Giorgio Pantano (Campos) and Timo Glock (iSport) scored wins apiece on Bridgestone’s hard compound Potenza GP2 racing tyre in its last appearance of the season at the Monza race circuit, scene of the Italian Grand Prix.
Pantano mastered the challenges of the high speed circuit, where last year he took a double win, to dominate qualifying and Saturday’s longer pit-stop race. Qualifying saw the Italian set a time three tenths quicker than anyone else, whilst the second and third drivers on the grid for Saturday set exactly the same lap time, illustrating the close performance of the identical Renault-powered cars on the same Bridgestone tyres.
Saturday’s 32 lap race saw three safety car periods in an action-packed race at this historic venue. Pantano capitalised on his pole to lead the race from start to chequered flag. He changed his rear tyres on lap 15 and was able to set consecutive fastest race laps, setting the fastest of the race just four laps before the chequered flag. This was his first race win this season on the hard compound and it adds to the win he scored in France on the medium compound in July. Pantano was joined on the podium by Luca Filippi (Super Nova) and Timo Glock (iSport).
Sunday’s 21 lap sprint race, starting with a reverse grid for the top eight, saw Pantano make a lightening start and be in a position to challenge pole-sitter Ricardo Risatti (Trident) for the lead by the third lap. The Italian’s challenge failed and he dropped back through the field. Glock meanwhile worked his way forwards to take the lead on lap eight and maintain a steady pace to win by 1.8 seconds from Filippi. Bruno Senna (Arden) finished in third. Adam Carroll (FMS) set the fastest lap on lap 18 and Pantano was disqualified after the race for not pitting under a black and orange flag, which gave Karun Chandhok (Durango) Pantano’s point for sixth position.
Glock leads the Drivers’ Championship, with 78 points, eleven ahead of Lucas di Grassi (ART) on 67. Filippi follows with 50 points. In the Teams’ Championship iSport International lead on 108 points followed by ART Grand Prix on 77 and Super Nova International on 63. GP2 will now head to Spa-Francorchamps, with the medium compound, for round ten of the series at the Belgian Grand Prix on 14-16 September.
Quote from Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development
“Bridgestone’s GP2 hard compound tyre has worked well in Monza, performing consistently in both races. The tyre appearance after each race has been good. In Saturday’s race, Giorgio Pantano’s lap times were improving consistently and he controlled the car well with the low levels of downforce and this made him extremely fast around this high speed track. On Sunday, Timo Glock drove a strong and consistent race and was able to take advantage from better grip as the track had improved. Our confidence in choice of tyre for this circuit proved correct and performance improved throughout the weekend. ”
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