Rapid pace with new chassis goes unrewarded at British GP2 event
Arthur Pic’s frustrating GP2 Series campaign continued at Silverstone last weekend (July 3-5) when a post-Feature Race penalty thwarted the Frenchman’s hopes of a strong performance at the British Grand Prix venue.
The Campos Racing ace was immediately on the pace at round five of this year’s championship after the Spanish squad brought a new chassis to the Home of British Motor Racing. Having set the sixth fastest time during Friday morning’s free practice, Pic went one better that afternoon by qualifying fifth for Saturday’s Feature Race.
However, too much wheelspin at lights out saw Pic overhauled by three rivals, including fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly who started alongside him. Arthur made a quick recovery, hounding down the Red Bull Junior throughout his opening stint on hard tyres before pitting for softs on lap 22.
Following a slightly slow stop, the GP2 sophomore came out of the pits amid a gaggle of cars fiercely battling for the third step of the podium. Indeed, no less than seven drivers were chasing Briton Jordan King for the position, whose hard compound tyres were deteriorating fast.
Pic managed to overtake Nick Yelloly and Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship leader Oliver Rowland whilst in the chasing pack, ending up right on King’s tail over the last two laps. However, he was unable to avoid contact with the Racing Engineering driver as he slowed into the final corner, which sent the Briton into a spin.
Although Arthur went on to take sixth at the chequered flag, race officials handed him a 20-second post-race penalty. It demoted the Frenchman to 14th, affected his grid position for Sunday’s partially reversed grid – which would have been third – and effectively put an end to his hopes of a good result at Silverstone.
“I was surprised to see King slow down that much in the final corner,” commented Arthur afterwards. “You would normally take that corner flat-out. As soon as he braked, I tried to steer left in order to dodge him but there was just not enough room.
“This result is all the more frustrating after we’d been on the pace again with the new chassis. I could have secured the third fastest time in qualifying if I hadn’t jumped out of gear during my best flying lap.
“Overall, we had the speed to fight for the podium here at Silverstone but the penalty and poor starts led to another disappointing outcome. In fact, we’ll need to look into the excessive wheelspin and the clutch before our next meeting.”
Lining up 14th on the grid for Sunday’s Sprint event, Pic made a very sluggish getaway that bumped him all the way down to 23rd after the opening lap. But the Frenchman’s steely determination eventually saw him cross the line in 16th.
The next instalment of the 2015 campaign takes place at the Hungaroring (July 24-26) where Pic will no doubt be looking to repeat last year’s performance after securing his maiden GP2 Series victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix venue.
