as drivers prepare for title showdown

Spa promise remains unfulfilled as Brazilian retires from sprint race

Bruno Senna made stellar progress in the early stages of yersterday morning’s GP2 Series sprint at Spa, picking his way through from 11th on the grid to challenge for a points finish. After a brief mid-race Safety Car intervention, he was just on the verge of establishing himself in the top six when rival Sébastien Buemi clipped him and Senna spun into the escape road at the final chicane. His car was damaged in the incident and he limped to the pits to retire.

With main title adversary Giorgio Pantano barred from the race, for causing a collision during yesterday’s feature event, Senna lies 11 points adrift of the Italian in the championship fight, with 20 to play for at Monza next weekend.

Bruno Senna

“Conditions were very slippery at the start, so I just tried to be patient and took my opportunities as they came. After the restart I was following Buemi and Romain Grosjean very closely and they ran side by side through Blanchimont, which isn’t really a passing place. They both lost momentum as a result and I was able to draft past Grosjean. Buemi then took the inside line to defend his position into the final chicane, but he subsequently moved across and I was already there…

“It was a disappointing way to end what had been a good race, but the title fight is still alive. I have quite a bit of ground to make up at Monza, but I was very quick when we tested in low-downforce configuration earlier this year and I’m confident we can end the year with a flourish.”