With lessons learned for yesterday's Feature race the drivers hit the new
Yas Marina Circuit for race two of the GP2 Asia Series's visit to Abu Dhabi.
When the front row failed to launch with any speed around the Marina,
Christian Vietoris took control of the race from the second row and never
gave it up. Behind him the winner from race one, Davide Valsecchi, pushed
his way up to second, but could go no further past the DAMS rookie. Josef
Kral filled the final podium spot, giving the Super Nova Racing a pair of
third place finishes at the start of the new season.
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Christian Vietoris. Photo by GP2 media service.
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When asked how being a GP2 race winner sounded, Vietoris replied, "It sounds
really good, especially on my first GP2 race weekend. Things didn't start
very well: in Free Practice we were struggling. It was a little bit better
in qualifying, but still not good enough as I was P13. Our pace was not
good, but we improved. I finished 6th yesterday and finally won today. It
feels good."
Polesitter Oliver Turvey and Johnny Cecotto -- who was second on the gird --
both faltered, allowing Vietoris and Kral to pull away with a clear gap to
the rest of the field. As the action went on Valsecchi fought to make a move
on Luca Filippi, carrying over their battle from yesterday's win into today.
The iSport driver finally made his move on lap 13, Filippi tried to
retaliate, but braked too late and ended up losing positions from the
mistake. The Meritus driver finished eighth today, while Valsecchi took
second from Kral after a restart.
Valsecchi is the clear points leader with a 19 point haul from both races,
"We were special again today. The car was unbelievable. The driver's job is
so much easier with that. If you are confident, and the car is brilliant,
you can do just about anything. That's what happened today. It was perfect.
iSport is a great team; sure they know how to make a great car, but also,
they made me part of their family. That's special. And I had so much fun
overtaking cars!"
Kral had a good start to his race even with having to dodge the stalled
Trident entry piloted by Cecotto. He tried to but some pressure on Vietoris
but a bit of oversteer made the going tough and lead to his rear tires
falling off quicker then some competitors. The the safety car was brought
out by Will Bratt and Fabio Leimer becoming tangled on the very long back
straight, bunching up the field.
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Christian Vietoris celebrates his victory on the podium with Davide Valsecchi and Josef Kral. Photo by GP2 media service.
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At the restart Kral was busy looking behind him, then concentrating at the
gearbox of the leader, "All the grid came together and at the restart,
Valsecchi overtook [Alexander] Rossi and I could see him getting closer and
closer... His pace was amazing. And I couldn't really fight him. When he
passed me I thought 'How can he do that?' It's like he went by flashing!
But, you know, this podium is a great result and I didn't want to lose it. I
scored precious points this weekend and this is great."
Oliver Turvey managed to recover fourth from Alexander Rossi, who also had
sixth placed Johnny Cecotto bearing down on the final lap. Edoardo Piscopo
crossed the line seventh with Filippi rounding out the top eight.
Round two of the GP2 Asia Series will be held again at the Yas Marina
Circuit in the first weekend of February, 2010. The circuit seems to have
already become a driver's favorite, with posh facilities and a track that's
part proper road course and part street circuit. There's ample room for
side-by-side action, with technical sections to keep everyone on their toes.
Even with all the time off before round two, one can expect Valsecchi will
want little changed to his car, the iSport team seems to have found the
perfect setup here.
