2009 Yas Marina GP2 Asia Series round

UAE Abu Dhabi 1 4 2009–10 Circuit Yas-Island.svg Yas Marina Circuit 2009 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Permanent racing facility 3.451 5.554 31 October 33 Italy Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1:51.964 Italy Davide Valsecchi iSport International Italy Luca Filippi MalaysiaQi-Meritus.com United Kingdom James Jakes Super Nova Racing Italy Davide Valsecchi iSport International 1:53.341 32 1 November 22 Germany Christian Vietoris DAMS Italy Davide Valsecchi iSport International Czech Republic Josef Král Super Nova Racing United Kingdom Sam Bird Davide Valsecchi ART Grand Prix 1:52.070 22 The 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 1st GP2 Asia round was the first round of the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season. It was held on October 31 and November 1, 2009 at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was used as a support race to the day/night 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was the first of two rounds to be held at the circuit, the other will be the 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 2nd GP2 Asia round. The round was the only one held in 2009, the rest being held in 2010. Report Feature race The first race looked like it was dominated by Davide Valsecchi, who took pole, won race and got fastest lap,http://www.gp2series.com/en//website/2009gp2asia/news/newsasia/newsdetail.php?articleid=2628 Davide Valsecchi claims maiden pole 2009-10-30 gp2series.com GP2 Series 2009-10-31 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20091102053404/http://www.gp2series.com/en/website/2009gp2asia/news/newsasia/newsdetail.php?articleid=2628 November 2, 2009 http://www.gp2series.com/en//website/2009gp2asia/home/homegp2/ Davide Valsecchi storms to victory 2009-10-31 gp2series.com GP2 Series 2009-10-31 but he lost the lead at the start when Valsecchi was beaten off the line by GP2 debutant Sam Bird, Valsecchi managed to re-pass him going down the long back straight to turn 8. Bird was also passed by GP2 Asia returnee James Jakes and GP2 veteran Luca Filippi. Filippi found enough pace to not only pass Jakes for second, but also jump ahead of Valsecchi after the mandatory pit stops. A crash between Luiz Razia and Christian Vietoris made the safety car appear and this allowed Valsecchi to close the gap between himself and Filippi. Valsecchi put pressure on Filippi later in the race and finally won the lead battle by muscling through after a very close side by side dice through the Turn 11, 12, 13 and 14 complex. He briefly came under threat when Trident driver Plamen Kralev's spin prompted the safety car again, but had the pace to pull away and secure the win. Filippi managed to fend off Jakes to retain second place, with Alexander Rossi the top rookie in fourth place, followed by fellow newcomers Josef Král and Vietoris. Rossi and Král's former International Formula Master rival Fabio Leimer was unable to capitalise on his excellent third on the grid as his Ocean Racing Technology car stalled before the formation lap. Fifth place qualifier Roldán Rodríguez left another gap when he failed to get off the line at the start. Bird had been on course for fourth until he retired on the penultimate lap with brake problems, which meant his countryman and fellow GP2 debutant Oliver Turvey moved up to eighth in the second iSport car and would therefore start from reverse grid pole for the sprint race, alongside Johnny Cecotto Jr. of Trident Racing. Sprint race For the sprint race, Turvey started on pole, having finished eighth in the feature race. He got off the line slowly and DAMS driver Vietoris burst through from third to the lead at the start, Turvey falling back to fourth behind Král and Rossi into the first corner. Turvey's front row partner Cecotto, Jr. also fell down the order, to seventh behind the feature race top duo Filippi and Valsecchi. Valsecchi was a man determined to get big points, and after a few side by side tussles, managed to pass Filippi. With the momentum, Valsecchi also managed to pass his team-mate Turvey after Filippi had spun trying to avoid Cecotto. The safety car then gave Valsecchi a chance to catch up with the top three, the yellow being required after Will Bratt's Coloni machine had snapped into a high-speed spin at the end of the back straight and collected Leimer on its way to the barrier. Vietoris and Král had pulled comfortably clear of the field before the safety car, with the DAMS driver edging away early on before Král closed back onto his tail at half-distance. But the safety car cost them their cushion, for Valsecchi swiftly muscled past Rossi for third after the restart and then rapidly closed on Vietoris and Král. That gave Vietoris some breathing space, as Valsecchi climbed all over the back of Král before diving ahead into Turn 11 on the last lap. There was no time left to catch Vietoris though, and the German duly ended his first GP2 weekend with victory. Turvey put a late move on Rossi to take fourth, with Cecotto hanging on to sixth ahead of Vietoris' team-mate Edoardo Piscopo and the delayed Filippi. Jakes was forced wide at the first corner and could only finish 10th, the Super Nova driver having spent most of the race trying in vain to pass DPR's Michael Herck. Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverTeamTimeGapGrid117ITA Davide ValsecchiiSport International1:51.964128GBR Sam BirdART Grand Prix1:52.183 +0.2192323CHE Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology1:52.236 +0.2723420ITA Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com1:52.240 +0.2764524ESP Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni1:52.300 +0.3365612VEN Rodolfo GonzálezArden International1:52.436 +0.4726714GBR James JakesSuper Nova Racing1:52.529 +0.5657818VEN Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing1:52.557 +0.5938915CZE Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing1:52.575 +0.61191027ITA Giacomo RicciDPR1:52.690 +0.72610112ITA Edoardo PiscopoDAMS1:52.792 +0.82811124ITA Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP1:52.816 +0.852121322USA Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology1:52.827 +0.86313141DEU Christian VietorisDAMS1:52.830 +0.86614157SWE Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix1:52.846 +0.882151626ROU Michael HerckDPR1:52.869 +0.905161721BRA Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com1:52.907 +0.943171816GBR Oliver TurveyiSport International1:52.955 +0.99118196BRA Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team1:52.996 +1.032192011FRA Charles PicArden International1:53.112 +1.14820215GBR Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team1:53.147 +1.18321223BGR Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP1:53.628 +1.664222325GBR Will BrattScuderia Coloni1:53.711 +1.747232419BGR Plamen KralevTrident Racing1:58.149 +6.18524 Feature race PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints117ITA Davide ValsecchiiSport International331:07:49.810110+2+1220ITA Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com33 +4.88148314GBR James JakesSuper Nova Racing33 +6.17476422USA Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology33 +7.182135515CZE Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing33 +8.2209461DEU Christian VietorisDAMS33 +13.300143718VEN Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing33 +15.46082816GBR Oliver TurveyiSport International33 +16.22318192ITA Edoardo PiscopoDAMS33 +16.715111024ESP Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni33 +16.8795117SWE Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix33 +21.686151225GBR Will BrattScuderia Coloni33 +22.539231326ROU Michael HerckDPR33 +22.881161412VEN Rodolfo GonzálezArden International33 +23.4036154ITA Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP33 +23.78612165GBR Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team33 +25.131211723CHE Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology33 +30.0193188GBR Sam BirdART Grand Prix31 +2 laps2Ret11FRA Charles PicArden International28DNF20Ret3BGR Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP25DNF22Ret19BGR Plamen KralevTrident Racing24DNF24Ret6BRA Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team12DNF19Ret27ITA Giacomo RicciDPR8DNF10Ret21BRA Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com0DNF17Fastest lap: Davide Valsecchi (iSport International) 1:53.341 (lap 32) Sprint race PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints11DEU Christian VietorisDAMS2243:18.81436217ITA Davide ValsecchiiSport International22 +2.44785+1315CZE Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing22 +3.19544416GBR Oliver TurveyiSport International22 +6.61613522USA Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology22 +7.24052618VEN Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing22 +7.7112172ITA Edoardo PiscopoDAMS22 +8.2379820ITA Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com22 +10.1367926ROU Michael HerckDPR22 +10.730131014GBR James JakesSuper Nova Racing22 +11.6436116BRA Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team22 +11.88122127SWE Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix22 +12.315111321BRA Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com22 +12.893251424ESP Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni22 +13.303101511FRA Charles PicArden International22 +13.777191612VEN Rodolfo GonzálezArden International22 +14.43114175GBR Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team22 +19.48516188GBR Sam BirdART Grand Prix22 +21.42118Ret3BGR Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP17DNF20Ret23CHE Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology14DNF17Ret25GBR Will BrattScuderia Coloni14DNF12Ret4ITA Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP5DNF15Ret27ITA Giacomo RicciDPR1DNF24Ret19BGR Plamen KralevTrident Racing0DNF21Fastest lap: Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) 1:52.070 (lap 22) Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 10px 1ITA Davide Valsecchi 19 10px 2GER Christian Vietoris 9 10px 3ITA Luca Filippi 8 10px 4CZE Josef Král 8 10px 5USA Alexander Rossi 7 Teams' Championship standings PosTeamPoints 10px 1GBR iSport International 23 10px 2GBR Super Nova Racing 14 10px 3FRA DAMS 9 10px 4MYS MalaysiaQi-Meritus.com 8 10px 5POR Ocean Racing Technology 7 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Notes References Abu Dhabi GP2 Asia round 2009–10 2009 Bahrain 2nd GP2 Asia Series round 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 2nd GP2 Asia round none 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 2nd GP2 Asia round Yas Marina Circuit GP2 Asia Series round Category:GP2 Asia Series