Gp2 2011

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86855

In short, the teams for next year have been announced. The new ones are Carlin and Air Asia (Lotus Jr). DPR have been kicked out and Durango won't be returning.

It's a bit of a shame for DPR as they have sorted them out a bit this season, though sacking Ricci on the back of his win (hopefully just because of sponsorship problems and not because he was making Herck look bad!) seems to have signalled their slide back to the rear again. Also a shame for Meritus who I thought looked good for a spot in the full series.

Hopefully it'll be good :)

Regarding Meritus I heard that they simply weren't interested in doing anything but GP2 Asia so they did no apply for the slot in both series.

Carlin has applied for that GP2 slot since 2005 and now they got it. With their track record they should do well, but they didn't impress that much in GP3.

I also found the sacking of DPR a little tough. They won a race in GP2 Asia and they won a race in the Main series. They improved a lot this year, but maybe it was because they have never won anything but sprint-races and they are the only team currently on the grid having not won main series races.

Anyway, it will still be the "big" 5 teams that will dominate (ART, iSport, Addax, Rapax and Racing Engineering) over the comming years. Trident, Super Nova and Coloni need to up their game otherwise they will get stuck at the bottom of the championship.

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Originally Posted by MikeD

I also found the sacking of DPR a little tough. They won a race in GP2 Asia and they won a race in the Main series. They improved a lot this year, but maybe it was because they have never won anything but sprint-races and they are the only team currently on the grid having not won main series races.

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I presume it might have been related to DPR having turned into Herck's family racing team.

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Anyway, it will still be the "big" 5 teams that will dominate (ART, iSport, Addax, Rapax and Racing Engineering) over the comming years. Trident, Super Nova and Coloni need to up their game otherwise they will get stuck at the bottom of the championship.

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I think GP2 2011 could throw in a few surprises. A completely new car and how can teams adapt to maximizing its potential? A bit of an unknown like F1 2009.

I like to know if we shall see Alex Rossi in the GP2 series?

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Originally Posted by jens

I presume it might have been related to DPR having turned into Herck's family racing team.

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Good point. I think you are right. The series is about giving new talents a go, and not about keeping your son racing.

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Originally Posted by jens

I think GP2 2011 could throw in a few surprises. A completely new car and how can teams adapt to maximizing its potential? A bit of an unknown like F1 2009.

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It's the best chance of having a shake-up of the order, but I still think The Big 5 (especially ART) will get the best out of the car quickest.

BTW: Just as I thought that last years GP2 Asia series was a small series, it's even shorter this time with 3 rounds (6 races). Honestly that's just rediculous. That really shouldn't count towards a championship in my book.

Will Mr Varhaug be able to get a GP2 seat for 2011, and if yes in what team?

Varhaug will race for DAMS.

Almost completed the 2011 GP2 Asia entrylist - just two drivers about two confirm at Team AirAsia:

01. Marcus Ericsson (S) - iSport International
02. Sam Bird (GB) - iSport International
03. Josef Kral (CZ) - Arden International
04. Jolyon Palmer (GB) - Arden International
05. Jules Bianchi (F) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
06. Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
07. Fairuz Fauzy (MAS) - SuperNova Racing
08. Johnny Cecotto Jr. (YV) - SuperNova Racing
09. Romain Grosjean (F) - DAMS
10. Pål Varhaug (NO) - DAMS
11. Michael Herck (RO) - Scudería Coloni
12. James Jakes (GB) - Scudería Coloni
14. Oliver Turvey (GB) - Ocean Racing Technology
15. Andrea Caldarelli (I) - Ocean Racing Technology
16. Charles Pic (F) - Barwa Addax Team
17. Giedo Van der Garde (NL) - Barwa Addax Team
18. Stefano Coletti (MON) - Trident Racing
19. Rodolfo González (YV) - Trident Racing
20. Fabio Leimer (CH) - Rapax Team
21. Omar-Julián Leal (CO) - Rapax Team
22. Nathanael Berthon (F) - Racing Engineering
23. Dani Clos (E) - Racing Engineering
24. Mikhail Aleshin (RUS) - Carlin Motorsport
25. Max Chilton (GB) - Carlin Motorsport
26. Davide Valsecchi (I) - Team Air Asia
27. Luiz Razia (BR) - Team Air Asia

In italics, drivers TBC

Thanks for that, I was wondering what had happened to Air Asia! Not a bad lineup this year considering it's only the winter series, and a short one at that. No idea who'll win really, but I imagine for the main series it'll be between Bianchi and Grosjean.

This season's GP2 Main season is going to be quite interesting. A lot of young promising future hopefuls in top teams, so that someone simply has to endure a disappointing season and end up at the end of Top10! Plus also new cars, with which drivers and especially teams have to adapt.

Also every year we have had some a bit unexpected front-runners, who didn't shine previously (09 Petrov, 10 Maldonado). So what can we look for in 2011?

Bianchi absolutely has to win in 2011 to keep his high-profile status after an underwhelming 2010. In Grosjean's case the performance of DAMS/Genii/Renault is a big question-mark. They seemed on an upward curve at the end of 2010 and maybe have managed to come out of a hole under a new ownership, managing to nail the new rules in 2011?! Grosjean could fight for the title, but if DAMS isn't that good, he could end up in the second half of Top10 as well.

Actually it is not impossible we might see a France 1-2-3 this season! Charles Pic is pretty much stepping in the footsteps of Sergio Pérez, who spent his rookie year in Arden before moving to Barwa Addax, which has for years been known as one of the very best teams. Pérez could have fought for the title with better luck and I'm actually pretty confident Pic is going to be a genuine front-runner this year. But unclear if it is going to be enough against [i]grand favourite[/u] Bianchi. I'd tip Pic to beat his team-mate van der Garde though.

iSport has constantly been considered as a top team, but has been very far from any kind of titles for two years already. In Sam Bird they have again got a man, who could give them a serious shot. He gave team-mate Bianchi a run for his money last year and a Top3 placing in the overall standings is surely the goal and a possibility. Ericsson had a tough season at Super Nova, but as indicated by Filippi's results in 2010, the team was struggling as a whole. Ericsson has been highly rated and should be able to do much better - but probably not good enough to win the title yet.

Bianchi has an exciting team-mate alongside him - GP3 dominator Gutiérrez. But it is going to be extremely hard to match Bianchi, the Mexican is still very young (19) and his year is more probably going to be 2012. What seems obvious to me that Rapax is going to lose ground. Leimer might be a dark horse among Top10 placing (wonder, who is going to be the second driver?) - but I wouldn't expect a title challenge.

WSR champion Aleshin with all the funding is quite a possible future F1 driver (been rumoured already), but like previous WSR champs Parente and vd Garde could find it tough to make a serious impact in GP2. A finish in Top10 is on the cards though. Carlin and AirAsia are at least fortunate to join the grid in state of play situation. Wonder, how good will they turn out to be.

Clos had a surprisingly strong season in 2010. With Vietoris also gradually coming good, both will be looking for a Top5 placing if RE manages to continue performing on a high-standard level. Somehow don't expect much from Arden, perhaps Cecotto or Herck could create a few upsets here or there among traditional "outsiders".

PS. A pity for Oliver Turvey, who after a promising rookie season has been forced to move to an inferior team if he gets a drive for the main season at all.

:( Cant belive they have gone from having the best loking single seater to what looks like a lightly modified Hispania F1 car!

http://www.gp2series.com/Multimedia/Photos/

Still, im really looking forward to the season with all the changes and seeing how the Brits get on!

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Originally Posted by Mekola

Almost completed the 2011 GP2 Asia entrylist - just two drivers about two confirm at Team AirAsia:

01. Marcus Ericsson (S) - iSport International
02. Sam Bird (GB) - iSport International
03. Josef Kral (CZ) - Arden International
04. Jolyon Palmer (GB) - Arden International
05. Jules Bianchi (F) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
06. Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
07. Fairuz Fauzy (MAS) - SuperNova Racing
08. Johnny Cecotto Jr. (YV) - SuperNova Racing
09. Romain Grosjean (F) - DAMS
10. Pål Varhaug (NO) - DAMS
11. Michael Herck (RO) - Scudería Coloni
12. James Jakes (GB) - Scudería Coloni
14. Oliver Turvey (GB) - Ocean Racing Technology
15. Andrea Caldarelli (I) - Ocean Racing Technology
16. Charles Pic (F) - Barwa Addax Team
17. Giedo Van der Garde (NL) - Barwa Addax Team
18. Stefano Coletti (MON) - Trident Racing
19. Rodolfo González (YV) - Trident Racing
20. Fabio Leimer (CH) - Rapax Team
21. Omar-Julián Leal (CO) - Rapax Team
22. Nathanael Berthon (F) - Racing Engineering
23. Dani Clos (E) - Racing Engineering
24. Mikhail Aleshin (RUS) - Carlin Motorsport
25. Max Chilton (GB) - Carlin Motorsport
26. Davide Valsecchi (I) - Team Air Asia
27. Luiz Razia (BR) - Team Air Asia

In italics, drivers TBC

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Razia and Valsecchi have now both been confirmed at Air Asia

iv never really given much thought to gp2 im obsessed with F1 and would really like to get into gp2 does anyone know who owns the rights to air it in the uk?

You dont know what youve been missing, for me its been one of the most entertaining single seater championships in the world for a while now.

Its been on Eurosport for a while now. Sometimes the Saturday race isnt always live but the Sunday race is :)

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Originally Posted by Allyc85

You dont know what youve been missing, for me its been one of the most entertaining single seater championships in the world for a while now.

Its been on Eurosport for a while now. Sometimes the Saturday race isnt always live but the Sunday race is :)

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Do you mean British Eurosport, Eurosport 1 or Eurosport 2? Last year there was no GP2 on Eurosport 1 here and I could only watch the races in Francorchamps thanks to RTBF.

It was on Eurosport 2 today :)

I wonder if the main series could get HD coverage seeing as F1 has it for 2011?

So, Bahrain is insisting that everything will be perfectly safe for the F1 race there in a few weeks - any idea about the GP2 race there this weekend? I guess it's much less of a target, but the protests could be over in a few weeks anyway, they're less likely to be over by Friday.

Gp2 has been cancelled.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89525

Heres hoping the violence will stop soon.

GP2 Asia found a sollution for the dilemma of the cancelled Bahrain rounds. They scheduled a replacement final round next weekend at... Imola! The minor series will have only two rounds, but will still be valid as a mini-championship.

Thanks for this GP2 Asia entrylist. I think both Razia and Valsecchi will cofirm there place in Air Asia.

Late news... but GP2 Asia finished well. Grosjean won the Feature race and was crowned Champion, and Dani Clos won Sprint Race. Romain became the first ever GP2 driver who has two GP2 (Asian) titles in his merit.

This is an introduction to 2011 GP2 Series season I wrote, I put it in order to know which drivers are on scene, and the rounds that will be run:

GP2 Series 2011
Factual data

The main stepping stone of F1, GP2 Series, has started its seventh season in 2011. In this year, is the debut of the Dallara GP2/11 chassis, and they'll continue with the 4-liter Mécachrome engine, but Pirelli will be their new tyre provider.

Here it is the 2011 calendar:

07-08 May R01 Istanbul, Turkey
21-22 May R02 Barcelona, Spain
27-28 May R03 Montecarlo, Monaco
25-26 Jun R04 Valencia, Spain
09-10 Jul R05 Silverstone, United Kingdom
23-24 Jul R06 Hockenheim, Germany
30-31 Jul R07 Budapest, Hungary
27-28 Aug R08 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium
10-11 Sep R09 Monza, Italy

Note: Yas Marina round is proposed to be raced next November 12th and 13th, but could form part of further 2011-12 GP2 Asia championship.

And this is the list of 2011 teams and drivers:

1. Fabio Leimer (CH) - Rapax Team
2. Omar-Julián Leal (CO) - Rapax Team
3. Charles Pic (F) - Barwa Addax Team
4. Giedo Van der Garde (NL) - Barwa Addax Team
5. Jules Bianchi (F) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
6. Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX) - Lotus ART Grand Prix
7. Dani Clos (E) - Racing Engineering
8. Christian Vietoris (D) - Racing Engineering
9. Sam Bird (GB) - iSport International
10. Marcus Ericsson (S) - iSport International
11. Romain Grosjean (F) - Dams
12. Pål Varhaug (NO) - Dams
14. Josef Kral (CZ) - Arden International
15. Jolyon Palmer (GB) - Arden International
16. Fairuz Fauzy (MAS) - SuperNova Racing
17. Luca Filippi (I) - SuperNova Racing
18. Michael Herck (RO) - Scudería Coloni
19. Davide Rigon (I) - Scudería Coloni
20. Rodolfo González (YV) - Trident Racing
21. Stefano Coletti (MON) - Trident Racing
22. Kevin Mirocha (D) - Ocean Racing Technology
23. Johnny Cecotto Jr. (YV) - Ocean Racing Technology
24. Max Chilton (GB) - Carlin Motorsport
25. Mikhail Aleshin (RUS) - Carlin Motorsport
26. Luiz Razia (BR) - Team Air Asia
27. Davide Valsecchi (I) - Team Air Asia

Comments about R01 Istanbul races: On Feature Race, Grosjean was dominant, despite the attack of Bird on last laps. Bianchi finished 3rd after gaining many positions. On Sprint Race, Coletti took the victory after an important overtake over former leader Clos at mid-race. Leimer suffered a spectacular accident at the first lap of Feature race, but fortunately was not scatched by the accident.

Comments about R02 Barcelona races: On Feature Race, Barwa Addax did an excellent 1-2 by Pic and Van der Garde. Bird completed the podium. On Sprint Race, Leimer took an impressive win, with local hero Clos second. Bianchi caused an accident with Van der Garde at the start of Sprint race, that caused to the Frenchman a 5-place grid penalty for next round.

Comments about R03 Montecarlo races: First win of the season for Davide Valsecchi (AirAsia); Parente and Filippi completed the podium of feature race. Romain Grosjean did an excellent weekend, finishing fourth in the feature race and third in the sprint race. In that sprint race, the winner was Pic, followed by Kral and the mentioned Grosjean.

Nice thread and post too.

Comments about R04 Valencia races: In the Valencian streets, Romain Grosjean (DAMS) took the win in the Feature Race, while Giedo Van der Garde (Addax) grabbed second position after a battle with Davide Valsecchi (AirAsia) during last laps. On Sprint Race, Esteban Gutiérrez (Lotus ART) got his first even win in the series, followed by Luiz Razia (AirAsia) and Van der Garde. Grosjean was penalized 10 positions for the next grid at Silverstone due to a racing incident.

Comments about R05 Silverstone races: Jules Bianchi (Lotus ART), after a weak start of the season, recovered his form in this round. After the pole position, in a wet Feature Race recovered his lead after a memorable battle with Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering); Marcus Ericsson (iSport) completed the podium. In the Sprint Race, Romain Grosjean (DAMS) expanded his lead in the Championship with another win, over Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) and Giedo van der Garde (Addax).

Congrats to Grosjean for winning the championshipin dominant style! :D He clearly seems more ready than anyone else to step up to F1 and I very much hope it is going to happen as well.

Among other van der Garde has been involved in F1 rumours too with the help of McGregor money, but I have to admit that despite 2011 being his best season to-date he hasn't seemed to impressive despite driving for top teams all the time. Valsecchi started the season well and there were talks about a possible Lotus drive for him, but since then he has dropped the ball completely.

Bianchi has seriously improved after early-season troubles, but there doesn't seem to be an opening for him. Another year in GP2 with a third attempt at a title as the two previous ones haven't materialized? Pic is gradually improving, but another season in GP2 with a proper shot at the title is also looming. Bird hasn't been as impressive as in 2010, but I have to say that team-mate Ericsson has been coming really good and has been outracing Bird in the second half of the season. Shame that he has suffered from unluck recently (lost a win in Hungary and P5 in Belgium). Gutiérrez has had a few promising moments, but on the whole has been quite disappointing and needs to up his game significantly for 2012 to remain as a hot prospect.