GP2 and Formula BMW Summary

Teams headed to the Hockenheimring this weekend for the GP2 Series and Formula BMW Europe, as both championships supported the Formula One Germany Grand Prix. It was Formula One’s return to the circuit after a one-year break from the track in 2007. Fisichella Motor Sport International fielded its usual drivers in both championships; Roldan Rodriguez and Marko Asmer in the GP2 Series and Pedro Bianchini, Mihai Marinescu and Ollie Millroy in Formula BMW.

The GP2 weekend got underway on Friday morning with the usual 30-minute free practice session before qualifying on Friday afternoon. Roldan set himself up on the 11th row for Saturday’s feature race after qualifying in 22nd position, with Asmer one row back after setting the 24th fastest time. Saturday’s 40-lap main race began under blue skies but was hit with heavy rainfall, causing mayhem on the track. Marko finished in 14th position, with Roldan crossing the line in 18th. There were no weather problems in Sunday’s sprint race, with the 27-lap event held in sunny conditions. Marko improved one position on his starting slot, finishing 13th, with Roldan three positions behind in 16th.

The Formula BMW Europe team had another strong weekend, with all three drivers scoring well, despite a crash in the race on Saturday for Ollie. The team had a good combined qualifying result with Pedro, Mihai and Ollie lining up eighth, tenth and 13th respectively for Saturday’s race. A safety car was deployed on lap one after Ollie was hit, sending him into a frightening barrel roll. Fortunately, he stepped out of the car uninjured and was able to compete in the second race. Mihai finished Saturday’s race in fifth, with Pedro three places back in eighth. In Sunday morning’s race the team performed well, with Pedro crossing the line in sixth, Mihai and eighth and Ollie in ninth. FMSI is in a strong third place in the championship with 175 points, just three points behind second-placed Eifelland Racing.

The next rounds for both the GP2 Series and Formula BMW Europe will take place at the Hungaroring, near Budapest in Hungary from 1-3 August.

Paolo Coloni, Team Principal: GP2: “Our problem is that we are still struggling in qualifying and this weekend our drivers had a lack of knowledge of the circuit as neither of them have raced at Hockenheim before. Conditions were not easy yesterday so, considering our qualifying results, I am happy with the performance of the drivers in the races. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to fight for points when the qualifying doesn’t go well. We should be much better in the next race and we will aim for points in Hungary.”Formula BMW: “It’s been another very good weekend for the whole team and we are now in a very strong position in the championship, just three points behind second position. All three drivers performed well all weekend and to be performing that way in just our fourth weekend in BMW is extremely pleasing. We are very happy with the way everything is going.”

GP2 - Saturday Race Result1. Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering) - 10pts2. Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix) - 8pts3. Alvaro Parente (Super Nova International) - 6pts14. Marko Asmer (FMS International)18. Roldan Rodriguez (FMS International)

GP2 - Sunday Race Result1. Karun Chandhok (iSport International) - 6pts2. Andreas Zuber (Piquet Sports) - 5pts3. Bruno Senna (iSport International) - 4pts13. Marko Asmer (FMS International)16. Roldan Rodriguez (FMS International)

Formula BMW - Saturday Race Result1. Esteban Gutierrez (Josef Kaufmann Racing) 2. Adrien Tambay (Eifelland Racing)3. Marco Wittmann (Josef Kaufmann Racing)5. Mihai Marinescu (FMS International) 8. Pedro Bianchini (FMS International)DNF. Ollie Millroy (FMS International)

Formula BMW - Sunday Race Result1. Esteban Gutierrez (Josef Kaufmann Racing) 2. Adrien Tambay (Eifelland Racing)3. Marco Wittmann (Josef Kaufmann Racing)6. Pedro Bianchini (FMS International)8. Mihai Marinescu (FMS International) 9. Ollie Millroy (FMS International)Fisicella Motorsport in Hockenheim