The anticipation and excitement on the grid before the first ever Turkish GP2 race was buzzing as the drivers prepared for the 34 laps ahead! Both Super Nova cars set for a fast race, got off to a good start. One lap in and the race turned into an eventful one! A safety car resulted in several teams pulling in their drivers for their compulsory pit stop, including Super Nova who fitted two sets of four new tyres.
Giorgio Pantano who throughout the race clocked some of the fastest lap times, shot up to second position, narrowly missing out on pole at the chequered flag. Adam Carroll, who began in 7th unfortunately lost a lot of places when he pitted. He drove like a demon though and skilfully recovered 15 places to finish the race in 7th.
Alexandre Premat piped Giorgio Pantano to pole, with Racing Engineering’s Borja Garcia coming in third. This means Super Nova’s Giorgio will start tomorrows sprint race in 7th and Adam Carroll in second.
Giorgio Pantano 1:39.111 (P2)
“I’m very happy with this afternoons result, just little frustrated as I didn’t have a chance to overtake Alexandre Premat. The team are working incredibly hard & have been doing a brilliant job, which has been reflected in the last four podium results. Unfortunately mechanical problems have slowed us a down a bit recently, but now I’m confident we can score some valuable championship points”
Adam Carroll 1:39.746 (P7)
“At the end of the first lap I was in 6th position, however due to miscommunication I didn’t pit when the team wanted. I went in on the next lap, as the safety car was coming in, but unfortunately I rejoined in 19th position, which made for a hard race. Saying that it was a great race with lots of overtaking. Managed to score two points, and place myself for a 2nd position start for the Saturday race. The car is feels like its getting better and better, so hopefully tomorrow it feel the same!”
Team Principal – David Sears
“Giorgio Pantano drove a storming race to finish in 2nd place at the flag only 0.3 of a second behind the winner, Premat. Giorgio had the faster car, but could not overtake safely, although he tried several times. He looks set for another good race tomorrow morning. Adam Carroll finished in 7th place, which is where he started on the grid. Although he missed the chance to pit on the second lap when the pace car came out, and possibly finish a couple of places higher, he in a good position for tomorrow, as the top eight positions get reversed. Adam will start in 2nd place and has a real chance to win the race.”
Race times to follow
2005 INTERNATIONAL GP2 SERIESROUND 9, RACE 1 - ISTANBUL, TURKEY
20TH AUGUST 2005
Race 1
Pos. Driver Nat Team Time Best Lap Lap1. Alexandre Premat FRA ART Grand Prix 1:01:27.680 1:39.266 312. Giorgio Pantano ITA Super Nova Intl Racing 1:01:28.016 1:39.111 333. Borja Garcia ESP Racing Engineering 1:01:37.166 1:39.432 314. Nelson Piquet Jnr. BRA HiTech Piquet 1:01:38.667 1:39.569 305. Scott Speed USA ISport International 1:01:40.756 1:38.288 346. Jose Maria Lopez ARG DAMS 1:01:46.129 1:39.500 347. Adam Carroll GBR Super Nova Intl Racing 1:01:47.238 1:39.746 308. Hiroki Yoshimoto JAP BCN Competition 1:01:48.808 1:39.754 299. Oliver Pla FRA David Price Racing 1:01:49.295 1:40.021 3110. Heikki Kovalainen FIN Arden International 1:01:56.310 1:39.652 3311. Can Artam TUR ISport International 1:01:58.262 1:40.316 3212. Alaxandre Negräo BRA HiTech Piquet 1:02:05.995 1:40.994 3213. Giorgio Mondini ITA David Price Racing 1:02:07.713 1:41.237 2814. Ernesto Viso VEN BCN Competition 1:02:15.748 1:41.670 3015. Juan Cruz Alvarez ARG Campos Racing 1:02:18.104 1:40.663 2316. Mathias Lauda AUT Coloni Motorsport 1:02:20.088 1:41.986 3317. Nico Rosberg GER ART Grand Prix 1:02:10.679 1:38.878 31
Not Classified
DNF Ferdinando Monfardini ITA Durango 48:24.270 1:40.718 26DNF Clivio Piccione MC Durango 43:18.502 1:40.548 23DNF Nicolas Lapierre FRA Arden International 29:58.007 1:42.047 15DNF Gianmaria Bruni ITA Coloni Motorsport 29:58.260 1:41.866 16DNF Fairuz Fauzy MAL DAMS 19:49.951 1:43.937 7DNF Sergio Hernandez ESP Campos Racing 3:56.026 2:03.233 2DNF Neel Jani SUI Racing Engineering
Fastest Lap
Scott Speed USA ISport International 1:38.288 34
