This weekend, the GP2 paddock gathers in Turkey for the third round of the 2009 championship at Istanbul Park, the only anti clockwise circuit of the season. After two rounds, the reigning champions Barwa Addax Team are dominating the series with 49 points scored, including two wins and two podiums, ahead of French squads Dams and ART Grand Prix. Three drivers have claimed wins so far this season in Barcelona and Monte Carlo, Telmex Arden's Edoardo Mortara being the only rookie to have done so, while Dams' Jerome d'Ambrosio snatched three podium finishes already. Winning his first GP2 race in 2007 in Turkey, Lucas di Grassi is looking forward to this weekend: after a slightly difficult start of the season at the wheel of his Fat Burner Racing Engineering car, the competitive Brazilian's goal will be to repeat his team's last year success on this track.

However, in order to do so, he will have to beat the man who has impressed the most since the opening round of the season: Championship leader Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman is happy to be back in Turkey where he scored his first GP2 win last year: "Istanbul is a very nice track and one of my favourites actually. Although a new track, it still has the old spirit of fast, challenging corners and lots of elevation changes." He added: "Of course, when you have won at a certain track, you have great memories and always look forward to going back and repeat said success. However, this is a very difficult track, especially for the tyres with the really long, fast and challenging left-hand corner. It's a high-speed track with heavy braking zones. We will have to manage our tyres very carefully, especially if the track temperatures are high."

The current great form of his team, Barwa Addax, gives him great confidence for the round to come: "Yes, we are doing really well at the moment, but this doesn't mean that we should stop pushing. We will try to keep the same level from Barcelona and Monaco and for that, we have been working hard." Grosjean concluded: "We'll see how we do in Turkey, but our goal is to not lose points."