GP2 Sepang rounds 1 & 2 2012

[skells22]

as requested here is the GP2 race thread
time for the GP2 cars to come out and play this weekend.
who will get 1st win, who will be taken out at turn 1 (and might bring the SC out), Will the weather play a part in this (we know Sepang may have rain)

[Kai]

Definitely looking forward to another season, hoping Gutierrez puts together a championship.

I saw that Sky is going to do GP2 coverage this year. Any idea as to who's going to be commentating?

[ECW Dan Selby]

I THINK it's Buxton.

Looking forward to this one. The field doesn't seem quite as talented as in recent years but oh well, hopefully some new guys will flourish!

Selby

[JackN]

Yep, it will be Will Buxton, with Sam Bird joining him for the races I believe.

[skells22]

so here are the times that you need to know and maybe sky + it or stay awake
Friday FP is at 3.55am GMT, qualfying is on at 7.50am GMT on the same friday
Saturday feature race starts at 2.55am GMT
Sunday race 2 the shorter top 8 reverse grid race starts at 6.10am BST.

If you have press i on that Sky Remote you find out who is joining Will in the box but I better give his name out. Jerome d'Ambrosio.

At least i supporting the Brits as per normal during GP2 weekends

[Mr Pink]

So Valsecchi on pole for the first race of the season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98274

Really bad day for Marcus Ericsson, way down in both pratice and qualifying.

[skells22]

pen news.
Fabio Onidi has been given a 3 place grid drop for blocking Rodolfo Gonzalez.

[chunterer]

So the common sense think tank probably led towards a top end grid order like this, but is this what GP2 is really supposed to be about??! Seasoned jorneymen that would struggle to warrant a midfield F1 seat let alone race winning car?

There's some talented guys a long way down after qualy with some serious work to do. I guess it really does take 2-3 years and an awful lot of expenditure for a driver to hit pay dirt in terms of performance. Something just isn't adding up when drivders of the calibre of Nasr, or even Jon Lancaster cannot outquailfy Chilton, Valsecchi or Razia!!

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by JackN

Yep, it will be Will Buxton, with Sam Bird joining him for the races I believe.

Apart from Valsechi looking in a different race, I think Will Buxton may be the hottest new talent in GP2, his commentary is top notch, not afraid to have a go at the rubbish (the Angolan no hoper) or say what he thinks about tyre choice (Paul Jackson running Palmer on softer in the first session).

As for the field, if Chiltons 3rd and Palmers 7th then you know its poor.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by ghinzani

Apart from Valsechi looking in a different race, I think Will Buxton may be the hottest new talent in GP2, his commentary is top notch, not afraid to have a go at the rubbish (the Angolan no hoper) or say what he thinks about tyre choice (Paul Jackson running Palmer on softer in the first session).

As for the field, if Chiltons 3rd and Palmers 7th then you know its poor.

But Gutierrez is 15th and he certainly isn't poor...

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

But Gutierrez is 15th and he certainly isn't poor...

Good driver having a bad day, but you have to admit the field isnt of the highest quality? Theres even someone slower than Teixeira!!!!!!!!

[kurski]

Giedo van de garde poor start.

[skells22]

at least I do not need to put up with breaks this time around while watching the GP2 as SkySports F1 decided no ad breaks. one of the pit crew made a mistake and we had the 3 wheel GP2 car. the only thing i have to put up with is the replays of the start when there is action on the track.

[bella]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

But Gutierrez is 15th and he certainly isn't poor...

gutierrez is a bit worrying isn't he. what's his hit rate for impressive races now? you know the type, even if the results weren't there the type of racecraft that makes you think "the boy's a bit special"?

[skells22]

pen news
Trummer & Richelmi both had a 20 sec pen time for causing a collision.
Barwa Addex was hit with a 1.500 euros for that wheel going off the car during the pit-stop.
due to those two pens for drivers Richelmi goes from 18 to 20 on the grid and Trummer goes from 21 to 23.
you can therefore give out the result from race 1. I do not need to wait for any repeats anymore either

[bella]

yep, cause waiting for repeats is the most important thing in gp2...

here's the results and photos pre-time penalties. if you're lucky enough to have sky and watched the race, please feel free to comment on the racing, and not the interventions of the stewards.

http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=2900

[skells22]

at least both races were clean and avoided the same issue that stopped the F1 race today. we also had a car upside down but righted itself after hitting the gravel trap. and the car was cleared under waved yellows. I have Sky therefore was able to put it on Sky+ for this weekend, no such worries next time (unrest permitting). by the way how many times a GP2 car has gone upside down during its lifetime?
in my case due to Sky+ i know the result so the result can be posted for todays race

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by skells22

by the way how many times a GP2 car has gone upside down during its lifetime?

I happen to be a member of another forum where they keep a list of such flips... apparently there have been 8.

2006: Adam Carroll, GP2, Valencia - flip in race
2007: Ernesto Viso, GP2, Magny Cours - flip in race
2008: Diego Nunes, GP2 Asia Series, Dubai - flip in race
2009: Dani Clos, GP2, Monza - flip in race
2010: Josef Král, GP2, Valencia Street Circuit - flip in race
2011: Luiz Razia, GP2 Asia Series, Abu Dhabi - flip in race
2011: Fabio Leimer, GP2, Istanbul - flip in race
2012: Davide Valsecchi, GP2, Sepang - flip in race

in my case due to Sky+ i know the result so the result can be posted for todays race

With all due respect, if you don't want to know the results best not to visit motorsport forums until you've watched it

[skells22]

so one per year bar last year when there were 2. I did watch the GP2 race that I recorded before I saw the F1 on Sky (yes, got Sky) and Sky better than Eurosport on two fronts, one no ads and the other one nothing in the way for GP2. so no more looking for streams at the mo. (that because i got the HD box).

[kerrmanningjarv]

I really enjoyed both races, thought they were pretty exciting. You know, as long as its entertaining, I don't care too much if its a weakened field. In fact it should make the races more unpredictable with promising rookies mixing it with veterans who've never quite reached their potential yet.

Thought Valsecchi looked ominously quick in race 1 but he can't be going around making those types of starts if he wants to win the title - got to turn poles and quickest car into wins. Razia looked absolutely serene up front too, big year for him. Meanwhile Calado was excellent in race 2, such a cool head on young inexperienced shoulders. Oh, and Rodolfo Gonzalez still can't keep it on the island, Ricardo Teixeira is still awful and Giancarlo Serenelli is even worse!

All in all, an entertaining race weekend

[bella]

finally! somebody who actually *watched* the races! thank you

razia is really puzzling me - i guess it doesn't help that he's really done all his learning in gp2, but he was just so shockingly slow a couple of years ago. it's really pretty impressive that he's so competitive now. unless it's a poor reflection on the rest of the field but i think that's just a bit too cynical!

[ivanalesi]

He has been racing big powerful single-seaters since 2006, he has mostly skipped the initial phases of development and he has been improving slowly but surely under the big spot lights.

[SS Supporter]

i watched both races live at the weekend ( not hard to find on the internet if you don't mind Russian or Portugese commentators ) . I think those drivers who had raced GP2 at Sepang before ( like Razia and Valsecci ) had a significant advantage . Gutierrez said as much , his error in practise cost him in qualifying because he said he was still learning the circuit .
You would expect the same in Bahrein except I imagine they will have more practise time at the first event as that is not with F1 ( lab rats for the F1 circus to see what how the political situation is there ? ) .
It's not unusual to see the veterans dominate the early races of a GP2 season . It will be interesting to see if the rookies ( Calado and Nasr look the pick of the bunch ) have the ability to catch up and overtake them . Judging from qualifying I would say that is likely as both rookies were closer ( in time ) to the front than they were in testing .
As for the races , sad to say it is still as hard as ever to overtake in GP2 , itt reminds me of F1 before Kers and DRS . Calado spelt it out in his post race interview where he admitted effectively backing Gutierrez up because he knew it would hurt the guy behind's tyres . I think Bahrein will be even more processional , the last time they raced there had barely any overtaking and the Pirelli tyres don't seem to degrade as quickly as for the F1 cars ( less cornering force I guess ) , so it will all be down to qualifying .

[kerrmanningjarv]

Originally Posted by bella

finally! somebody who actually *watched* the races! thank you

razia is really puzzling me - i guess it doesn't help that he's really done all his learning in gp2, but he was just so shockingly slow a couple of years ago. it's really pretty impressive that he's so competitive now. unless it's a poor reflection on the rest of the field but i think that's just a bit too cynical!

Yeah Razia never impressed me too much before this year. I had him down as a Filippi type who's been around forever but I didn't realise until I checked his Wikipedia page that he's still just 22 so he could just be a late bloomer. His drive was absolutely faultless on Saturday and he looked very quick but I think he was helped by Valsecchi's poor start meaning he had to fight his way through the field. I think if Valsecchi had led from pole, Razia wouldn't have looked as impressive, although you never know.

And as SS Supporter said above, Luiz is one of the few drivers in the field with Sepang experience. And as ivanalesi said, he's done it the hard way - he was racing F3000 in 2006 when he was 17, so he's had to learn in very quick cars. The upshot is that he has lots of experience which belies his 22 years. Maybe this is the year it all comes together for him in GP2 - let's see if he can keep it up.

[kotkot]

I think Razia was quite lucky this weekend, because due to his "Sepang experience", and the poor start of Valsecchi, he didn't really have any potential rival. But he had no mistakes, so congrats to him.
Valsecchi is a big ???????????????? for me. Still. The big rivals from last year have disappeared (except VDG), but it looks like he'll never be able to stop making these mistakes... But it's anyway for him, because he failed having a seat in Caterham, so...
Leimer and Chilton have already two seasons in GP2 only with some successes... and now double scoring... I think they'll be in the top 4-8 certainly.