GP2 Insider Issue 56

7/29/2019 GP2 Insider Issue 56

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The insider

the worlds best young drivers fighting for a place in formula 1

round 10 Belgium, 31 August-2 septemBer 2012

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supplier to gp2/gp3lainegalleryThe blogericsson

calado back

in the frameDouble podium joy puts Briton in title race,as Ericsson and Kral enjoy first wins

read more

four-way bale:

evans, da Costa,vainio and abt intitle showdown
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://gp3series.com/http://gp2series.com/


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Congratulations on a great win...its been a while since the last one!Yeah, two years! Ive waited a longtime, but its great to win here in Spa.It was a strange race, with Nigelsbig crash, but when it fnally gotrestarted I had a really good race.

The car was great, and its antasticto be on the top o the podium!

You had a ast start which setyou up nicely or a great rst lap,is that how you saw it?

The actual start was not the best, butI had a good frst corner and then areally good run through Eau Rouge.

The rest o the lap I did really well: Imanaged to overtake James Calado,and then Rio Haryanto. The car wasgood, and I was aggressive andmanaged to get up to P1. We lostposition in the pitstop, but lucky orme, Rio span behind the saety car!

Ater the red fag there was a longperiod on the grid... what were youthinking during that break?It was a dicult situation becausethere were our guys in ront o mewho had to stop again, and I didnt

know i they were going to struggleor pace or be really quick. The frstthree guys had good pace and justpulled away. I managed to passSimon Trummer, and ater that it wasall about controlling the race. The carwas really good, so I could make sureI didnt use the tyres too much, and

just count the laps down.

What does this win meanor you and the team?It means a lot. It has been a toughseason or me, nothing like whatwe hoped or. But we had a break,so I could recharge my batteries andIm really looking orward to the lastthree weekends. It was just aboutseeing what I could do, and hopeullyget some good results. Winning thefrst race back is a pretty good result!

Q+A: mArcus ericsson

The GP2 graduates had a toughweekend at the Belgian GrandPrix, with many o them involvedin the races biggest incidents,crashes and retirements. Ithad looked good, with KamuiKobayashi starting rom his rstever ront row grid slot and hisSauber team-mate Sergio Prezbehind him in ourth. PastorMaldonado lined up sixth, withLewis Hamilton seventh andRomain Grosjean eighth.

At the start however, Grosjeanthe 2011 champion, came to blowswith Hamilton, the 2006 champion,sparking a huge shunt at La Sourcewhich saw numerous cars eitherdamaged or put out on the spot.Hamilton was a victim, Grosjeanwas out too, along with FernandoAlonso and Prez. Grosjeanspart in the accident was laterconsidered to be so severe thathe was subsequently bannedrom the next race in Monza.

Pastor Maldonado would laterretire rom the race, while all theother GP2 graduates in the racestruggled, apart rom one. The2009 champion Nico Hlkenberghad started outside the points, butdrove a truly mesmerising race,scything his way through the feldto take ourth place and his bestever F1 fnish.

On a day to orget or GP2graduates, Hlkenberg at leastgave us something to smile about.

Tough DAy AT The rAces for ex-gp2 sTArs

Gallery

cAlADo closes gAp on The leADersbelgium // feATure rAce: mArcus ericsson // sprinT rAce: josef krAl

It rained. That isnt a surpriseor Spa, but Friday was almosta total washout. Luckily,it didnt stop practice andqualiying rom going ahead.Ultimately Rio Haryanto, themaster o dreadul weather,pulled together a stunning polelap, his frst in GP2 to take theront row with James Calado.With Davide Valsecchi in sixthand Luiz Razia in 18th on thegrid, the Briton had a greatchance to make an impact onthe title chase.

feATure rAceSaturday was dry, but the raceitsel descended into chaos.Nigel Melker was involved in ahuge shunt at Eau Rouge whichbrought out the red ags and anhour delay as the circuit awaitedthe return o the medicalhelicopter. A number o drivershad pitted behind the saetycar, including Marcus Ericsson,who had earlier taken the leadrom Haryanto. Carlins crew didan astonishing job to get theIndonesian out back ahead othe Swede, only or him to spinon cold tyres, on the outlapbehind the saety car.

When the race resumed, theleading our cars, headed byGiedo van der Garde, were allyet to stop. Try as they might,they couldnt pull enough oa gap. Ericsson took his frst winin two years, ahead o Caladoand Valsecchi, with Jose Kralin ourth and Van der Garde fth.Razia took sixth ahead o JulianLeal and reverse grid polemanFelipe Nasr.

sprinT rAceSunday mornings contest wasa more straightorward aair.Leader Nasr was passed by Kral,who made a great start rom

fth. Calado and Razia ran wheelto wheel through Radillon, withthe Brazilian edged onto thegrass and spinning in ront oValsecchi. That took the Italianout o the race and cost Razia apoints-scoring opportunity.

Calado could make no inroadson Kral, and he also had hismirrors ull o Nasr or the wholerace, until the Brazilian made itpast at the fnal corner.

Razia and Valsecchi are nowtied or the championship leadon 204 points, with Calado thirdwith 160 and Gutierrez ourth on150. With two weekends let, thistitle looks likely to go to the wire.

morenews

rAcecArD //bg

riVerTAnDings

Luiz Razia 204

Davide Valsecchi 204

James Calado 160

Esteban Gutirrez 150

Giedo van der Garde 141

Max Chilton 124

Fabio Leimer 103

Marcus Ericsson 89

Felipe Nasr 85

Johnny Cecotto 80

Jolyon Palmer 62

Nathanal Berthon 59

Dillmnn deniedVlsecci four in

The blog //by th wat

Ive got a specifc Spaoutft: a thick shirt and thin

jumper, with waterproo jeans,walking socks under neopreneboots, a thick waterproo jacketand a baseball cap. The boots arethe most important bit, to keepyour eet dry despite the constantrunning water in the paddock.Were on a slope here, on therun down the hill in the old pits:theyre atmospheric, but anythingyou drop oats downstreamand ends up in the bottom pit.Assuming it rains, that is. Its Spa,o course it will rain.

click for the bloG latest

Gp3pirelli

ricsson lesfor e led

e rs corner

points gaineD by

jAmes cAlADoon leaDer luiz razia

belgium//th tat

o omin grosjenses d in Formul 1

eAmTAnDings

Lotus GP 310

DAMS 289

Arden International 208

Racing Engineering 162

Carlin 160

iSport International 151

Caterham Racing 147

Barwa Addax Team 107

josef krAla seson in ic ed

fil o score sinle poinurned full circle in p,ere e zec driverook no onl is rspoins on urd,u is rs g2 in

on e und.

mArcusericsson

a rs in in o sesonsin e Feure rce, ndmore poins in unds

prin rce ere ricrerd for e ede,

o celered is 22ndird e eekend.

jAmes cAlADoto podiums moved

im closer o ecmpionsip led, udeep don, e m feel o vicories mi

ve een ere fore kin.

luiz rAziAmpionsip leddon o zero, nd

no poins scored onund... sill no DF for

e brzilin in 2012,u comprivel

disppoinin eekend.

oceAn rAcingTechnology

bi crses for ielelker in g2 nd oerren in g3 men eem d more pressin

ins n poins oneir mind. tnkfull,

o drivers re in eerspe n eir crs.

Krl kes eprin rce

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http://gp2series.com/News-Room/News/http://gp2series.com/News-Room/News/http://paddock.gp2series.com/index.php?post/2012/08/31/50-shades-of-rainhttp://paddock.gp2series.com/index.php?post/2012/08/31/50-shades-of-rainhttp://gp2series.com/News-Room/News/http://gp2series.com/


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ck here foronS profile

click here for

the video

monrummer

ing engineering

wouldnte here

without...ave to say it is not justperson, but severalple in what I call myect Team.er since the beginningy racing career, my dad,

brother and now myager, who has been a

nd of the family for a longe, have been a key part ining me to where I am in

sport and I guess to myn general too.enitely couldnt have

here without them.y are with me, alwaysporting me with myng, with my mind and my management. Inor racing, having thet team around you is soortant, and I am lucky toe had such a team evere I was racing in go karts.ertainly wouldnt be

ng what I am doing todayout those guyshelp!

1:59.201Fastest LaPof the weeKend

BY Max ChiLtonin the Sprint race

belgium //Th sTTs

giedoon oneKneeGiedo van der Garde wasthe toast of his home city ofRotterdam over the summerbreak, when he took theCaterham F1 Teams car for aspin around the city as partof the annual RotterdamCity Racing spectacular. But

not only did the Dutchmanimpress the watchingcrowds, he also had a specialsurprise up his sleeve for onemember of the audience.

At the end of his run, andwith the crowd in raptures,Giedo climbed out of hiscar, jumped the barriers andheaded for his girlfriendDenise. He then dropped toone knee, pulled a small boxout of his pocket and revealedan engagement ring, beforeasking Denise to marry him.

Thankfully she said yes, soall of us here at The Insidersend our best wishes to thecouple. You can watch thevideo, but beware! Have sometissues ready... it will melt eventhe hardest of hearts.

preview

// Ty // oz// 7-9 spT

hard and medium (belw) mund r na

//luca filippi (scuderia coloni)

2011 feature race winner

//chrisTian vieToris (racing eng)

2011 Sprint race winner

2011 race weather //sunny

2011 tracK temp //46c

tracK length //5.793Km

teSting SeSSionSwill booSt gp2Pirellis GP2 tyres have demonstratedperformance and reliability throughout theseason so far, but it is no coincidence: insteadit is the result of thousands of kilometres ofon-going development, which the Italian firm

carries out alongside its Formula One testing.The latest session will take place this weekin Barcelona, one of the most popular venuesfor testing because the Montmelo circuittakes in a wide variety of corners and speeds,providing a good all-round technical challengethat tests every aspect of the tyres.

At the same time, Pirelli will also be testingits Renault R30 Formula One test car withLucas di Grassi: one of the two test driversthat the Italian firm has employed this yearto prepare for the next generation of FormulaOne tyres that will make their debut next year.

The work carried out for GP2 is run alongsimilar lines, benefitting from the input ofPirellis engineers, with several different tyreoptions tried out as Pirelli gathers informationto prepare next years compounds.

At the wheel of the GP2 test car for twodays will be Italian driver Luca Filippi, tryingout a number of different tyres designed to

make the racing even more competitive nextyear, so that the drivers are a s well-prepared aspossible for the next step, Formula One.

Pirellis racing manager Mario Isola, whohas overseen the companys GP2 activitiesthis year, explains the work that is carried outduring the companys test programme.

We take GP2 testing every bit as seriouslyas we do the testing for Formula One, andthe feedback we accumulate from Formula

One testing is also valuable for GP2,hesays. Essentially, we arrive at a test with anumber of different prototype tyres, whichare designed to enhance the performance ofour existing compounds. While we can learna lot from simulation, it is never a completesubstitute for running on a real circuit andthe feedback from a driver is invaluable. Theopportunity weve had of using a number ofdifferent drivers for our GP2 tests has enabledus to accumulate a wide a range of opinions.

The GP2 testing is not exclusively gearedtowards 2013; some of the lessons learned canalso be applied to this season, as seen fromthe rule changes this year allowing an extra setof softer compound tyres at each race.

The more information we obtain, themore we are able to improve the spectacle,concludes Mario. Thats why our commitmentto GP2 at races is backed up by so much workbehind the scenes.

clkwie rm t: Jnncett and Je Kral it alit n te arwa ddax teambugg; Trident steaneielmi trie ut te tuitin; cme ere ten?Jame calad and riend get atrakide t; firt win teean, eel it in m eart,a isrt aru rin;te lida ma be er, butui aia i till in te mdr taking a ew na.

gallery//Th s v
http://www.gp2series.com/Teams-and-Drivers/Drivers/Simon-Trummer/http://www.gp2series.com/Teams-and-Drivers/Drivers/Simon-Trummer/http://www.gp2series.com/Teams-and-Drivers/Drivers/Simon-Trummer/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn9FvR_n-chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn9FvR_n-chttp://gp3series.com/http://gp2series.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJn9FvR_n-chttp://www.gp2series.com/Teams-and-Drivers/Drivers/Simon-Trummer/http://gp2series.com/


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pirelligp2 gallery

two-way fight no morebelgium // race 1 winner: daniel abt // race 2 winner: matias laine

Q+a: matias laine

It was supposed to be the weekend that MitchEvans or Aaro Vainio placed one hand on theGP3 crown. Instead, Spa delivered two newtitle contenders in what promises to be theclosest of nishes to a thrilling GP3 season.

race 1Evans took pole, but after a delayed start, therace was shortened to a 25-minute dash. Evansand Antonio Felix da Costa scrapped for thelead, and as they did so, Daniel Abt blastedpast shortly before the race was red aggedfollowing a big accident involving OceansRobert Cregan at Pouhon. Abt was declaredthe winner from Da Costa and Evans, but it was

called so short that half points were awardedfor the rst time in the championships history.

race 2Sundays race was a classic, at the end ofwhich Matias Laine took his rst GP3 victory.But it was Da Costa who made the biggestimpression, taking second from Conor Daly aschampionship rivals Vainio and Evans failedto score. That saw Da Costa leap into secondin the championship ahead of Vainio, withAbt moving to within a weekends total pointshaul of Evans in fourth. So with all four driversgoing into the nal weekend with a shot at thecrown, Monza has all the makings of an epic.

Congratulations Matias on your rstvictory in GP3, tell us about the race.I think my start was very good and I gotinto the lead. At the beginning I waspushing really hard as if I was doing

qualifying laps and I built up a gap. OnceI had the advantage, I didnt need to pushevery lap. It was really nice to drive.

Did you feel the pressure at all especiallywhen Felix da Costa was coming throughthe eld near the end of the race?

No, not at all. Antonio was still too far backat the end, so I didnt have any problems.

How were the tyres out there todayin the cool temperatures?They were okay. For me they worked verywell. The drop-o was normal, so no issues.

What happened yesterday in Race 1?I made a good start and got into the leadlike I did today. At turn one Mitch Evanswas behind me and tried to pass me onthe outside of Eau Rouge. We braked at thesame place but it was too risky and I wento the track. It was my mistake.

How much does it mean to take yourrst win? It must be nice to try andnish the season on a high?I have been close so many times but theproblem for me has been qualifying. Now

I have got it right, I feel condent for Monza.It has been more about me improving inqualifying, about putting all three sectorstogether on the right lap.

Are you looking forward to Monza?Yes, I love the food there [laughs].

gP3to me:

For me, GP3 is the

perfect stepping

stone to progress to

the GP2 Series and F1.

Photographically, its

great for me as I canspend more time with

the drivers taking their

portraits and building

excellent relationships

with them as they

progress up their

career ladder.

four men,one titleSo, the most thrilling of GP3 seasonsgoes down to the wire, with four driversghting for the title on the nal weekend.

While Daniel Abt and Antonio Felixda Costa have been arguably two ofthe fastest drivers of the season, theconsistency of Mitch Evans and AaroVainio has established them as the titlefavourites. But after the Hungarian andBelgian weekends, Abt and Da Costa haveedged their way into the ght.

With two podium nishes in Belgium,it is Da Costa who now poses the mostimmediate threat to championship leaderEvans with just two races remaining.

Monza is crazy, says the Carlin driver.You can qualify P10 and with the towyou can still win the race, which is what

happened last year. Monza is the kindof track where anything can happen.Its the cleverest guy that will win therace and not the fastest. I still want towin this championship, thats what I amhere for, but to win that you have to winraces and thats what I am going to do.

daniel Kalisz

official photographer

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GP2 Insider Issue 56