Quaife-Hobbs on the charge in Bahrain GP2

The 10th season of the GP2 Series got underway this weekend, with the running of Rounds 1 and 2 at the Al Sakhir Circuit, in Bahrain.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

Photo by: XPB Images

Qualifying took place under the lights of Bahrain at 8pm local time, where Adrian driving Rapax car number 14 - could only manage 24th.

The team all worked really hard over the Friday evening to make changes to the set-up, ready for the Saturday afternoon feature race which took place during the hottest part of the day.

Feature Race:

Quaife-Hobbs started on soft tyres and after a flying start, within three laps had moved up to 16th place. The pit stop enabled the hard compound to be fitted at the end of lap nine and soon Adrian was making moves through the field and thanks to his solid pace he recovered up to the 10th position by the end of the feature race.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs quoted: “I believe that today’s race was compromised by the Safety-Car that froze the race from lap 3 to 6. I had opted for a less aggressive approach, starting with the soft tyres before going for the hard ones after a few laps. The Safety-Car then allowed everybody else to manage their tyre wear in a better fashion. On the other hand, I am happy to have started the season with my first points in the drivers' standings. It was a nice reward for a demanding race”.

Sprint Race:

Quaife-Hobbs started in 10th place on the grid and again made a lightening start, promoting him to 4th after turn 1. The race settled down and Adrian remained in 4th place for most of the race, until the closing laps saw his tyres degrading badly. Adrian continued to drive a controlled race to keep Felipe Nasr (Carlin) behind him, with tyres wearing even faster this allowed Nasr and Stephane Richelmi (Dams) to make the most of this, leaving Adrian to cross the line 6th place.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs quote: “Today my start has been really good and I managed to breeze by six cars. The good getaway gave me the chance to aim for points but I suffered from a slight understeer condition, which wasn't particularly tricky in terms of the driving as it was for the tyre wear. In the second part of the race I tried not to go too hard on the tyres, but in the last few laps there was a pack of cars fighting for positions. Considering the outcome of qualifying, ending up twice into the points zone makes our balance quite positive, and rewards us for the hard work the team did over the weekend”.

The series continues at Barcelona over the weekend on May 10/11th where BRDC Superstar Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, looks to improve his performance to elevate himself in the championship standings.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs