Italian Giorgio Pantano (Campos Grand Prix) won yesterday’s GP2 feature race at Magny-Cours andSpaniard Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) claimed the top step on the podium in race two, for his first everwin in the GP2 Series, in which all teams ran on medium compound Bridgestone Potenza slick tyres.
Saturday’s dramatic race (41 laps) involved two incidents on lap one, the first between iSport drivers TimoGlock and Andreas Zuber as they collided heavily racing off the front row of the grid, and the secondinvolving Venezuelan Ernesto Viso (Racing Engineering) running into the back of German driver MichaelAmmermuller (Arden International). Viso was taken to hospital for medical checks and was kept in hospitalovernight under observation. Following Viso’s accident the safety car was deployed, and all teams wentstraight in for a pit stop and tyre change on lap two - to save themselves time. The re-start was just over anhour later but the Bridgestone Potenzas performed well for the duration of the race.
For the first GP2 race of the weekend, drivers must start the event with the same Bridgestone tyres that theyused in qualifying. Only three drivers changed all four tyres during the race with the additional aim to set thefastest lap (for which one point is awarded) which was set by Roldan Rodriguez (Minardi Piquet Sports) in1:23.405 on lap 39. For the second race on Sunday, teams start on a brand new set of Bridgestones.
Light rain half an hour before Sunday’s race, along with the humidity resulted in slippery conditions whichslowed drivers for the first three or four laps until the track dried with lap times improving by around threeseconds. Although cloudy and threatening further rain, it did not materialise - meaning the GP2 Series is yetto use the wet specification Bridgestone Potenza tyres this season. Javier Villa started second on the gridbehind Nicolas Lapierre (DAMS), but when Lapierrre went off on lap 17 Villa lead until the finish of the 28 laprace.
Timo Glock leads the Drivers’ Championship on 39 points, just ahead of Luca Filippi on 31 points, followedby Lucas Di Grassi (ART Grand Prix) and Bruno Senna (Arden International). Next weekend (6-8 July) theBridgestone-supported GP2 Series will be in action at Silverstone for the fifth round of the series where thehard compound Bridgestone Potenza GP2 racing slick will be put through its paces.
Quote from Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development“Bridgestone is very happy that no serious injuries have been reported following the incidents duringyesterday’s GP2 feature race. The performance of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres in race one was good andwithout problems. Today, the slightly damp conditions provided less grip around the circuit but the majorityof drivers could control the car due to the good balance given to the GP2 cars by our tyres. Two thirds of thecircuit here at Magny-Cours has been re-surfaced this year which means low tyre wear during races. ”
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