underlines strength of Senna’s title challenge

Bruno Senna finished second in the opening round of the GP2 Series at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona – and his race-long pursuit of winner Alvaro Parente (Super Nova) was one of the afternoon’s highlights.

The race began in chaotic fashion. The original start had to be aborted, because a car stalled on the grid, but Senna got away brightly from on the grid and lay third as the field streamed through the first corner, where a multiple collision between several midfield runners caused the Safety Car to be deployed. Every driver made their mandatory tyre stop while the race was neutralised, and smart work by the iSport team put Bruno ahead of Andreas Zuber (Piquet Sports) when he rejoined the track. He spent the balance of the race putting Parente under extreme pressure, but the leader didn’t make a mistake and Senna was forced to settle for a strong second place.

Bruno Senna“I was pleased with the way things went today. The team did a fantastic job to get me ahead of Andreas during the tyre stop, and after that I just pushed as hard as I could. Alvaro drove a very strong race, though. He made no mistakes and deserved his victory.

“I tried absolutely everything I could to pass him – including different gears and different racing lines – but nothing worked. I think our car was potentially faster at certain points on the track, but overtaking here is always very difficult.

“The main thing is that we have had a strong, competitive weekend. This year’s car is much more physically challenging to drive than the old one, but I feel fine and have come away with a healthy number of points. If the team continues to perform like this, I know victories will follow.”