The GP2 Series returns from its “mid-season” break of 2007 for what has become one of the most anticipated rounds of the GP2 season, at Magny-Cours, France, this weekend.
With Timo Glock leading the championship from Luca Filippi and Bruno Senna with five races of the season gone, there’s still all to play for. And with a few familiar faces making a return to the Series this weekend, the championship battle could be about to take an unexpected turn. Slight Return: The “mid-season” test of 2007 came earlier than in any previous GP2 Series calendar this year, with just five races of the season contested.
With five different race winners from five different teams so far this year, the championship is set-up perfectly for the remaining eight rounds and 16 races of the 2007 season. It’s still anyone’s championship.
The “mid-season” test at Circuit Paul Ricard has traditionally been the point of the season at which the greatest gains have been made by the teams in their understanding of that season’s generation of car, given that it is their sole opportunity in the course of the championship year to run the cars outside race weekends.
In 2005 ART Grand Prix made the gains that would take them on to mount a successful championship campaign, and in 2006 it was iSport International who made the biggest leap forward to challenge ART’s dominance.
This year it was again iSport and in particular Andi Zuber who set the pace at Paul Ricard, and they will arrive in Magny-Cours as championship-leaders and the definite team to beat. Andi himself will be hoping that his run of bad luck, which has thus far blighted the start to his season, will have been erased after his dominant performance in testing and that Magny-Cours will signal the start of his season for real.
Over at FMS International and Racing Engineering there are also hopes of reinvigoration and rejuvenation as former GP2 Series race winners Adam Carroll and Ernesto Viso make their respective comebacks in France. Adam steps into the # 9 FMS International car following the team’s split with ex-F1 pilot Antonio Pizzonia, while Ernesto takes the # 15 car formerly carrying Sergio Jimenez’s name. Both Adam and Ernesto know what it takes to win in the GP2 Series, and their return to the fold could provide an unexpected twist in the championship story of 2007. What about the championship?: Timo Glock sits pretty on top of the championship standings with 37 points, 16 ahead of his nearest challenger Luca Filippi.
That may seem like a big gap after just three rounds, but one difficult weekend for the German could see his gap significantly cut. Bruno Senna lies third on 18 points, level with Lucas di Grassi, while Monaco race winner Pastor Maldonado sits fifth on 12 points, three ahead of Giorgio Pantano in sixth. In the battle for team honours, iSport International head the standings on 43 points with Super Nova International 20 behind them in second, level with ART Grand Prix with 23 points.
Arden International lie just two points behind the battle for second on 21. Trident Racing and Campos Grand Prix are tied for fifth place on 12. We would like to remind the media that GP2 Series Press Conferences will take place at 18:00 after Qualifying on Friday and at 18:00 on Saturday after Race 1. As usual, Press Conferences will be held in the GP2 Series Hospitality Unit.
