GP2 Asia, Qatar - Weekend thread!! - Page 2

**Stephen Green** · 13 Feb 2009, 14:24 (Ref:2396890)

Shame, it would have been nice to meet up for drinkies.

AvdB · 13 Feb 2009, 16:10 (Ref:2396943)

What's happened to the live coverage? All I can see on Eurosport 2 is a collection of shunt clips?

AvdB · 13 Feb 2009, 16:18 (Ref:2396951)

Now it's tennis. Aarrgh! And I hear there was a massive startline shunt...

**chunterer** · 13 Feb 2009, 16:25 (Ref:2396955)

Back to the 10.30 pm rerun then?

Just for quick bit of info Hulkenberg set pole by a significant margin (6 tenths or more!) once again with Perez pipping Barwa teammate Petrov for 2nd.

rest of top 10 on grid:
Kobayashi
Rodriguez
Yamamoto (gone very well there)
Villa
Valsecchi
Mortara
D'Ambrosio

**Peter Mallett** · 13 Feb 2009, 16:40 (Ref:2396966)

I think you'll find that (and I hope I'm wrong) the weather means you can't actually see the track.

twinturbo · 13 Feb 2009, 16:55 (Ref:2396980)

Could anyone give updates about what is going on in Qatar. I am afraid where i am there is 0 coverage/info...

META4 · 13 Feb 2009, 17:42 (Ref:2396997)

Results of Race 1 from italiaracing

1 - Nico Hulkenberg - ART - 1.10'38"323
2 - Sergio Perez - Campos - 13"295
3 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 14"343
4 - Kamui Kobayashi - Dams - 14"746
5 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams -
6 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango -
7 - Edoardo Mortara - Arden -
8 - Luiz Razia - Arden -
9 - James Jakes - Super Nova -
10 - Fabrizio Crestani - Ocean -
11 - Diego Nunes - Piquet GP -
12 - Giedo Van der Garde - iSport -
13 - Javier Villa - Super Nova -
14 - Davide Rigon - Trident -
15 - Michael Herck - DPR -
16 - Marco Bonanomi - Meritus -
17 - Alvaro Parente - Meritus -
18 - Kevin Chia Chen - FMSI -
19 - Hamad Al Fardan - iSport

Sev · 13 Feb 2009, 17:47 (Ref:2397002)

So Hulkenburg seems to be picking up where Grosjean left off then? Perez isn't harming his reputation much either. As for what van der Garde and Parente were up to though...

Just a shame virtually no one could watch the race

What's the point of motorsport if no one see's it?

Robbe · 13 Feb 2009, 18:03 (Ref:2397014)

At least in Germany there was live coverage on Eurosport 2.

The race started with a massive crash. Yamamoto stalled and was hit by Buurman -> Safety car.
Hülkenberg did a very late pitstop, he wasn't fast in the beginning, but when he was alone he was brilliantly fast.
Petrov blocked Perez a bit after their pitstops, but Perez could pass him and did very well.
There were some very good fights between Villa (who recieved a stop and go, could have been 3rd otherwise), Valsecchi, Kobayashi and D'Ambrosio.
Also Parente did well and overtook some guys, I don't know why he finished so far back.
Chia Chen stalled in the safety car period and was a rolling chicane. Let's hope FMSI signs someone else for the main series, Chia Chen needs a lot more practise in lower series.

**chunterer** · 13 Feb 2009, 19:28 (Ref:2397048)

Thanks for head's up META4 and Robbe.

In hindsight, perhaps I should've stuck spoilers in the thread title but I wouldn't normally it's just that I didn't know I wasn't going to be able to see the race!!! Bah...

**chunterer** · 14 Feb 2009, 09:57 (Ref:2397329)

Having now seen the race (GP2 on a Friday night?!!! Yippee)

The stand out story from the race was clearly tyres, or rather tyre management.

It seemed a lottery. Some people were literally seconds a lap quicker than others early on, then fell away whilst a lot of the slower guys to begin with who are usually quick guys all of a sudden found that lost time, but by then it was a bit late. Well that's what I thought.

Petrov definitely slowed Perez down after the stops but not enough to cost him the win. Nico had already done enough before his stop to come bak out in front. Hulkenberg was another of the guys who inexplicably lost loads of time during his first stint, only for the tyres to come back to him.

Other noteworthy performances: Parente early on was mega - passing cars all over the shop and pulled a brilliant move on (Mortara?) round the outside of T1, a move that the strangely aggressive Javi Villa also pulled on Valsecchi a couple of laps later (but then like Alvaro, Javi's tyres were clearly very good in the beginning whereas Valsecchi, Mortara and the DAMS cars clearly weren't!)

Kobayashi has a weird one: quick, slow, quick, slow and then right at the end mega quick?

I'm curious overall. Maybe there was a strange batch of rubber, or maybe it was just the track conditions - sand clearing away then blowing back on combined with the track getting rubbered in so to speak?

Night race was great though, great spectacle. Looking forward to today's at 5.30 pm in UK I believe?

**Peter Mallett** · 14 Feb 2009, 10:02 (Ref:2397332)

Just to update you all. The weather here has cleared and we've got no wind to speak of. not sure if I'll venture out tonight because I have to be up at 4am tomorrow. Shame that the weather was bad yestarday because I'd planned on being there. Hey ho, apparently the QMMF is quoted as saying, they'll "do things better next year." which suggests this is only the first attempt of many. They are referring to, among other things, the complete lack of publicity.

Lam Pak · 14 Feb 2009, 12:48 (Ref:2397400)

many spectators in qatar?

Dan Friel · 14 Feb 2009, 16:19 (Ref:2397487)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lam Pak

many spectators in qatar?

I reckon not that many...

the sniper · 15 Feb 2009, 15:25 (Ref:2397847)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lam Pak

many spectators in qatar?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Friel

I reckon not that many...

Actually the main grandstand looked pretty full, I was impressed as I've never seen such a good turn out for GP2 Asia!

Two good races, shame they weren't live but according to BARB (who do the TV ratings in the UK) the last live GP2 Asia race on a Friday got 0 viewers, so it wasn't suprising that Eurosport showed Tennis instead. Also, it was nice to watch the feature race in Widescreen on Friday night.

Anyway, to the racing, I was impressed by Perez, Hulkenberg and Mortara, I think we have an intresting main series ahead of us. DAMS seem to have lost the momentum they had in opening part of the season and who knows what was going on with Kobayashi in the sprint.

Anyway the championship looks much more open now, sadly we have 7 weeks to wait for the next race...

**chunterer** · 15 Feb 2009, 16:52 (Ref:2397884)

Sound comments about the second race and the relatively open state of the series as it heads towards it's final 4 races......... in April!

Perez really is a canny little driver isn't he. Now there aren't going to be many races in a drivers top line career where tyres are so delicate like they were in Losail and the Mexican, as did Petrov to be fair, managed the ups and downs of grip really really well.

Hulkenberg no doubt would've figured if he hadn't got held up for as long but, fair dues to Mortara he displayed excellent defensive driivng skills!!

The start was sensational, both Barwa men got blinders off the line susprising many by going 1-2 into Turn 1!! How Valsecchi and the 2 Arden guys didn't have a massive shunt in that pincer movement i don't know!

**gomick** · 15 Feb 2009, 23:30 (Ref:2398174)

Poor Hulkenberg, i continuously shake my head at his results...