GP2 Series – Italian races – Monza
Giorgio Pantano could only finish yesterday’s long race in 10th position, although his main rival, Bruno Senna, didn’t add enough points to continue fighting for the title. And so Pantano was proclaimed Champion of the GP2 Series 2008. In today’s sprint race, the Repsol driver was 5th. His teammate, Javier Villa, crashed out of yesterday`s race and so missed out on today`s sprint; he finished 17th in the overall classification.
RACE 1
A little before the start of the race it began to rain heavily in Monza, causing frenetic activity on the grid as the teams changed the tyres and the set ups on the cars at the last moment. It stopped raining just before the start but there was still a lot of water on the track and it was decided to start with the Safety car. When the Safety car entered the pit lane Pantano moved into the lead on the first chicane and set a tremendously fast pace, quickly getting an advantage of more than two seconds over Di Grassi and Buemi.
On the following few laps, the difference between the Repsol driver and the chasing group was between one and three seconds. The track conditions were still bad though, and on the following two laps Pantano had to cut out the first chicane when he lost the grip on his tyres. Most of the teams delayed their pit-stops as much as possible hoping that the track would dry enough to mount slicks, although that meant that from lap 20 onwards Pantano had to go looking for the wet areas on the track to cool his tyres.
Eight laps from the end, the Repsol Engineering driver made a pit-stop and the mechanics mounted slick tyres. He returned quickly to the track, but when he was leaving the pit lane he tried to avoid the puddles on the asphalt on the right of the track, inadvertently driving over the white line that marks the pit-lane exit. Three laps later he was penalised with a drive-through that resulted in Pantano falling back to 9th position. He lost another position and finished the race 10th, but enough to make sure that he won the 2008 Championship.
For Javier Villa, the race was diappointing. He started 9th on the grid but the young Repsol driver took the first chicane with very bad visibility, something that didn’t give him time to brake fast enough when Zuber´s car stopped just in front of him. Both ended up out of the race, and the consequence of this accident was that the stewards excluded the Repsol driver from the today’s sprint race, that is Sunday.
Giorgio Pantano
“I am not happy with the mistake I made, but I was under a lot of pressure, and with some very delicate track conditions that required maximum attention. We went from wet to dry and I didn’t want to take too many risks, although in the wet we can also drive very well. The penalty was correct, but obviously I am not happy with having missed out on this victory. I am over the moon because I really wanted to win this title. It was my last opportunity to demonstrate that I was able to win it, and so be able to return to F1. The whole year has been great, I have enjoyed my battles with Romain [Grosjean], and Bruno [Senna] and all the others. We had big races, and without a doubt my best moment was at Silverstone. It has been a great season for me and for the team.”
Javier Villa
“This was a complicated race because there was a lot of water on the track. I could not see Andreas` [Zuber] car just ahead at the start and I hit him. I am also sorry for Vitaly, as both were affected by my mistake.”
RACE 2
Today it rained again when the cars went onto the starting grid to do the 21 lap race, and although the conditions were not as bad as yesterday`s, all the drivers opted to use wet tyres. When the lights went out Pantano started slowly due to the lack of grip, and he lost several positions on the first chicane. The track was very slippy and there were numerous incidents with cars missing corners and jumping chicanes. The Repsol driver looked for a way to gain positions, fighting back in the centre of the group to overtake a rival and ending the first lap in 11th position.
At the beginning of the second lap Pantano missed out the first chicane together with another two cars, but he moved back to his correct position to avoid any penalty. On the third lap the Repsol driver moved up to 10th position, and then 8th after an incident involving two cars in front of him. The Italian then had to chase Maldonado and Buemi, and on lap five he was just 1.5 seconds behind the Swiss driver and rapidly closing in on him.
He soon caught him and immediately looked for a space to overtake him on the outside, on both the first chicane as well as on the Parabolic curve, although in the end he got past on lap 8. At that moment the stewards penalised Di Grassi with a drive through for his previous incident with Conway, and so Pantano moved up to the sixth place.
The Champion of the GP2 Series 2008 closed in on the next driver in front of him, D’Ambrosio, and on lap eleven overtook him on the chicane to go 5th. He was then three seconds behind Maldonado, and although he was able to cut the gap, in the end he crossed the finishing line 5th.
Giorgio Pantano
“This was a great final race of the season. Unfortunately, the start was not so good and I lost a few positions, but the car was going very well and I felt very comfortable driving today. I tried to fight back but in the end I was 5th. I want to thank the whole team for the work that they have done this year, it has been brilliant “.
