GP2 Series – Turkish races – Istanbul
Giorgio Pantano is the new leader of the GP2 Series after the victory taken in the long race disputed yesterday afternoon on the Istambul Circuit, and a fourth position taken this morning in the short race. The Istambul Grand Prix has not been too positive for Javier Villa, as while yesterday he had to make do with a seventh position, in today’s race he was unable to improve his performance.
The Repsol driver skidded off the track when a rival attempted to overtake him, and did not feel comfortable at all behind the wheel of his single-seater.
1st RACE
When the red lights blinked off, Giorgio Pantano took the lead of the first race held yesterday afternoon on the Istambul circuit. Starting from Pole Position, the Repsol driver led the race with authority right from the start, and by the end of his first lap already had a one second advantage. Lap by lap, Pantano increased the difference, which was already seven seconds ten laps into the race. Javier Villa, who started from eighth position on the starting grid, managed to climb two places during the first lap, and fought a tough struggle with Petrov to take fifth position.
The Repsol driver made the compulsory pitstop in the eleventh lap, and the traffic caused him problems when entering the track again. In order to avoid a collision with Maldonado, Villa was forced to wait before returning to the Turkish track, losing two positions. The classification remained untouched until lap number 24, when Valerio spun and forced the entry of the Safety Car. Pantano took the opportunity to change his tyres, as did his rivals, but the fast and efficient pitstop carried out by the Racing Engineering team meant he returned to the track again in first position. After lap 28 the Safety Car left and the Repsol driver continued to dominate the race. Once again, Pantano set a pace that no other driver was capable of following. The Repsol driver thus took his first victory this season and leads the general classification.
Javier Villa was sixth when the Safety Car intervened, but when the race restarted, he opened up too wide after a turn, and with the still-cold rubbers, he was overtaken by Buemi and Carroll. The Repsol driver had not given up yet, and immediately started to pressure Carroll, finally overtaking him at the end of the lap and climbing to seventh position, which he held until the end of the race.
Javier Villa, 7th at 14.894 secs
“Today wasn’t bad. I got off to a good start and during the first half of the race I was sixth, which is quite good. After the pitstop everything was on course, because I was still sixth, but then the Safety Car appeared, and when we restarted I skidded off the track in turn 6. I was overtaken by two cars, though I managed to pass one of them again and finished seventh. Tomorrow we’ll try out new lines in the curves and a few other things. I’m starting in second position and it’s important to push hard during the first lap; I think we can make it to the podium and that’ll be our goal.”
Giorgio Pantano, 1st
“Today was fantastic, both for myself and for the team. I’d like to thank them for making the right decision regarding the correct setup, because we’ve improved with respect to Barcelona. We knew what we had to do, and won. So everything is perfect. I’m very satisfied with everyone because we understood what improvements the car needed, so I’m very, very happy. I’m sure that tomorrow we’ll score some points, I’ll give it my best, it’s difficult to overtake here so I’ll try to score as many points as possible.”
2nd RACE
In this morning’s race, yesterday’s winner Giorgio Pantano got off to a superb start from eighth position, placing himself fifth by the end of the first lap. Javier Villa, in turn, lost a position at the end of the straight, and fell to third place. Once again, a number of incidents during the first lap forced the intervention of the Safety Car. When the race restarted three laps later, Javier Villa, who was trying to catch up with Buemi, saw how Romain Grosjean, the final winner of the race, overtook him.
During the fifth lap, Villa managed to overtake Grosjean, but the latter soon recovered his position, and Villa saw how teammate Giorgio Pantano also overtook him. In the eighth lap, Conway also passed the Spanish driver, who had started to struggle for sixth position with Chandhok. However, bad fortune crossed the Repsol driver’s path, because during the following lap, Villa’s attempt at overtaking Chandhok ended up with both drivers off the tarmac. Villa lost a number of positions, and when he attempted to recover the lost ground, he spun around again and fell to seventeenth position.
Meanwhile, at the head of the race, Giorgio Pantano was fourth, chasing Buemi. The Security Car had to return to the track during lap 12, when two dogs ran onto the track and Senna hit one of them. The animal was unhurt, but Senna’s car was very damaged. The race restarted two laps later, with Pantano still chasing Buemi. In spite of coming close on two occasions, the Repsol driver decided to take it easy in order to stack up points in the general classification thanks to a solid fourth position. Javier Villa finally managed to climb to 15th position.
Javier Villa, 15th at 27.449 secs
“Today was bit tough. I didn’t get off to a very good start and was in third position, though I was still doing OK. However, I had a few problems and it was a very difficult race as I could not keep up with the rest. In the last turn there was this other car which made me spin, and I fell many positions. I tried to push back, but the difference was simply too great. Now we have to check everything correctly to try and find out what the problem was.”
Giorgio Pantano, at 9.897 secs.
“I’m very happy about his weekend. I think that since last Friday we’ve done a very good job. The team has worked really well and I’ve had a geat car. Scoring 15 points during this weekend is not bad at all. I hope we keep this up because we’re in the lead and fighting for the championship.”
