valerio       Piquet GP                       1:09.525   36
16.  Vitaly Petrov         Barwa Campos Team               1:09.567   19
17.  Karun Chandhok        Ocean Racing Technology         1:09.576   31
18.  Diego Nunes           iSport International            1:09.578   57
19.  Giedo Van der Garde   iSport International            1:09.653   33
20.  Edoardo Mortara       Telmex Arden International      1:09.769   25
21.  Hamad Al Fardan       Trident Racing                  1:09.811   35
22.  Luiz Razia            Fisichella Motor Sport Int.     1:10.102   45
23.  Davide Rigon          Trident Racing                  1:10.393   52
24.  Sergio Perez          Telmex Arden International      1:10.466   32

Afternoon times:

Pos  Driver                Team                       Time      Laps
 1.  Lucas Di Grassi       Racing Engineering         1:08.841   39
 2.  Dani Clos             Racing Engineering         1:08.961   44
 3.  Pastor Maldonado      ART Grand Prix             1:08.985   33
 4.  Javier Villa          Super Nova Racing          1:09.076   38
 5.  Vitaly Petrov         Campos Team                1:09.100   30
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi       Dams                       1:09.220   46
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg       ART Grand Prix             1:09.326   30
 8.  Jerome D Ambrosio     Dams                       1:09.383   30
 9.  Romain Grosjean       Campos Team                1:09.424   38
10.  Davide Rigon          Trident Racing             1:09.429   41
11.  Luca Filippi          Super Nova Racing          1:09.437   35
12.  Roldan Rodriguez      Piquet GP                  1:09.469   31
13.  Alberto Valerio       Piquet GP                  1:09.527   30
14.  Karun Chandhok        Ocean Racing Technology    1:09.564   25
15.  Andreas Zuber         FMS International          1:09.564   13
16.  Davide Valsecchi      Durango                    1:09.598   17
17.  Hamad Al Fardan       Trident Racing             1:09.604   45
18.  Sergio Perez          Arden International        1:09.649   42
19.  Diego Nunes           iSport International       1:09.815   37
20.  Michael Herck         DPR                        1:09.831   33
21.  Giedo Van der Garde   iSport International       1:10.170   37
22.  Nelson Panciatici     Durango                    1:10.231   28
23.  Giacomo Ricci         DPR                        1:10.604   24

[strider]

Di Grassi fastest again at Ricard today, but nice to see Alvaro Parente making progress.

Friday's combined times:

Pos  Driver               Team                Time
 1.  Lucas di Grassi      Racing Engineering  1:09.536
 2.  Vitaly Petrov        Campos              1:09.658
 3.  Andreas Zuber        Fisichella          1:09.663
 4.  Pastor Maldonado     ART                 1:09.691
 5.  Javier Villa         Super Nova          1:09.875
 6.  Alberto Valerio      Piquet              1:09.920
 7.  Alvaro Parente       Ocean               1:09.941
 8.  Kamui Kobayashi      DAMS                1:09.968
 9.  Nico Hulkenberg      ART                 1:09.980
10.  Dani Clos            Racing Engineering  1:09.981
11.  Michael Herck        DPR                 1:09.982
12.  Luca Filippi         Super Nova          1:10.054
13.  Jerome d'Ambrosio    DAMS                1:10.054
14.  Romain Grosjean      Campos              1:10.080
15.  Edoardo Mortara      Arden               1:10.195
16.  Sergio Perez         Arden               1:10.204
17.  Davide Valsecchi     Durango             1:10.235
18.  Davide Rigon         Trident             1:10.257
19.  Karun Chandhok       Ocean               1:10.274
20.  Giedo van der Garde  iSport              1:10.419
21.  Diego Nunes          iSport              1:10.553
22.  Hamad Al Fardan      Trident             1:10.612
23.  Giacomo Ricci        DPR                 1:10.732
24.  Luiz Razia           Fisichella          1:10.749
25.  Nelson Panciatici    Durango             1:10.861
26.  Roldan Rodriguez     Piquet              1:10.864

[chunterer]

Indeed, Alvaro is possibly my dark horse for the title, but only, only, if all things are right. A big ask for a team that has recently changed hands etc.

No major surprises at the sharp end thus far then? Those with plenty of experience like Villa, Di Grassi, Zuber and Maldonado are getting on top of things straight away.

I'm a bit puzzled by Arden's relative lack of pace so far. I know Perez and Mortrara have been quick in the old cars in the Asia series, but I guess they have to learn the current spec cars. Mortara knows the team aleady so maybe he should be figuring a bit further up the time sheets?

Hulkenberg too has been a bit 'quiet' compared to Maldonado by the looks of things. But I find it difficult to believe he won't be right at the sharp end come May.