GP2 Asia 2009/2010 Rd. 1 @ Abu Dhabi

ivanalesi · 30 Oct 2009, 13:43 (Ref:2572514)

I'm the 1st to start the thread about this weekend's race. A pretty unusual and unexpected results so far. Some big names down the grid. Marcus Ericsson disappointingly just 15th... Valsecchi on pole, with Bird and Leimer top rookies.

Quote:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Davide Valsecchi iSport 1m51.964s
2. Sam Bird ART 1m52.183s
3. Fabio Leimer Ocean 1m52.236s
4. Luca Filippi Meritus 1m52.240s
5. Roldan Rodriguez Coloni 1m52.300s
6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden 1m52.436s
7. James Jakes Super Nova 1m52.529s
8. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1m52.557s
9. Josef Kral Super Nova 1m52.575s
10. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1m52.690s
11. Edoardo Piscopo DAMS 1m52.792s
12. Daniel Zampieri Piquet 1m52.816s
13. Alexander Rossi Ocean 1m52.827s
14. Christian Vietoris DAMS 1m52.792s
15. Marcus Ericsson ART 1m52.846s
16. Michael Herck DPR 1m52.869s
17. Diego Nunes Meritus 1m52.907s
18. Oliver Turvey iSport 1m52.955s
19. Luiz Razia Addax 1m52.996s
20 Charles Pic Arden 1m53.112s
21. Max Chilton Addax 1m53.147s
22. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Piquet 1m53.628s
23. William Bratt Coloni 1m53.711s
24. Plamen Kralev Trident 1m58.149s

el_cat · 30 Oct 2009, 14:07 (Ref:2572534)

Does the 107% rule apply? You know where I'm going with this...............

A.Fant · 30 Oct 2009, 17:21 (Ref:2572623)

My own translation of a Swedish article regarding Ericsson's disappointing qualifying:

Ericsson spun in GP2 qualifying

Marcus Ericsson qualified a disappointing 15th on his GP2-début in Abu Dhabi. The Swede was about to set his fastest laptime at the end of the session when he spun and stalled.
- I'm terribly disappointed, but I'll have to try to make up what I lost today, says Ericsson.
Ericsson drove very well during the morning practice in Abu Dhabi where he was second but couldn't get it right during qualifying.
- In qualifying you have two sets of tyres. With my first set I got caught up in a lot of traffic. Then I was about to set a good time on what qould be my inlap, the team yelled that I shoud stay out but I didn't hear them and drove to the pits for a tyre change, Marcus explains.
Neither the second attempt was a success.
- First there was a yellow flag so I had to slow down and on my last attempt I was the fastest in the first sector before I spun off at turn eight and locked my rear brakes.
The first 18 drivers were all within a second of eachother, where Ericsson qualified 15th. His ART teammate, Englishman Sam Bird qualified second.
- I know I'm faster than him, so I'm bitterly disappointed. But I have to learn from the mistakes I did today.
- I'm starting in the middle of the pack and it could become total chaos. The target has to be a recovery drive to eighth and pole for the sprint race, says the Swedish racing talent.

skells22 · 30 Oct 2009, 20:50 (Ref:2572705)

these guys will be the 1st open wheel cars to race on this brand new track and i think the 1st race is normally a pit-stop race

ivanalesi · 30 Oct 2009, 21:09 (Ref:2572715)

Many guys are unexpectedly off the pace, but traffic is an issue in every qualifying.
el_cat, no, he's into 107%. Btw, in his Bulgarian qualy review, he says Trident are happy and he's performed better than some previous Trident driverS!
May be compared to their slow down laps

**gomick** · 30 Oct 2009, 21:36 (Ref:2572730)

Top 19 within a second... Will Bratt in P23, guess he hasnt been in the car too much!
Also good to see the IFM champ Fabio Leimer up there...

Taprobane · 31 Oct 2009, 09:26 (Ref:2572887)

anyone know anywhere to watch this online?

kerrmanningjarv · 31 Oct 2009, 14:24 (Ref:2572984)

I watched it on Eurosport, and I was exasperated by them showing only half an hour of the race, plus missing Valsecchi's pass on Filippi for the lead which Autosport described as "spectacular"!

p-matt · 31 Oct 2009, 15:45 (Ref:2573013)

The edits that Eurosport often produce for time delayed races is very irritating. I'm glad I got up early was lucky enough to find it online - it was an excellent pass.

iSport will surely keep Valsecchi on for the rest of the season now

ivanalesi · 31 Oct 2009, 20:15 (Ref:2573124)

Pretty agressive stuff from Valsecchi, both banging wheels, he lost P1 twice and had to regain it, so an impressive start from him.
Also Alex Rossi was impressive, James Jakes showed also speed and I was happy about Arabadzhiev climbing to 12th after the pitstops but then making unsuccessful move on Ericsson and retired.

Keyfabe · 1 Nov 2009, 10:06 (Ref:2573316)

grr commentators, cant tell Leimer from Bratt

p-matt · 1 Nov 2009, 10:19 (Ref:2573325)

Another excellent race from Valsecchi this morning. He always struck me as a very defensive driver but showed reall aggression to attack and take his opportunities all weekend. And nearly a perfect weekend - 19 points out of 20!

Keyfabe · 1 Nov 2009, 10:28 (Ref:2573332)

Impressive performances from new boys Vietoris,Krall & Rossi

cg7aa · 10 Nov 2009, 17:52 (Ref:2579642)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyfabe

grr commentators...

That reminds me, on the Europsort coverage, why didn't Gareth Rees become the main commentator for the race coverage? Carter was talking far too much and his comments tended to be very general. I got the impression Rees couldn't got a word in sometimes.

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