05/02/2010
NEWS STORY
iSport International - Oliver Turvey (1st) Davide Valsecchi (2nd)
iSport are celebrating their first ever 1-2 finish this evening as British rookie Oliver Turvey took his first ever GP2 victory at the Yas Marina Circuit closely followed by Championship leader and team mate Davide Valsecchi.
Turvey stormed into the lead, passing pole sitter Charles Pic into the first corner with Valsecchi following him shortly after in a bold move on the long back straight. It was tight at the front with several cars all line astern up until the mandatory pit stops. After two swift tyre changes by the iSport pit crew Turvey and Valsecchi both returned to the action in first and second positions. With Turvey on colder tyres there were a few tense moments as his more experienced team mate piled on the pressure. After a short trip off track both iSport cars remained in position to hold off competition from ART driver Jules Bianchi. A brief safety car period only added to the tension in the closing stages but iSport duo Oliver Turvey and Davide Valsecchi made perfect re-starts to cross the finish line together to take iSport's first ever 1-2 finish in GP2 with Valsecchi taking fastest lap.
Oliver Turvey: It's been incredible all weekend. It's great for everyone in the team to get a 1-2 and also for the Racing Steps Foundation who I have to thank because without their support I wouldn't be racing here today on the top step of the podium. The start went really well, I got a great start and I was first into turn one and from then on I knew I had a good chance to win the race. We had good pace throughout the race, the car was really fantastic. The pit stop went well, Davide and I got very close straight after when I was on cold tyres but once they were up to temperature it was fine and it was a fantastic race.
Davide Valsecchi: After qualifying I had some pain in my ribs so before the race I had to make an injection to stop the pain. So I was thinking this was not a good race for me but I knew after the start my car was incredibly fast. I almost reached first position, anyway we finished second behind Turvey. Our car was the best and we made a good pit stop, we were incredibly quick it was perfect. I set also, three laps from the end the fastest lap so it's perfect, we scored nine points and it's good for the championship.
MalaysiaQI-MeritusMahara.com - Alexander Rossi (6th) Luca Filippi (14th)
Italian driver Luca Filippi and the American Alexander Rossi had an incredible challenge on their hands at the start of today's race. Starting respectively from 21st and 24th on the grid both finished the first race at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi in good shape confirming team's competiveness. Luca Filippi, who had finished the first practice session fastest of all, continued to show a dominant pace, but in the end, could not overcome his bad luck from qualifying. On the last lap Filippi's car suffered fuel surge problems and dropped from fourth to fourteenth. Alexander Rossi, who had qualified fifth, was relegated to the back of the grid following a genuine human error, but recovered strongly to finish the race in sixth place, earning three points for the team. For tomorrow's race Rossi will start from the second row.
Both Filippi and Rossi had a great start and climbed to 15th and 16th from their respective 21st and 24th starting grid positions. A great pit stop strategy by the team also helped the drivers gain positions. Lap by lap the two MalaysiaQI-MeritusMahara.com drivers were pushing their way up the order. After two laps Filippi was already in 12th while Rossi was 14th. By lap 5, the pair were 12th and 13th. The pit stops started on lap 6. Rossi's was scheduled on lap 7 while Filippi stayed out a bit longer running in sixth, until he pitted on lap 8 while Rossi set the fastest lap of the race at that point while running 13th.
On lap 11 Filippi responded and set a new fastest lap of the race in 1.53.199 while running in seventh, just as Rossi broke into the top ten. Five laps later Filippi was fifth and Rossi in the points in 8th place. Ten laps before the end, Filippi had climbed to fourth.
Luca Filippi: "I had a good start and good pace. I was in fourth when the engine had a fuel pressure problem. In the end the guys in front of me were really running fast and seemed to have a much stronger engine. Even if I started from the back of the grid, I had the car for the podium. This is a heart breaking finish."
Alexander Rossi: "Starting from the back and finishing sixth, scoring three points for my first race with MalaysiaQI-MeritusMahara.com is a good result. I had a great race and a good start. In the first part, I struggled a bit with my first set of rear tires. After the pit stop the car was good even if I had a few problems with the balance in the hairpin. Overall, we are missing a bit of speed on the straights. I am disappointed because we had the car for a strong race and we were forced to start from the back. Anyway, it was a good finish and I will start third from second row tomorrow."
Chairman Raad S. Abduljawad: "We are looking at a positive weekend with a great result in this incredible Abu Dhabi facility. It is a positive way to continue the season and we are looking forward to an equally positive second race tomorrow with a reverse grid."
Peter Thompson, President and team founder: "It was a hard weekend and first race. I want to thank His Excellency Dato' Yahaya Abdul Jabar, Ambassador of Malaysia to the UAE who is a very committed supporter of the team for his visit to our pit and on the starting grid at the Yas Marina circuit. Today, we finished the race with two cars and earned three points. Both drivers did a great job. Both the team and Alexander Rossi climbed to third in the drivers classification with 10 points. I am very proud of our Malaysian team and want to thank the engineers and mechanics for their dedication and hard work all week end."
Scuderia Coloni - Will Bratt (11th) Alberto Valerio (15th)
Scuderia Coloni ended its Abu Dhabi Friday on a good mood after a race in which its drivers managed a great recovery, finishing in P12 (Will Bratt) and P15 (Alberto Valerio) after 33 laps. Even if the team is not used to fight for such positions, that was undoubtedly a good finish considering that, after a difficult Thursday, the Scuderia Coloni cars started the race ten positions behind, on the next to last row of the grid.
At the green light Bratt had a very good reaction, choosing the inside line and overtaking immediately some competitors. Then he fought with Herck until the pit-stop. For the tyre change, the team chose to split the stragies between the two drivers, calling Bratt in the pits as soon as they opened, in lap 7, and leaving Valerio out until lap 15. Once he was back on the track, the brit had a very consistent race, defending his position in a very strong manner and keeping himself out of troubles. Valerio, meanwhile, after exiting the pits took advantage of its new tyres and managed to equal the pace of the race leaders, with a best time of 1'52'9 which is very good, considering that until today the brazilian had never completed a full lap of the track.
Paolo Coloni: 'Obviously we're not happy, but it wasn't easy given the our starting positions. We're happy that our drivers did a very clever race, avoiding contacts and mistakes that it's easy to make when you're pushing hard to recover. We hope that tomorrow, with some more experience on the track and a better starting position, they'll do better'.
Will Bratt: 'I had a good race and managed to move up plenty of places. We were quite fast in sectors 1 and 3 but need to still find some time in sector 2 so that is what I will concentrate on for tomorrows race. Once we have gained a bit more speed here I can be more aggressive and move forward in the traffic'.
Alberto Valerio: 'After a very hard day yesterday, without qualify and had done no laps at the circuit, today was a very good race! Coming from the last position in the grid I could improve very much my time and after the pits, I was in the same pace of the leader. this was my goal, to learn the circuit, and I'm happy with that'.
Super Nova - Josef Kral (9th) Marcus Ericsson (17th)
After an action packed race this evening Super Nova has been left frustrated after a strong performance by both drivers ended with no points for the team.
Marcus Ericsson drove a storming race from 21st on the grid up to eighth position with a few laps to go, when he was hit by Michael Herck in a failed overtaking manouvre. Marcus was struggling with oversteer, due to rear tyre wear, after an early stop. A safety car was deployed with less than ten laps remaining and the field bunched up leaving Herck, with fresher tyres, on the tail of the Super Nova car. Unfortunately this led to disaster with Marcus retiring after Herck didn't allow him enough room and the pair collided. The pace that Marcus showed throughout the race was very promising though.
Josef Kral also had a solid race, finishing in 10th position and was unlucky not to be in the points. When the safety car was due to come in the field closed up in preperation for the restart but the car in front of Josef slowed with a problem, leaving him no where to go and allowing 3 drivers to get past. Josef then resisted intense pressure from Sergio Perez for the final laps, until the very last lap when the Mexican managed to find a way past.
The team is targeting a points finish from Josef in the race tomorrow, with Marcus left to fight his way through the field once again.
Josef Kral: "I made a really good start and got into the top ten after the first lap. The car was then difficult to drive and felt strange on the first set of tyres. After the pit stop the car was much better and I started to push hard to catch up the group in front of me. The safety car then came out and on the restart the car in front of me stalled, so I lost time and positions after nearly stalling myself. I then tried to recover and managed to overtake Pic and kept Perez behind me. Unfortunately on the final lap Perez took me by surprise and overtook me into the hairpin."
Marcus Ericsson: "First of all I want to thank the team for working hard to solve the problems that we had yesterday and give me a great car today. I had a good start and was aggressive in the first few laps and overtook some of the cars in front. Unfortunately, even though the team made an excellent pit stop, we lost a few seconds in the pit lane due to traffic. The car felt really good and I pushed hard up to P8. After the safety car the rear tyres were very worn and I was fighting hard to keep my position when I went over the kerb and had contact with Herck after not being given very much room. I feel very positive though after a good day apart from the result.
David Sears - Team Principal: "Both of our drivers drove really well today in Abu Dhabi. Marcus pitted very early when the pit window opened and managed to go from 21st on the grid up to 8th position in the race before his tyres started to go off and unfortunately he tangled with Michael Herck and retired. Otherwise he would have been on pole position for tomorrows race."
"Josef managed to go from P15 to P9 on the first lap but struggled on his first set of tyres. He then drove really well after his pit stop to take a strong 10th position finish."
Trident Racing - Plamen Kralev (16th) Dani Clos (DNF)
The Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit hosted the feature race of the second GP2 Asia Series round of this season. Trident Racing's Dani Clos, who took off from Row 8, experienced a tough start as he damaged his front wing in a T1 contact. The Spaniard came to an early pit-stop on lap 6, but was forced to retire after a contact with Will Bratt. Plamen Kralev reached his goal to reach the checkered flag in his first GP2 Asia Series race. The Bulgarian scored a positive 16th spot. In the final race of the weekend, starting tomorrow at 18:00 local time, Kralev will take off from Row 8, wile Clos will be called to come back from 21st.
Dani Clos: "My start hasn't been great, and as I approached turn 1 I found myself in a cloud of sand. As I hit the brakes, the car in front of me braked harder, and we touched, damaging my front wing. During my pit-stop, I lost one spot to Will Bratt, but I tried to move back when I caught his slipstream again. He shut the door, and the contact damaged the front right suspension. It's a shame, because I lost the chance to improve my feeling with the car and track and I was really more suited by the car today than yesterday. I hope to leave my mark on tomorrow's race with a great comeback.
Plamen Kralev: "My goal was to end the race. I really wanted to get to the checkered flag and I'm satisfied with the race I eventually run. Conditions weren't easy, and we saw many crashes and mistakes as a consequence. I tried not to be an obstacle for everybody else, and that hit the overall performance. I feel I can improve a lot. I just need to drive for more kilometers, and pull the best out of the car."