GP2 Series – Belgian races – Belgium
Giorgio Pantano stays at the top of the standings with one race left this season, in spite of leaving Belgium empty-handed. Javier Villa, 18th yesterday, finished in 9th position today.
RACE 1
The long race held yesterday at the Circuit of Spa Francorchamps was very complicated for Giorgio Pantano and Javier Villa. The Repsol drivers finished towards the back of the field owing to a string of mistakes that ended any hopes of them getting a good result or winning valuable points.
A little before the start of the race it began to rain on the Belgian track, and so all cars were using wet tyres, and many teams even opted for driving with a specific set up for rainy conditions. It was still raining at the start of the race, and a decision was taken to start with a flying lap and so the Safety car came out onto the track, something that let the drivers get used to the conditions before tackling the fast Belgian circuit.
When the Safety Car retired from the track, Pantano was still in 4th place behind Grosjean. Almost immediately the car sponsored by Repsol began to get away from those just behind it and after the first seven laps the first three cars found themselves in a dogfight for the lead, with Giorgio 2.5 seconds behind the third placed car but never losing sight of it so he was in a position to take advantage of the slightest error. At that moment Senna made his obligatory pit-stop and the Racing Engineering team called in Pantano for his own. The team made a more than efficient stop and the Repsol driver was able to return to the track quickly, and in 14th position just behind Senna.
When the rest of the cars began to visit the pits Pantano rose to 5th position on the ninth lap, although he moved up to 2nd position when the three drivers ahead of him made their pit stops. A few laps later Senna was penalised with a drive-through after an accident in the pit lane. Pantano was then the race leader but before the Brazilian could comply with his penalty the Safety car and the Medical car came out due to a serious accident involving Valsecchi. The cars immediately bunched up and after three laps behind the Safety car Pantano`s car suddenly developed engine problems. He switched on the “Safety mode”, but the problem cleared up as suddenly as it had arrived and he was able to continue normally, although he had fallen back eight positions.
The Safety car went in after five laps and at that moment Pantano began to fight back so as to win some valuable points for the overall classification. Two laps later he was 8th, but when he was taking the famous La Source fork he span and fell back to the 10th position. Two laps later he tried in vain to get in the positions that bring points, but when tryving to overtake Rodríguez he took a corner too fast and hit Di Grassi, the front end of his car was damaged and he crossed the finishing-line in 21st position
For Javier Villa, yesterday`s race was not very fortunate either. He started in 21st position and the young Repsol driver immediately got involved in a battle with several rivals at the back of the field, although without making any significant progress. Villa was in 19th position when the Safety car came out, although he was penalised for overtaking another car, receivng a drive-through penalty. He finished the race in 18th place
Javier Villa
“This was a very difficult race. Once again it began to rain right before the start of the race. The first few laps with the wet tyres were very complicated because the track was very slippery. As soon as we were able to we put dry tyres on and then our pace was good. I got a drive-through penalty, although the distance from those in front was quite big and all I could do was to finish the race.”
Giorgio Pantano
“Today we were not very lucky. When I was behind the Safety car the safety mode on the engine switched on, I had not been paying attention to the temperatures. I fell down the field and when the race was restarted I knew that I was in 8th position, that was acceptable. However on “La Source” fork I touched the curb on the inside and I span. Then I tried to overtake Rodríguez. On the same corner I hit the inside again, it was still wet, and I hit Di Grassi because I was not able to brake in time.”
RACE 2
With Giorgio Pantano being excluded from today`s sprint race because of his accident with Di Grassi, Javier Villa was the only Racing Engineering team in the second race in the GP2 Series at the Circuit of Spa Francorchamps.
Just before the start of the race rain fell on the circuit again, although this time it stopped when the cars got into position on the grid. Even so the track was very slippery at certain points and so all the teams opted to use slick tyres. Villa started from 17th position on the grid because Zuber was disqualified yesterday. The Repsol driver made a good start overtaking several cars on the slippery Belgian track.
On the first few laps Villa drove with some caution, and after several mistakes and spins involving other cars he moved up to 15th place on the third lap. On lap five, after a spin for Conway, and accidents involving Valerio and Parente, the Safety car went out. At that moment Villa rose to 12th position.
When the Safety Car went back in two laps later, Filippi and Nunes, who were just ahead of Villa, hit each other and the Racing Engineering driver benefited from the incident to climb up to 10th position. Two laps later the Repsol driver gained another position thanks to Senna`s retirement.
Very soon afterwards it began to rain again and Grosjean span, and so Villa was in 8th position. The track was getting slippier and slippier with some areas like La Source, very wet, and other sections relatively dry. Villa encountered more and more difficulties as he tried to keep his pace up in such difficult conditions, but on lap twelve he lost one position to Valsecchi. Two laps later Chandhok overtook him, and so he fell down to 10th.
On the last few laps Villa concentrated on not making any mistakes and to protect the lead he had over Grosjean, avoiding the danger of falling further behind. The accident involving Soucek allowed the Spanish driver to gan another position, crossing the finishing-line of this tough race in 9th place.
Javier Villa
“This was a complicated race with more rain just a little before the start. However, we were able to begin with slicks. It was still raining on several sections of the circuit though. I was able to move up a few positions at the start, and finishing 9th is not too bad. I am dying to go to Monza, our last race of the season, as I am hoping that there we can demonstrate what we are capable of doing.”
