Gp2 2011

**Mekola** · 26th May 2011, 04:12

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.

**Mekola** · 26th May 2011, 04:15

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

**Mekola** · 26th May 2011, 04:27

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.

**Mekola** · 26th May 2011, 04:29

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.

**Mekola** · 15th June 2011, 03:00

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.

7th July 2011, 07:12

Nice thread and post too.

**Mekola** · 13th July 2011, 01:06

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.

**Mekola** · 13th July 2011, 01:08

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).

**jens** · 1st September 2011, 20:59

Congrats to Grosjean for winning the championshipin dominant style!

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.