GP2 2006 - Who goes Where?

[flexible-flyer]

im talking pre season when adam missed more gp2 tests than he took part in when all the other drivers were testing. only full blooded test adam had was the barca one. he also did a small amount at ricard aswell.

anyway i just cant understand why he isnt testing if he is 'almost certainly' going to be in gp2 next year. adam cant be that out of pocket. i dont beleive he can use that excuse anymore after 2005. he is bound to have picked up some cash after last season....it seems silly if he wants to be prepared for another year of gp2 then why isnt he preparing in the best way possible by getting out in that car and gelling things in with the team and the car.....even if they are only testing last seasons cars....

[flexible-flyer]

well i stand corrected. adam has had his first test of the season by giving super nova some talent and put it back in the top 6.

hamilton put ART were they belong by going quickest.

[mllevy]

why does felix porteiro's name appears twice on the list ???? isn't it di grassi

[strider]

Presumably you're looking here: http://www.gp2series.com/en/website/...ews=tcm:2-6631

I don't know is the answer. Those were the morning times. The afternoon ones should be available very soon.

[strider]

Yup, here they are: http://www.gp2series.com/en/website/...ews=tcm:2-6641

There's even an explanation that Porteiro drove both Campos cars.

[Nutty Racer]

I should have kept quiet. Despite lack of testing Lewis appears immediately to be GP2 competitive. What an effort. I thought there may be a greater difference between GP2 masters and the rookies. I remain perplexed by the seat swappers though.

[flexible-flyer]

well as they say, its only testing......but good performance no matter what. it was to be expected though in my opinion. because he is a super driver and they are a super team. when you get that combination you become formidable.

i reckon piquet and lapierre have more to offer though. and carroll was not too bad despite late showing up at the test in his first go in a racing car since september....

what is it with all these drivers swapping seats all the time though? they start a test in one team and end it in another....and then go and do another test for another team!!! at least they seem to have the luxury of being able to pick and choose. shame the same cannot be said for others...

one question though. wheres premat? i suppose he will want to be preparing himself for his return to A1 but wouldnt that best be suited driving the superior gp2? or maybe ART are fed up with him?

[Jackman]

1. I spoke to Yoshi and he said he wanted to try all the top teams to see what he's been missing this year.

2. Premat is going to struggle to find a team to race for in 2006.

[mutable]

Where's Pantano? Did I miss something?

[Alienman_69]

I think GP2 2006 season its going to be very intresting.
On one hand we have the ART team that will be very hard to beat no matter who the drivers are and on the other hand a few drivers with 1 year of experience in GP2. Between those, my money is on Piquet because he has a team working for him, they have the money and they've been working hard on this tests to develop the car while other teams test to many different drivers and dont seem to chose any. But I believe if Hamilton goes to ART he will be hard to beat, because that team was 1 second quicker on most of the races of the second half of 2005 season, and Hamilton is very quick, although I would like to see him on other than the best team just to see how he would do with a slower car.

[chunterer]

I take your point, Alienman, but i would be disappointed if after winter testing, the other teams haven't found what they need in terms of set up to get back on terms with ART next year.

BTW mutable, i think Pantano will be chasing drives in either IRL or Champcar for '06 -as his GP2 'rebuilding' year went a bit pumpkin shaped for him!

[flexible-flyer]

Originally Posted by Jackman

1. I spoke to Yoshi and he said he wanted to try all the top teams to see what he's been missing this year.

2. Premat is going to struggle to find a team to race for in 2006.

cheers for the info jackman.

i wonder what will happen to premat...?

[chunterer]

Surely someone will pick him up - although based on A1 form, Lapierre seems the quicker of the two, which may count more in his favour than Alex's on the driver selection side?

[mutable]

Thanks, Chunterer. He's one F1 reject I wouldn't mind racing on this side of the pond. I saw him race in the IRL at Watkins Glen and thought he drove a great race despite some early mishaps.

[chunterer]

Well it's not that he's slow, completely the oppposite in fact!

It's just that he seems to lack consitency and how to regularly judge a rhythm during a race, although he showed plenty of pace and rhythm in the race your referring to!

[strider]

I heard a story that Premat's dad and the boss of ASM/ART, Frederic Vasseur, are mates from the old days back when they were both karting, so there may yet be hope for him in GP2.

[chunterer]

Ah well, it's who you know, or jobs for the boys then is it?!!

[Frank_White]

If Premat (as a second year driver) goes against Hamilton in GP2 at ART and is severely dominated it might spell the end of his single seater racing career (at least where F1 is concerned).

But then again he might beat Hamilton and rejuvinate his career.

[chunterer]

Yeah, interesting one Frank, it's difficult to say.

GP2 is clearly a series with equipment that allows drivers to prove their mettle as they are tricky cars to master and because it's so even previous rep's count for less.

However, I still think that a good driver will always come through and show it straight away, regardless of the experience of a particular category.

Therefore, Hamilton should be in the hunt straight away? and Premat, quick as he is isn't quite in that lad's class...

[chunterer]

Noticed Maldonado was out for Durango and knocked 2-3 secs off his times, not bad.

But, how come he's testing GP2, i would've thought another year to go for WSR 3.5 title was the likely path for him. Unless he's going to lose the RDD backing and had decided he'd better move to another category?

Either way, he's quick and erratic so the TV should be good!

[strider]

When you think about it, Premat was blown away this year by Rosberg, who was fresh out of a not particularly sparkling year in Euro F3, so his chances against Hamilton don't look too great. On the other hand, he has won Macau, which Hamilton now never will...

[flexible-flyer]

Originally Posted by mutable

Thanks, Chunterer. He's one F1 reject I wouldn't mind racing on this side of the pond. I saw him race in the IRL at Watkins Glen and thought he drove a great race despite some early mishaps.

might have won the race if he did ruin his pitstop. i think he was penalised for it, dropped way back down the order yet he still came back to finish like 6th or something. i reckon he was quicker than dixon all weekend in that race.

[chunterer]

Yeah Pantano's fast alright, but he's not found that 'something' that turns him into a regular front runner or championship driver ( F3 years ago and 3000 DQ season aside?!)

But is a series as competitive as GP2 that ain't enough...

[chunterer]

Couple of points regarding Red bull backed drives.

I'm interested in Red Bull's promotion of Michael Ammermuller from Renault 2-litre. They're only going to back one car in GP2 next year so where does that leave Lapierre in terms of funding?

Is Amermuller really that good that he's worthy of backing over some pretty handy F3 drivers that they've also been sponsoring?!

So that means one car in GP2, one in WSR 3.5 (Fleming).

Not suitable for this thread but it's been mentioned that they are cutting back so will they still back a number of guys in F3/Renault 2.0?

[Kicking-back]

Lapierre is not a Red Bull driver.

Arden's cars carried Red Bull branding simply because of Christian Horner's "day job"