GP2 - Rd. 1 - Barcelona

First GP2 race of the season! I must say I'm very excited, theres a number of potentially very quick drivers that will make the championship as it always is in GP2, very interesting. :rotate::rotate::rotate:

Autosport reporting that Soucek is taking legal action against FMS - claims he only read about being ditched on the internet!! Very bad move by FMS in my opinion, as Soucek was really coming good towards the end of last year.

Really hope he can find his way back in with someone - Valles and Soucek makes a pukka line-up for FMS (assume there's a bit of the green stuff involved though) Still, really looking forward to the first rounds this weekend (not least because I can finally watch them!!) Very, very, very open! I hope the F1 teams are watching.

And things screwed up worse for Soucek when he lost the opportunity to drive for DPR again, after Michael Herck was injured. David Price and Herck Sr put Giacomo Ricci as his sub for Barcelona.

Soucek could come back yet I would've thought - someone or other is gonna flop/run out of money in the first couple of rounds and he'll get drafted in as replacement!

Valles was on sidelines for whole season so all not lost for Andy.

Well up for this weekend's action.

Grosjean v Senna and maybe a couple of others can get in on the act is my take on how it will pan out?

Have you read what Dutton said to Autosport? He can't find driver for his second seat in FR3.5 because most of the hotshots fight for GP2 places. I assume some seat may be vacant in the coming weeks, i.e. Parente, Bakkerud, Durango, BCN...

Wonder if Sears is wishing he'd signed Fauzy instead of Bakkerud...? Who do you reckon will be the first to pull out? Then again, even if someone does, I wouldn't have placed Ricci at DPR, so it still seems pretty random.

Free Practice - credit autosport.com

1. Zuber Piquet Sports 1:28.130 13
2. Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:28.418 + 0.288 13
3. Parente Super Nova Racing 1:28.640 + 0.510 15
4. Filippi ART Grand Prix 1:28.794 + 0.664 10
5. Pantano Racing Engineering 1:28.808 + 0.678 10
6. Senna iSport International 1:28.884 + 0.754 15
7. Petrov Campos Team 1:28.908 + 0.778 14
8. Conway Trident Racing 1:28.936 + 0.806 14
9. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:29.145 + 1.015 15
10. Valsecchi Durango 1:29.195 + 1.065 13
11. Kobayashi Dams 1:29.436 + 1.306 14
12. Hanley Campos Team 1:29.516 + 1.386 13
13. Pavlovic BCN Competicion 1:29.592 + 1.462 14
14. Valerio Durango 1:29.655 + 1.525 11
15. Valles FMS International 1:29.793 + 1.663 11
16. Tung Trident Racing 1:29.867 + 1.737 12
17. Bakkerud Super Nova Racing 1:29.911 + 1.781 15
18. Villa Racing Engineering 1:30.094 + 1.964 13
19. Nocera BCN Competicion 1:30.380 + 2.250 13
20. Buurman Trust Team Arden 1:30.399 + 2.269 14
21. Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:30.493 + 2.363 11
22. Chandhok iSport International 1:30.666 + 2.536 6
23. Nunes DPR 1:30.911 + 2.781 13
24. Ricci DPR 1:31.077 + 2.947 14
25. Rodriguez FMS International 1:31.256 + 3.126 13
26. D'Ambrosio Dams no time 3

Is that practice or qualy?

It is pracctice, I edited my post and credited where due :)

Dissapointing session for Villa and Arden.

Thanks!

Yeah Arden well off the pace, they'll be worried already?

Some arguably predicatable names to the fore though?

Maldonado on pole - thought he would be the one to watch this weekend. Parente 2nd and Zuber 3rd, none of which did the Asia Series. Piquet look hooked up this weekend!

Grosjean had an engine failure and Buemi had a big crash apparently.

From Autosport:

1. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:27.547 15
2. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:27.705 +0.158 16
3. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 1:28.155 +0.608 15
4. Bruno Senna iSport 1:28.273 +0.726 10
5. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:28.290 +0.743 15
6. Adrian Valles FMS 1:28.323 +0.776 15
7. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:28.385 +0.838 15
8. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:28.423 +0.876 17
9. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:28.562 +1.015 15
10. Mike Conway Trident 1:28.622 +1.075 15
11. Romain Grosjean ART 1:28.684 +1.137 14
12. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:28.713 +1.166 17
13. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:28.799 +1.252 16
14. Luca Filippi ART 1:28.868 +1.321 15
15. Ben Hanley Campos 1:28.889 +1.342 14
16. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:28.937 +1.390 16
17. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:29.338 +1.791 17
18. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:29.339 +1.792 18
19. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova 1:29.394 +1.847 16
20. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:29.478 +1.931 5
21. Milos Pavlovic BCN 1:29.618 +2.071 12
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 1:29.628 +2.081 17
23. Paolo Nocera BCN 1:29.708 +2.161 15
24. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:29.762 +2.215 16
25. Diego Nunes DPR 1:30.343 +2.796 11
26. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:30.443 +2.896 13

Off topic a bit: is the GP2 website (www.gp2series.com) working for anyone now? About an hour ago I went there and found a brand new, re-designed site... however, when I tried to access it a few minutes ago, it didn't load any more.

Go Pastor!!!

What's the deal with ART twins? Waaaaaaaaaay off.....

Grosjean had the engine blow, while Filippi lost his upshift from the start, and then the downshift later in the session.

does anyone know where i could possibly get live streaming or just live timing of the races?

Ha ha ha... I don't think live timing actually exists for the series (I've looked long and hard).

As for live streaming, if you live in the UK you can watch it on itv.com (I hope) by choosing to watch ITV4 live.

Early days but Piquet Sports seem to be a force to be reckoned with...

Doesn't ITV's website allow you to watch ITV4, which is showing the race in the UK? If your outside the UK, just use a UK-based proxy to bypass their country detector, and you're fine.

I have to say, I'm really glad that Parente is up there. After the money-troubles he's had over the last few years, managing to win WSR purely on the basis of "we'll pay as long as you keep winning", I think its a great justification of his talent to do well in GP2.

Should be a good race today. Although on past form, I'm going to predict that Zuber's car explodes on the grid.

I hope Zuber's car explodes - that would be awesome :)

On a random side note (but one that could be significant in the sprint race if last year is anything to go by), that is the first time Villa has ever qualified inside the top 10...

Anyone reckon on a latin bust up at the first corner, Pastor and Alvaro aren't exactly shrinking violets are they?

Cheers for the news re ART Jackman, i'd imagine that with those woes out of the way their progress will be interesting to watch this afternoon.

Apparently they haven't worked out what caused the gearbox problem, so a repeat isn't out of the question...

Ha ha ha... I don't think live timing actually exists for the series (I've looked long and hard).

As for live streaming, if you live in the UK you can watch it on itv.com (I hope) by choosing to watch ITV4 live.

Live timing certainly does exist - we've used it for the last few years on Eurosport...

However, it is supplied by FOM, like the pictures and is far from free. Nor is it accessible by the public...

Sorry about that.

For the same reason, there is no streaming.

When the BBC starts streaming F1 next year, they will be paying FOM to do so, not giving it away free out of the goodness of their hearts.

Live timing certainly does exist - we've used it for the last few years on Eurosport...

However, it is supplied by FOM, like the pictures and is far from free. Nor is it accessible by the public...

Sorry about that.

For the same reason, there is no streaming.

When the BBC starts streaming F1 next year, they will be paying FOM to do so, not giving it away free out of the goodness of their hearts.

OK thanks for clearing that up :)

Aborted start, then at the first start Maldonado stalls. So many people off and an sc after 1 lap - pitstops.....

.......chaos!!

Had forgotten just how much action there is in GP2...and just how much I love it :cool:

Grosjean's on a charge!

Alvaro's done a superb job holding Senna back. Zuber's done ok too.

Maldonado was carving through getting as high as 10th until he rooted his tyres, people are sliding about all ove the shop in these last 2 laps!

Very enjoyable race :)

Well done to Alvaro - a great win.

Well, first time for the new GP2 cars and gosh they're pretty.

Lets just close down Formula 1 and have these instead, surely that's the fix?! ;)

A good race, got slow in the middle - Grosjean's charge throughs safely making it from GP2 Asia to GP2 Europe is a relief, they're a joy to watch (Hamilton used to do them well too in GP2, before he went to F1 and went stale:)).

On the whole, Piquet Sports sudden jump is a great showing for them - very much driver led I reckon.

Will be interesting to see how Parente handles the P8 start to gauge how much of a threat he'll be this season.

In fairness, Piquet Sports has always been a good team. The team that ran them in Asia was not the same and was made up of F3000 members or something. I expected them to be quick, but am gutted for Maldonado. big opportunity missed really.

It was an enjoyable race though and the cars do look really good. Although does anyone else think its really hard to tell the iSport/Rac Engineering cars head-on, as well as the ART and FMS cars??

does anyone else think its really hard to tell the iSport/Rac Engineering cars head-on, as well as the ART and FMS cars??

Oh, good... looks like nothing has changed then - too many cars the same colours, as usual... but it's not my problem any more...

hope to see tomorrow's sprint, as I missed the feature this afternoon, only the second GP2 race I have missed!

Was a really good race actually. I'd definitely say above average even for a GP2 race. That said, I've been hoping Parente would do well. It upsets me when someone with talent is held back because of money, so I was really happy when he got the Supernova deal.

Grosjean looks as good as ever however. Tomorrow should be a good race.

Despite enjoying the racing in GP2 this weekend it was spoilt by the officials in race 2.

If Kobayashis defence at the start of race 2 against Buemi was not unfair, how come Grosjeans defence against on Kobayashi at the (unnecessary) restart was? That is 2 bad decisions by the officials. It stinks.

Either punish both of them or neither. In my opinion Kobayashi left no room at all for Buemi to race, other than the grass. At least Grosjean had the decency to leave a car width for his rival to race in (ok it was kerb, but it was room, whereas grass does not count as racing room)

Grosjean really dropped the ball there... he needs a few reallty good race weekends to erase the memory of that from F1 people's minds... very junior-driver error before the restart

Not sure where the new kid at DPR came from but Pricey must be wishing he could have had Soucek back in the car... and Andy's out of a drive as well, perplexingly... bad luck all round, I think

Some terrible driving today, Grosjean's swerve across the track was moronic, good to see he was penalised for that. Lots of cars making contact, definately not something we want to see.

If Kobayashis defence at the start of race 2 against Buemi was not unfair, how come Grosjeans defence against on Kobayashi at the (unnecessary) restart was? That is 2 bad decisions by the officials. It stinks.

I don't agree.

I believe Grosjean's move was far more dangerous. Kobayashi's move on Buemi was typical of a start manouevre, Buemi had room to slow down and avoid without going off of the track, albeit sacrificing a position to Grosjean.

At the restart, Grosjean's initial sweep across the track was okay, but then he pushed it even further to make sure Kobayashi was forced on to the grass - the worst case being he could have lost control and crashed at speed and that was dangerous.

It's all down to your opinion anyway, but I believe that was a good call by the stewards and that should teach driving like that is acceptable next time.

Unnecessary restart? The DPR was in the middle of the track after a chicane. If that's not worthy of a safety car, then nothing is.

I think the difference between the 2 moves is that Grosjean moved over to defend twice quite strongly - plus his was a lot more extreme than Kobayashi, who squeezed Buemi at the start. If Grosjean had misjudged it and Kobayashi wasn't paying attention, they'd have both been off.

Enjoyable last couple of laps - Piquet Sports garage must be a frosty atmosphere though. Quite a lot of argy bargy going on there. Thought Valsecchi and Villa's drives are very much worthy of a mention though. Valsecchi is really turning into a big surprise for me, given his form in World Series was hardly spectacular.

Grosjean deserved the penalty; in GP2 Asia he was similarly aggressive at times when defending, and it was good to see the steward's decision came before the end of the race.

I think Grosjean's early pace was representative of his speed though. I still rate him as the favourite for this season, but there do seem to be plenty of others able to challenge.

I thought ITV4's coverage wasn't too bad today. The commentary yesterday was poor, but this morning was much better even if it lacked the banter of Eurosport. It was good to get interviews at the end of the feature race, but Mark Blundell's 'insight' is unnecessary.

One thing I would like them to resolve is the pronunciation of some of the names; Parente, Valles, d'Ambrosio, etc.

I feel sorry for Bakkerud. Although I don't consider him a significant talent, these injuries seem certain to stop any single seater career.

I am always interested to hear different opinions to my own, thanks Martin et al :)

I've been hoping Parente would do well. It upsets me when someone with talent is held back because of money, so I was really happy when he got the Supernova deal.


Yeah I am happy for Parente too. I hope he does not need to provide another few million dollars to make the step up to F1.....

Grosjean has a habit of swerving all over the road as if blind drunk, good to see him punished for it for once.

I thought Senna had a nice sensible weekend. Of course, he went well here last year too, but I thought he drove nicely.

This is the first weekend that ive sat down and watched the gp2 races (thanks itv4) and i am well impressed.
Thats me hooked, cant wait for round two.

Well we'll need to wait a until after Turkey and a trouble free weekend for Filippi to decde if Grosjean's really got him licked.

However i've never been all that convinced by Filippi anyway, I don't think he's been particularly impressive at least not on a regular basis in GP2 to date. One has to wonder after Parente's win whether SuperNova's problems over the last few years have simply been a lack of top line drivers, maybe Filippi included, that might have been holding them back?

Back to today Kamui did a top job but as was saId by many of you, Grosjean was miles quikcer than anyone else and would have won by a significant margin had he not blown his restart and then decided to chuck his car at Kamui it a fit of pique!! Kobayashi is now my dark horse for the title........

Maldonado was the most racey driver of the weekend but he seems to struggle to make his tyres last and accept that someone else might be actually allowed to overtake him, especially his own team mate!!

Also i'm worried they've ballsed up the aero with the new cars and ruined the potential for clear and immediate overtaking - but then it was Catalunya!! Possibly the most boring circuit on the calendar?

Have to say I was thinking a similar thing watching the sprint race. The cars weren't following each other too well were they? Luckily, the cars still prompt mistakes so overtaking is possible, but I don't know if it is just the circuit or the car. Somewhere like Turkey should answer that question though.

I know what you mean about not being entirely convinced by Filippi as a top draw (e.g. Hamilton, Rosberg, Glock) GP2 driver, as he does sometimes go missing. Does have an almost Zuber like streak of bad luck at times too. But then I suppose you make your own luck.

I've always held Zuber/Filippi/Pantano/Di Grassi to be in that "damn good, but...." category. Fast but flawed, and significantly enough to not merit an F1 drive in my opinion. Certainly for both Filippi and Zuber, if they don't make it this year, that's got to be it.

On another topic, Maldonado did look pretty good didn't he though? If he'd not stalled at the start of race 1, he could well be heading the championship now. Obviously if's and but's don't count, but still, with the extra sight this weekend has given us, he's got to be one of the top contenders for the title.

Well, except for the fact that in race 1 he and Grosjean started relatively near to each other (11th to 14th), yet Grosjean made over twice as many places (including passing people Filippi was stuck against). Now, true Grosjean is not exactly an average driver, but he is the only one Filippi has to compare himself to.
Filippi had some gearbox problems in free practice and was 4th, Grosjean had no problems and was 11th.

Filippi lost upshift and then downshift to have just one gear in qualifying on his hot lap and was 14th, Grosjean had an engine blow and was 11th.

Filippi caught Grosjean in race one and was about to take him when he was punted by Conway and pushed back to last, was then held up by the safety car in error just to compound his woes, but fought up to 11th and was setting some of the fastest laps in the race, Grosjean moved up to fifth.

Filippi moved up to sixth at the start of race two and then his engine exploded, Grosjean handed a drive through and finished 14th.

So clearly Filippi had rubbish luck, but was he rubbish himself? I'm less convinced.

Have to say I was thinking a similar thing watching the sprint race. The cars weren't following each other too well were they? Luckily, the cars still prompt mistakes so overtaking is possible, but I don't know if it is just the circuit or the car. Somewhere like Turkey should answer that question though.

Even with the old cars i dont remember Barcelona being particularly good for overtaking. Turkey however should give a clear indication of how much they've messed up the cars :P

Even at Turkey there's 2, possibly 3 clear areas where people can overtake, but even then only if the driver in front's willing to play ball.

What was clear from Spain is that ART are most definitely back to where they were in 2006, Piquet drivers are both aggressive and will surely figure, as will DAMS, I-sport, Supernova and Campos.

It's hard to tell at this stage but bizarrely it's either gonna be an ART whitewash or very open season?!!!

Quite honestly I think it will be toughest season in GP2 ever - there are just so many good drivers this year, and we don't have anyone who is massively out of their depth. I was talking to Paul Jackson on the weekend and mentioned that, and he agreed and said their were probably 10-12 drivers who can win races this year, which is way more than ever before.

The problem is that, with this many drivers taking points off each other, there probably won't be 1 or 2 stand out drivers, as there have been every other year, and consequently a lot of people are going to assume they're all not up to the last big step, rather than seeing that a lot of them are actually that good.

The problem is that, with this many drivers taking points off each other, there probably won't be 1 or 2 stand out drivers, as there have been every other year, and consequently a lot of people are going to assume they're all not up to the last big step, rather than seeing that a lot of them are actually that good.

Jackman, I exactly hope that would happen... in Formula 1. But, unfortunately, where it isn't estrict dominator(s) on the sereis, some ingenous people tends to think to question the level of the grid, but if you know, and are sure, that the level is superb, you need to convince them to the contrary.

Last year was already very close, remember that we had 10 winners in 11 feature races, with only Giorgio Pantano winning twice. Villa and Chandhok won sprint race(s) only.

Title fight went to almost end, as Glock won four sprint races (of which one was season finale) while di Grassi was most consistent point-scorer.

The problem is that, with this many drivers taking points off each other, there probably won't be 1 or 2 stand out drivers, as there have been every other year, and consequently a lot of people are going to assume they're all not up to the last big step, rather than seeing that a lot of them are actually that good.

Know exactly what you mean, there's been many F3 and F3000 seasons in the past where there's been classic seasons in terms of talent and no one driver's dominated and hence people have questioned the level, when it's been exacty the opposite - the level's been very, very high.

For me the '89,90,92 F3000 seasons contained very high calibre of driver talent with no one really head and shoulders above the others.

I hope you're right about this year being the same!!