GP2 2007 Pre-Season

[Driverdb]

The new season looks to be yet another an interesting one.

The 2007 lineup so far goes a little something like this:

ART Grand Prix
Lucas Di Grassi (Brazil)
Michael Ammermüller (Germany)

Minardi by Piquet Sport
Alexandre Sarnes Negrao (Brazil)
Roldan Rodriguez (Spain)

iSport International
Timo Glock (Germany)
Andreas Zuber (Austria)

Arden International
Bruno Senna (Brazil)
Adrian Zaugg (South Africa)

Petrol Ofisi FMS International
Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil)
Jason Tahinci (Turkey)

Trident Racing
Kohei Hirate (Japan)
Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela)

Racing Engineering
Javier Villa (Spain)
t.b.a.

Super Nova International
Mike Conway (Great Britain)
Luca Filippi (Italy)

BCN Competition
Sakon Yamamoto (Japan)
Ricardo Risatti (Argentina)

David Price Racing
Christian Bakkerud (Denmark)
Andy Soucek (Spain)

DAMS
Nicolas Lapierre (France)
Kazuki Nakajima (Japan)

Campos Grand Prix
Giorgio Pantano (Italy)
Vitaly Petrov (Russia)

Durango
Borja Garcia (Spain)
Clivio Piccione (Monaco)


So, what do you guys think of the outcome?

The ART cars will probably be quick but I'm not sure Di Grassi and Ammermüller are GP2 champion material. Timo Glock was very quick last year after he switched to iSport and will probably be someone to reckon with. Conway has shown lots of promise in F. Renault and F3. The Senna/Zaugg duel at Arden will be interesting and the return of Pizzonia will be something to watch.

Still a few seats left, although not really with any top teams. I'm hoping Alx Danielsson can get a seat somewhere.

[JoStream]

Yea, I see it the same way. I think Di Grassi will have a lot to show, but he's also up to against a tough team mate and has solid competition elsewhere in the field.

You have Senna (seems to have quite some talent), Negrao, Time Glock and Antonio Pizzonia. I agree with you about Conway, he's another one to watch :thumbsup:

[Driverdb]

Yeah, Negrao shouldn't be ruled out completely eventhough his two GP2 season have been pretty unimpressive so far. But now he hasn't got Piquet as teammate and who knows he might get more attention from his team now.

It will also be interesting to see what Kazuki Nakajima can do (son of Satoru). He was pretty decent in Euro F3 in his rookie European year. Now he should know a track or two.

As for Sakon Yamamoto I think running in GP2 this year might hurt his chances of going back to Super Aguri. He didn't really make that big of an impression in Formula Nippon so I think he will do far worse in GP2.

It seems Vitaly Petrov is close to being signed for Campos. But I guess he won't have anything to do with the top in the championship. :)

[JoStream]

Tis a shame we don't get coverage of it here in Australia. I just watch the news reports about it on Eurosport News

Yea GP2 coverage is of course not as extensive as say Formula 1 or NASCAR. I don't get it either, but I keep up with race reports and video feeds. :)

[Driverdb]

Thank god for internet downloads, I say. :D

[Driverdb]

It seems like Borja Garcia and Clivio Piccione are signed by Durango.

Only five spots still open now.

[Fahad_H]

what is the cost to race in the GP2?

[JoStream]

what is the cost to race in the GP2?

That's a very good question :rolleyes: I imagine it must be pretty expensive. If you are an individual who has certain characteristics that can be marketable and associated with certain products or services, that you may get it free.

But if it's just talent, you'll need to bring a sponsor, which will depend largely on how much a team is looking for :confused:

[Driverdb]

The figures I've been seeing are about $1.5 to 2 million for a season. I have no idea if that's for a top team or how valid the number is (it was a number quoted at another forum). The bottom line is if one wants to race in GP2 you either need to have a BIG sponsor backing you, be a part of an F1 teams young driver program or have an extremly rich and influential father... *cough* Jason Tahinci *cough*

[Driverdb]

The Australian F3000 V6 series (ex Formula 4000) has some figures on their website about the cost of competing in Europe.

They have GP2 as 900,000 to 1,400,000 Euro.
World Series by Renault 700,000 - 800,000
Formula 3 Euroseries 500,000 - 700,000

More here:
http://www.f3000v6.com/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=105&nav_cat_id=189&nav_top_id=53

[JoStream]

They have GP2 as 900,000 to 1,400,000 Euro.
World Series by Renault 700,000 - 800,000
Formula 3 Euroseries 500,000 - 700,000


That's much more than I expected. I feel sorry for the many guys who put so much effort into racing to get to the top, and often fall because they simply could not get the money together :(

[Driverdb]

Giorgio Pantano and Vitaly Petrov has signed with Campos Grand Prix.

[Fahad_H]

Thanks a lot :)

[Driverdb]

Pastor Maldonado signed with Trident.

Only two seats left now:

Racing Engineering:
Luis Razia is rumoured to be getting this one.

BCN Competicion:
Jose Maria Lopez, Hiroki Yoshimoto and Alx Danielsson are rumoured to battling with the money bags for that one.

[Driverdb]

The Spanish Formula 3 champion of 2006 Ricardo Risatti has taken the BCN seat. Now it's only the Racing Engineering seat left before there's a full grid confirmed.

[Driverdb]

The pre-season testing has started at Paul Ricard. Here are the times from the morning session:

1 - Timo Glock - iSport - 1'14"204 - 18
2 - Antonio Pizzonia - FMSI - 1'14"282 - 28
3 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 1'14"312 - 22
4 - Pastor Maldonado - Trident - 1'14"405
5 - Franck Perera - Racing Engineering - 1'14"418 - 24
6 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova - 1'14"426 - 19
7 - Lucas Di Grassi - ART - 1'14"467 - 30
8 - Kohei Hirate - Trident - 1'14"475 - 23
9 - Alexandre Negrao - Minardi/Piquet - 1'14"548 - 29
10 - Giorgio Pantano - Campos - 1'14"782 - 24
11 - Ricardo Risatti - BCN - 1'14"806 - 26
12 - Borja Garcia - Durango - 1'14"826 - 24
13 - Karun Chandhok - Durango - 1'14"983 - 32
14 - Mike Conway - Super Nova - 1'15"030 - 30
15 - Roldan Rodriguez - Minardi/Piquet - 1'15"065 - 28
16 - Andreas Zuber - iSport - 1'15"078 - 21
17 - Nicolas Lapierre - Dams - 1'15"125 - 22
18 - Michael Ammermuller - ART - 1'15"130 - 31
19 - Kazuki Nakajima - Dams - 1'15"163 - 30
20 - Jason Tahinci - FMSI - 1'15"437 - 27
21 - Andy Soucek - DPR - 1'15"484 - 11
22 - Bruno Senna - Arden - 1'15"656 - 34
23 - Adrian Zaugg - Arden - 1'16"225 - 31
24 - Christian Bakkerud - DPR - 1'16"470 - 17
25 - Sakon Yamamoto - BCN - 1'16"824 - 28
26 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - Not Time - 3

[Driverdb]

Times from the afternoon session:

1 - Giorgio Pantano - Campos - 1'13"889 - 21 giri
2 - Borja Garcia - Durango - 1'14"436 - 11
3 - Timo Glock - iSport - 1'14"518 - 7
4 - Ricardo Risatti - BCN - 1'14"712 - 8
5 - Andreas Zuber - iSport - 1'14"984 - 26
6 - Karun Chandhok - Durango - 1'14"991 - 13
7 - Franck Perera - Racing Engineering - 1'15"190 - 6
8 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 1'15"238 - 20
9 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 1'15"239 - 12
10 - Pastor Maldonado - Trident - 1'15"388 - 8
11 - Roldan Rodriguez - Minardi/Piquet - 1'15"776 - 9
12 - Kazuki Nakajima - Dams - 1'15"801 - 24
13 - Andy Soucek - DPR - 1'16"013 - 11
14 - Michael Ammermuller - ART - 1'16"070 - 9
15 - Alexandre Negrao - Minardi/Piquet - 1'16"288 - 6
16 - Christian Bakkerud - DPR - 1'16"343 - 13
17 - Sakon Yamamoto - BCN - 1'16"949 - 15
18 - Bruno Senna - Arden - 1'17"086 - 7
19 - Kohei Hirate - Trident - 1'18"184 - 8
20 - Lucas Di Grassi - ART - 1'19"192 - 12
21 - Adrian Zaugg - Arden - 1'20"890 - 11
22 - Mike Conway - Super Nova - 1'29"573 - 7
23 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova - senza tempo - 5
24 - Jason Tahinci - FMSI - senza tempo - 2
25 - Nicolas Lapierre - Dams - senza tempo - 5
26 - Antonio Pizzonia - FMSI - senza tempo - 0

[JoStream]

Glock seems to have consistent speed, but it's way early to tell right now...

[Driverdb]

Here are the times from today

Morning:
1 Lucas Di Grassi ART Grand Prix 1:10.464 42
2 Nicolas Lapierre DAMS 1:11.094 38
3 Alexandre Negrao Minardi Piquet Sports 1:11.122 26
4 Michael Ammermuller ART Grand Prix 1:11.254 41
5 Kazuki Nakajima DAMS 1:11.378 27
6 Karun Chandhok Durango 1:11.455 20
7 Antonio Pizzonia Petrol Ofisi FMS Int. 1:11.482 21
8 Roldan Rodriguez Minardi Piquet Sports 1:11.617 28
9 Ricardo Risatti BCN Competicion 1:11.689 28
10 Mike Conway Super Nova International 1:11.690 37
11 Andreas Zuber Isport International 1:11.702 45
12 Borja Garcia Durango 1:11.935 21
13 Sakon Yamamoto BCN Competicion 1:11.941 43
14 Andy Soucek DPR 1:12.013 31
15 Christian Bakkerud DPR 1:12.211 35 1
6 Pastor Maldonado Trident Racing 1:12.281 25
17 Luca Filippi Super Nova International 1:12.428 29
18 Vitaly Petrov Campos Grand Prix 1:12.551 21
19 Timo Glock Isport International 1:12.675 42
20 Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:12.826 36
21 Franck Perera Racing Engineering 1:13.004 35
22 Bruno Senna Arden International 1:13.441 34
23 Adrian Zaugg Arden International 1:18.769 23
24 Kohei Hirate Trident Racing 1:22.752 9
25 Jason Tahinci Petrol Ofisi FMS Int. 1:26.761 36
26 Giorgio Pantano Campos Grand Prix 1:36.522 14

Afternoon:
1 - Lucas Di Grassi - ART - 1'09"768 - 50 giri
2 - Andreas Zuber - iSport - 1'09"847 - 48
3 - Michael Ammermuller - ART - 1'09"990 - 46
4 - Timo Glock - iSport - 1'10"044 - 46
5 - Borja Garcia - Durango - 1'10"175 - 38
6 - Kazuki Nakajima - Dams - 1'10"193 - 66
7 - Kohei Hirate - Trident - 1'10"200 - 45
8 - Karun Chandhok - Durango - 1'10"232 - 40
9 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova - 1'10"250 - 35
10 - Giorgio Pantano - Campos - 1'10"252 - 54
11 - Mike Conway - Super Nova - 1'10"288 - 44
12 - Nicolas Lapierre - Dams - 1'10"356 - 56
13 - Franck Perera - Racing Engineering - 1'10"408 - 53
14 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 1'10"412 - 41
15 - Bruno Senna - Arden - 1'10"417 - 53
16 - Antonio Pizzonia - FMSI - 1'10"418 - 46
17 - Pastor Maldonado - Trident - 1'10"492 - 46
18 - Ricardo Risatti - BCN - 1'10"493 - 30
19 - Roldan Rodriguez - Minardi/Piquet - 1'10"598 - 55
20 - Jason Tahinci - FMSI - 1'10"741 - 49
21 - Alexandre Negrao - Minardi/Piquet - 1'10"885 - 48
22 - Adrian Zaugg - Arden - 1'11"038 - 45
23 - Christian Bakkerud - DPR - 1'11"219 - 37
24 - Andy Soucek - DPR - 1'11"287 - 50
25 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 1'11"409 - 52
26 - Sakon Yamamoto - BCN - 1'11"527 - 47

[Fahad_H]

Good to see Lucas Di Grassi is performing as expected.

[Driverdb]

Mike Conway (who'll race for Super Nova this year) has been signed as a Honda F1 test driver. Good for him. :)