New GP2 Chassis Testing!

[Mekola]

Well, Super Nova has its ups and downs as a team... Bakkerud at least has this season to improve, and Parente could be a mistery on his performances. Hope the Portuguese won't repeat the campaign of his countryman Pedro Couceiro on 1996 and 1997 F3000 seasons.
And ART still is at the top, you're right on it.

[Adri_tifosi]

Don´t forget Racing Engineering and iSport.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Mekola

Well, Super Nova has its ups and downs as a team... Bakkerud at least has this season to improve, and Parente could be a mistery on his performances. Hope the Portuguese won't repeat the campaign of his countryman Pedro Couceiro on 1996 and 1997 F3000 seasons.
And ART still is at the top, you're right on it.

Good point, mind you Pedro C wasn't as good as Parente is or as say Lamy and Chaves were in early 90's?

Lamy was the last really good Portuguese single seater driver. He might have progressed better in F1 if it wasn't for that dreadful testing shunt. He's still a very very quick driver....

Back to testing. I would say it's shaping up nicely. Yes as many of you suspect ART are still there, and they appear to have at least one driver capable of winning. But it looks as though Campos, isport, FMSI and Piquet all have the line ups to challenge.

[Alex K]

Hey chunterer, IMO, and not also in my opinion, but in Autosport ranking for the best PROTO/GT driver two years ago, Lamy was on top, he in top 4 I think last year. He's definitely one of THE top motorsport drivers in the world, inc. F1 drivers too. He career didn't really kickstarted in F1, but he found himself in proto's, and it was good decision. Parente can make is mark, hope this 2008 year will give him good contract for next year.

[Croc]

Lamy career before joining F1 was very succesefull, winning almost every championship he could. However, his accident in Silverstone combined with the fact that he drove for Lotus and Minardi in seasons which both teams were far from being competitive, prematurely ended his F1 adventure.

But, what disappointed me the most in Lamy's career was his DTM participation, despite driving for Mercedes he was never able to show a good pace there.

Back to Gp2, i hope DAMS can still continue to improve as a team and that soon enough they can recover the status of top team they had in the earlies 90's. My only concern is with D'Ambrosio, who doesn't seem to be at Kobayashi's level.

[META4]

D'Ambrosio is definitly a good racer , he dominated the Formula Master last year ... you have to admit that DAM'S is not anymore what it was...

Seems like they are able to find the Right Set up for one car but not the other one

Look at what happened last year with Nakajima and Lapierre

[chunterer]

DAMS haven't really had a true ace in one of their cars for quite some time - that might have something to do with it also......

Think back to the 90's: Comas, Bernard, McNish, Aiello, Gounon, Panis, Lagorce, Bouillion, Davies and did Seabass drive for them for a year as well?

All top talents at the time.

It's all very well having a legendary status in a given formula and good engineers, but you need drivers who can give the engineers the right feedback for set ups and then put it to use out on the track......

.....imo....

Have they got that this year? I'm not sure. I don't think either of their 2 guys are as good as last year to be honest.

[META4]

since they do GP2 they had some drivers like Lopez,Perrera and Lapierre...

[chunterer]

Yeah Lopez looked the part in '05, given. Lappierre went off the boil after good pace with Arden and Perera, well he's probably better than his time with DAMS generally showed. But I still think if they were going to be really good we'd have seen more of it?

Bit OT so sorry folks.....

Kobayashi has the promise to be good but I don't think he's title mateial but then I didn't think Nakajima would turn out to be as good as he was last year so what the hell do I know!!

[Croc]

Originally Posted by chunterer
Kobayashi has the promise to be good but I don't think he's title mateial but then I didn't think Nakajima would turn out to be as good as he was last year so what the hell do I know!!

Exactly, i didn't expect much from Nakajima either but he ended up doing a pretty nice job. IMO, Kobayashi isn't as good as Nakajima and he won't repeat the same results.

I still think DAMS should have opted for a stronger driver line-up for this year, in order to keep the good momentum of last season when they scored some podiums, poles and victories (which they didn't have in a long time).

Originally Posted by META4
D'Ambrosio is definitly a good racer , he dominated the Formula Master last year ...

I'll have to disagree with you here, Formula Master isn't a good parameter to measure D'Ambrosio's skills, he sure has merits but GP2 is a completely different story due to the simple fact that now he'll be racing against an opposition maybe 10 times better the one he was used to race against in Formula Master.

[Mekola]

Aside that TTD Programme could influence DAMS in order to give Kobayashi better attention than his Belgian teammate.

[META4]

Originally Posted by Croc

I'll have to disagree with you here, Formula Master isn't a good parameter to measure D'Ambrosio's skills, he sure has merits but GP2 is a completely different story due to the simple fact that now he'll be racing against an opposition maybe 10 times better the one he was used to race against in Formula Master.

you got one point on that one...

[chunterer]

Yeah but Jerome did beat Chris Van Der Drift who IIUC is widely regarded as a real hot shot? Kasper Andersen is no slouch either.

Either of those 2 would have been F3 front runners if they'd had the budget, so maybe D Ambrosio ain't half bad after all?

OT what is VD Drift doing this year?

[kerrmanningjarv]

It's not known yet... Trident might snap him up in IFM as they were impressed with his GP2 testing pace in the off-season and were close to offering him a GP2 seat - until Ho-Pin Tung rocked up with all his money and got it instead.

[chunterer]

Yeah I saw he did well in testing with them but i'm kind of glad Chris didn't get the GP2 seat. Not sure he'd be ready to give full account of himself until a second year, but is he the sort of driver who'd definitely be able to afford to do GP2 for 2 years?

Hope he doesn't get bogged down in a lower series though, he needs to step up to maintain some kind of career progress.

Are there any WSR or Euro F3 seats left?

[META4]

would be good to see him in a Carlin Car for F3ES...

[Alex K]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Are there any WSR or Euro F3 seats left?

Two in each with super-reach fighting to secure drives. No chance.

[Croc]

Originally Posted by chunterer
Yeah but Jerome did beat Chris Van Der Drift who IIUC is widely regarded as a real hot shot? Kasper Andersen is no slouch either.

Van der Drift seems to be a good driver, but IMO Brendon Hartley is the kiwi driver we should watch for, he is very talented and also has the support from Red Bull. I bet he'll be in Gp2 before Van der Drift does.

As for Andersen, i remember reading somewhere that due to his good testing results, he had already came to an agreement with Trident to get a seat for 2009.

[kerrmanningjarv]

^I believe it was the option of a seat with Trident for GP2 in 2009, not an actual agreement - not sure though.

Anyway, the Fortec WSR seat seems to be Duncan Tappy vs. Jonny Reid vs. Fairuz Fauzy, while the RC Motorsport seat in WSR seems to be Borja Garcia vs. Adrian Zaugg vs. Roldan Rodriguez... can't see Drifty getting either of them.

As for F3 Euroseries, Carlin have 1 seat left and, depending on who you ask, HBR have either filled their 3rd seat with Maxime Pelletier or that's vacant.

I would put money on Drifty ending up with Trident in IFM... but it's a shame he wasn't in WSR or something last year, let alone this year.

[Croc]

Originally Posted by kerrmanningjarv
I believe it was the option of a seat with Trident for GP2 in 2009, not an actual agreement - not sure though.

Yes, you're right. He'll race for them in this years Formula Master championship and then, in the end of the year, he'll do a test to see if Trident will have an option on him or not.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/gp2/...dent_deal.html

[Adri_tifosi]

Test Paul Ricard

Day 1

Morning

1. Karun Chandhok iSport International 1:12.717 24
2. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:12.946 44
3. Andy Soucek Fisichella Motor Sport International 1:13.210 25
4. Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:13.228 29
5. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:13.269 22
6. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports 1:13.304 28
7. Adrian Valles Fisichella Motor Sport International 1:13.326 21
8. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:13.370 30
9. Mike Conway Trident Racing 1:13.522 32
10. Ben Hanley Barwa International Campos Team 1:13.578 19
11. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:13.585 21
12. Vitaly Petrov Barwa International Campos Team 1:13.600 21
13. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:13.775 12
14. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:13.777 25
15. Bruno Senna iSport International 1:13.874 23
16. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden 1:13.917 34
17. Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing 1:14.004 24
18. Diego Nunes DPR 1:14.088 32
19. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix 1:14.131 12
20. Jérôme D'Ambrosio Dams 1:14.230 22
21. Paolo Nocera BCN Competicion 1:14.290 26
22. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:14.347 15
23. Milos Pavlovic BCN Competicion 1:14.496 31
24. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing 1:14.554 29
25. Michael Herck DPR 1:14.738 41
26. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova Racing -- 1

[sauber11]

Buurman gets Asia call-up.
Dutchman to replace Adam Khan in Arden line-up.
http://www.crash.net/motorsport/gp2/...a_call-up.html
two races at monte-carlo
http://italiaracing.net/notizia.asp?id=18299&cat=4

Paul Ricard Day1 combined times
1 K. Chandhok iSport International 01:12.717 49
2 P. Maldonado Minardi Team Piquet 01:12.790 50
3 J. Villa Racing Engineering 01:12.902 54
4 R. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 01:12.946 79
5 M. Conway Trident Racing 01:12.968 61
6 A. Valles FMS International 01:12.993 67
7 B. Senna iSport International 01:13.055 54
8 A. Soucek FMS International 01:13.060 64
9 A. Zuber Minardi Team Piquet 01:13.110 57
10 L. Filippi ART Grand Prix 01:13.212 41
11 S. Buemi Trust Team Arden 01:13.228 54
12 D. Valsecchi Durango 01:13.289 54
13 G. Pantano Racing Engineering 01:13.333 58
14 A. Valerio Durango 01:13.455 54
15 B. Hanley Campos 01:13.578 48
16 V. Petrov Campos 01:13.600 40
17 Y. Buurman Trust Team Arden 01:13.707 67
18 K. Kobayashi DAMS 01:13.775 37
19 A. Parente Super Nova International 01:13.886 60
20 D. Nunes DPR 01:14.088 69
21 P. Nocera BCN Competicion 01:14.193 50
22 J. d`Ambrosio DAMS 01:14.230 69
23 M. Pavlovic BCN Competicion 01:14.295 80
24 H. Tung Trident Racing 01:14.554 61
25 M. Herck DPR 01:14.556 92
26 C. Bakkerud Super Nova International 00:00.000 2

[Adri_tifosi]

Day 2

Morning

1 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 1'10"079 - 31
2 - Karun Chandhok - iSport - 1'10"210 - 33
3 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 1'10"248 - 34
4 - Romain Grosjean - ART - 1'10"390 - 45
5 - Adrian Valles - FMSI - 1'10"405 - 60
6 - Luca Filippi - ART - 1'10"486 - 42
7 - Giorgio Pantano - Racing Engineering - 1'10"535 - 55
8 - Kamui Kobayashi - Dams - 1'10"571 - 38
9 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango - 1'10"576 - 40
10 - Sebastien Buemi - Arden - 1'10"577 - 48
11 - Bruno Senna - iSport - 1'10"656 - 46
12 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 1'10"686 - 52
13 - Yelmer Buurman - Arden - 1'10"686 - 53
14 - Andreas Zuber - Piquet - 1'10"712 - 34
15 - Alvaro Parente - Super Nova - 1'10"815 - 42
16 - Mike Conway - Trident - 1'10"817 - 46
17 - Andy Soucek - FMSI - 1'10"867 - 51
18 - Ben Hanley - Campos - 1'10"966 - 40
19 - Diego Nunes - DPR - 1'11"103 - 63
20 - Alberto Valerio - Durango - 1'11"139 - 43
21 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - 1'11"271 - 43
22 - Michael Herck - DPR - 1'11"287 - 50
23 - Paolo Nocera - BCN - 1'11"453 - 43
24 - Ho Pin Tung - Trident - 1'11"503 - 47
25 - Milos Pavlovic - BCN - 1'11"522 - 59
26 - Christian Bakkerud - Super Nova - 1'11"739 - 25

[chunterer]

Same names near the top in all sessions so far, and it has to be said in all testing so far.

FMSI twins quite well matched again; although Soucek fair way off Valles this morning. Villa, Maldonado and Grosjean have been consistently quick with the i-sport cars yo-yo ing a bit by looks of things.

Juudging by Parente v Bakkerud, Alvaro must be driving out of his skin, either that or Bakkerud is seriously off the pace....

[Adri_tifosi]

Afternoon

1 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 1'10"062 - 35
2 - Giorgio Pantano - Racing Engineering - 1'10"082 - 56
3 - Luca Filippi - ART - 1'10"251 - 50
4 - Andreas Zuber - Piquet - 1'10"270 - 59
5 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 1'10"324 - 34
6 - Romain Grosjean - ART - 1'10"343 - 52
7 - Kamui Kobayashi - Dams - 1'10"418 - 53
8 - Alvaro Parente - Super Nova - 1'10"432 - 42
9 - Mike Conway - Trident - 1'10"517 - 46
10 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 1'10"517 - 52
11 - Bruno Senna - iSport - 1'10"529 - 45
12 - Sebastien Buemi - Arden - 1'10"553 - 47
13 - Andy Soucek - FMSI - 1'10"574 - 34
14 - Adrian Valles - FMSI - 1'10"660 - 63
15 - Karun Chandhok - iSport - 1'10"685 - 29
16 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango - 1'10"699 - 28
17 - Ben Hanley - Campos - 1'10"706 - 46
18 - Christian Bakkerud - Super Nova - 1'10"725 - 45
19 - Yelmer Buurman - Arden - 1'10"737 - 51
20 - Diego Nunes - DPR - 1'10"972 - 56
21 - Alberto Valerio - Durango - 1'11"002 - 36
22 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - 1'11"104 - 42
23 - Ho Pin Tung - Trident - 1'11"123 - 57
24 - Milos Pavlovic - BCN - 1'11"202 - 60
25 - Michael Herck - DPR - 1'11"327 - 64
26 - Paolo Nocera - BCN - 1'13"257 - 24