GP2 Series – Valencia – Valencia
Giorgio Pantano extends his lead at the top of the GP2 standings, in spite of having to retire yesterday on the final lap when he was the race leader, running out of fuel
Race 1
Yesterday´s long race held on the spectacular urban track created in Valencia began with a great start by Giorgio Pantano, he was on the first row of the starting-grid after doing very well in the classification round. The Repsol rider got to the first corner in the lead and began to move away from his rivals, the gap was 2.5 seconds after the first lap. Unfortunately for him this lead vanished when an accident between two vehicles at the back of the field meant that the Safety car had to go out whilst the cars were removed.
When the race restarted Pantano once again pushed hard, being one second faster than his immediate rival, Petrov, on each of the subsequent laps. The Russian`s obligatory pit-stop on lap 11, extended the Repsol driver`s lead over the second placed driver up to 3.8 seconds, now Maldonado, although one lap later it was Pantano`s turn to stop. He got back out on the track ahead of Petrov after a rapid tyre change by the Racing Engineering team.
On the next few laps Pantano gradually extended his lead up to 1.6 seconds, and as the car got lighter with the fuel being consumed, his pace also increased; he set a fastest lap on lap 19 of the race with a 1.47.540. Petrov could not keep up with the blistering pace of the Repsol driver, so the Italian chose to maintain the difference at about 2 seconds, so as to avoid possible mistakes and not raise the fuel consumption too much since all the teams that started the race were more than aware that this could be a problem on this new circuit.
With just two laps left everything pointed to another great victory for Giorgio Pantano, who had just set another fastest lap, this time a 1m 46.791. But halfway through the final lap Petrov suddenly got very close to the Repsol man, Pantano had lowered his speed significantly but his car stopped two corners from the finishing line. He had run out of fuel in spite of the car having been filled up just before the start. Fortunately for Pantano his main rival in the championship, Bruno Senna, found himself in a similar situation on the same lap. He also finished out of the points and this means the Italian stays at the top of the overall standings in the championship.
For Javier Villa the first race held at the urban circuit of Valencia ended on the first lap after he hit one of the walls lining the track, he was forced to retire.
Giorgio Pantano
“Today we gave it our all, so I still can`t believe what has happened. Everybody knew that there were problems in store concerning the fuel. We at the start did not even go to the pitlane, we went straight to the grid. We had not practised starts either and we even did a lap with the safety car. It is impossible to accept that we did not finish the race, what has happened is incredible. And not only am I referring to myself, there were other drivers who ran out of fuel. There should be 32 laps instead of 34 if they know that there may be problems. We made a perfect race and we not only lost the victory, I also lost the point for the fastest lap.”
Javier Villa
“This is turning out to be a complicated weekend. I thought it would be easier than this, but it is very complicated. Classification was better than the free practice and we had identified the possible problems and so we hoped to have a good race. I made a good start but a graze with someone on the first lap meant that I was out of the race and that stopped me from demonstrating what I was capable of today.”
Race 2
Both Giorgio Pantano as well as Javier Villa put in excellent performances in the sprint race on the Sunday morning on the urban track in Valencia. Yesterday`s bad result meant that they started well down the field today, but in a perfect race the two drivers were able to finish third, Pantano, and fifth, Villa. This result for the Italian also means that the Repsol driver has extended his lead in the overall championship standings.
This weekend`s short race in the GP2 Series, around the spectacular Valencia Street Circuit, was not at first sight an easy undertaking for the Racing Engineering team. Bad luck on the Saturday meant that Pantano started in the middle of the group, 14th, whilst Javier Villa was even further back, in 21st position. But from the very start the two drivers showed their hands, and after a couple of fantastic starts they had overtaken several cars. Giorgio Pantano was up to 8th having climbed six positions, whilst Villa crossed the line in an incredible 12th place, having moved up nine positions.
One lap later and the Repsol drivers had moved up another place, thanks to Maldonado going off the track at the end of the straight, this left Pantano just off the points positions. At the same time Villa was aiming to get among the leading ten and was putting pressure on the tenth placed driver. He only needed three laps to get past his rival and move up to 10th place. He then started to hunt down the ninth placed driver.
On the seventh lap the duel between Andy Soucek and Bruno Senna for third position ended with the two of them out of the race, meaning that Pantano rose to 5th place and Villa to 8th. What is more his biggest rival in the championship was out of the race too and so the situation was very favourable for Pantano, among the points.
The race stabilised at that moment, with a leading trío made up of Filippi, Grosjean and Di Grassi, followed at some distance by the chasing group containing D’Ambrosio and behind him the two Repsol drivers. A small collision between Filippi and Grosjean left the French driver out of the race, this meant that Pantano and Villa rose one more position, fourth and seventh respectively on lap 11.
The Spaniard was almost in the points zone; one lap later he was able to overtake Petrov, snatching 6th position. The two drivers in the Spanish team were 4th and 6th halfway through the race, positions that were unthinkable before the start of the race. The situation was neutralised when the Safety car came out, it allowed all the cars to bunch up and this made the final few laps of the race more exciting.
When the Safety car went in it was Javier Villa who set the hearts racing on the last few laps. He was under strong pressure from Petrov; the Spanish driver missed a chicane and had to move over to let the Russian pass him. Chandhock tried to take advanatge of the situation and managed to overtake the two of them, but the Indian grazed the Russian`s car and was out of the race. The Repsol driver then recovered the 6th position, overtaking them both and then defending stoutly when attacked by Valsechi on the inside.
The Racing Engineering driver controlled the Italian perfectly and finished the race in a magnificent 6th place, putting presure on Nunes and winning a point for himself and one for the team, fighting back spectacularly to make it a very positive day. And s two drivers among the leaders as Giorgio kept his 4th place without any problems; in perfect control of the situation right up to the chequered-flag.
Minutes after the end of the race both Filippi and Chandhock were penalised, this means that Pantano moved up to 3rd position and Villa to 5th. The final result gives Pantano four more very important points, and these extend his lead over Bruno Senna, his main rival in the championship, even more. Today Senna went home empty-handed and so the Racing Engineering driver`s lead now amounts to thirteen in the overall standings and when there are only two races left.
Giorgio Pantano
“In the end we finished fourth after starting in 14th place, which is good after what happened yesterday. There was nothing else I could do. Of course I am upset with what happened yesterday, but at least pleased with having finished fourth today, especially with Senna not having won any points.”
Javier Villa
“It was not too bad. It was a tough race though, starting 21st and finishing 6th. I drove very fast and that is positive. For Spa it will be important to be up with the leaders from the off so that we can have a good race.”
