Bakkerud fit after Monaco shunt

Christian Bakkerud says he feels no ill effects following his airborne GP2 shunt at Monaco on Sunday.

The Dane missed the second round of the season at Istanbul earlier this year after injuring his back in an accident in the season opener at Barcelona, and also missed five races last season with a disc problem.

He was fortunate not to aggravate his back injury as his Super Nova car landed at Ste Devote on Sunday.

"I can't feel any pain or any other problems from my back so I think I got away lightly this time," he said.

"I don't blame anyone for what happened, it was simply a racing incident. It's very typical of the very tight Monaco street circuit, with 26 cars there's no room for mistakes."

Bakkerud struck the back of Andi Zuber's Piquet Sports car as the field bunched up at the first corner and landed on the run off area on the outside of the track.

"Andi got a fantastic start and had to move across to avoid cars colliding in front of him. I had to lift off to avoid him but this meant I lost grip and couldn't stop in time so my car went up in the air.

"Fortunately I landed one wheel at a time and not with all four at once because that would have a huge impact on your body and back, which in my case would have been disastrous."

Real avoid nightmare finish

Bakkerud to miss Istanbul race

Pantano, Chandhok given all-clear

Following their accidents in today's GP2 sprint race in Monaco, Giorgio Pantano and Karun Chandhok were given a clean bill of health after receiving treatment for minor injuries.

Chandhok's right hand swelled up following his first corner collision with Pastor Maldonado, which led to him hitting the Armco barrier.

"As I was walking back to the pits, my hand just swelled up massively," he said. "I called in at the medical centre, and they did the whole works: tests and x-rays, the lot. I've got a nice picture of the bones in my hand now, but there's nothing broken."

Pantano also received treatment for an injured arm, after an attempted pass on Marcello Puglisi meant he was punted into the wall, but he also has not broken any bones.

His car and title chances took major punishment, however, as he is now tied for the points lead with Bruno Senna.

Christian Bakkerud has reported no ill effects from his first-corner flight over the rear of Andi Zuber. Bakkerud was forced to miss the last round with a back injury sustained in Barcelona.

Vaughn bides time before return

LA Galaxy storm past Wizards

Conway takes first win at Monaco

Maldonado on top at Monaco

Maldonado: I could have gone quicker

Monaco GP2 feature race poleman Pastor Maldonado says he was holding something in reserve when he topped the qualifying times by almost two-tenths of a second on Thursday.

Maldonado, who scored his second pole in three races this year for Piquet Sports, was not fastest in either of the three sector times in qualifying, but his consistency over the lap was such that he set two laps good enough for pole. He believes he can stay on top during Friday morning's feature race.

"For sure, I could have driven faster today," he said. "But I was never going to take any big risks, especially with all the traffic around. Pole position here is worth 90 per cent of the race, and now that is in my pocket."

The Venezuelan is confident that his start problems of the opening two events have been resolved ahead of tomorrow's race.

"I have already tried some starts this weekend and there have been no problems," he said. "We found a problem in the clutch, and we have fixed this. My championship starts here, and there is still 80 per cent of the races remaining. I've been unlucky so far, but I'm feeling relaxed about this pole position."

When reminded of his potential for a hat-trick of victories in Monaco, following on from his Formula Renault 3.5 win in 2006 and GP2 triumph last year, he promised: "There will be a third win tomorrow."

Ianni hopes for exciting summer

Dynamo pressure results in victory

Maldonado seeks Monaco double

Senna proud of Monaco victory

GP2 race winner Bruno Senna has spoken of his pride at putting the family name back on the top step of the Monaco podium.

Senna won today's GP2 feature race, despite a scare when a mid-race pile-up negated his lead over renowned Monaco maestro Pastor Maldonado. Despite late-race pressure, Senna held on for a famous victory - 15 years since his uncle Ayrton won his sixth grand prix at the legendary street track venue.

"It was a really amazing feeling to put the Senna name back on top of the podium here," said Bruno. "I plan on doing it a few more times, at other tracks as well as here. I've had critics in the past who've said I'm no good on street circuits. I think this result slaps them in the face."

Senna is now just two points behind series leader Giorgio Pantano, who was the cause of the traffic jam after he was punted off by Sebastien Buemi. Senna survived a post-race scare when stewards interviewed him and team boss Paul Jackson after he passed a number of stationary cars under waved yellow flags.

"That moment really shook the race up," said Senna. "I lost all my advantage, and all the cars were parked on the right, and I thought they were part of the accident. I passed them on the left, and then realised they were just waiting. I thought, 'oh ****' and radio-ed the team, but they said it was okay as I passed them when they were stationary."

Team boss Paul Jackson had checked the situation with race director Charlie Whiting during the event, but was still called before the stewards again after the race to explain the incident.

"It was a confusing situation," said Jackson. "I went to see Charlie to find out if we should let people past again, as the last thing we wanted was to get a penalty. But he said to keep going, and that he didn't have a problem with Bruno passing a stationary car under yellows."

Dynamo earn first victory of 2008

Rapids take command of West

Senna name wins again at Monaco

Conway takes first win at Monaco

Conway takes first win at Monaco

After the agony of being punted off by a backmarker yesterday, robbing him of a podium, Mike Conway savoured the ecstasy of victory at Monaco in Saturday's GP2 sprint race.

He led from start to finish from pole position, which he only earned thanks to Javier Villa punting him out of third place in the feature race and its reverse grid line-up.

Conway had two safety car periods to worry about, the second of which negated his 11.4sec lead over Trident Racing team-mate Ho-Pin Tung.

At the restart, he had the cushion of a backmarker between himself and Tung, but was able to pull away regardless. His winning margin was a convincing 18.4secs.

Alvaro Parente was close behind Tung but unable to find a way past and settled for his second podium finish of the season.

Adrian Valles would have finished fourth for BCN, but he overtook Roldan Rodriguez by cutting the corner at Ste Devote on the opening lap and was handed a drive-through penalty. It took until lap 21 for him to finally take it, giving Rodriguez the place back.

Yesterday's hero Bruno Senna finished fifth after spending the entire race tucked under Rodriguez's rear wing. He had Andy Soucek for company for most of the race, until the DPR man dropped off the pace in the closing stages. Soucek finished sixth, which wasn't bad considering he started yesterday's race dead last, and it was DPR's first point of the season.

The safety car was required for a first corner clash between Pastor Maldonado and Karun Chandhok, which took them both out, while independently of this, Christian Bakkerud flew over the rear wheel of Andi Zuber but fortunately landed the right way up.

The second safety car period was for Alberto Valerio, who spun into the wall on the exit of Casino Square, blocking most of the track.

In another significant shunt, series leader Giorgio Pantano clashed with Durango's Marcello Puglisi at the harbour-front chicane, wrecking his left-front suspension. Pantano now jointly leads the series with Senna on 24 points.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Mike Conway Trident Racing 45:31.105 2. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing + 18.446 3. Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing + 18.915 4. Roldan Rodriguez FMS International + 20.898 5. Bruno Senna iSport International + 21.298 6. Andy Soucek DPR + 22.256 7. J.D'Ambrosio DAMS + 23.188 8. Yelmer Buurman Team Arden + 23.887 9. Diego Nunes DPR + 33.072 10. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix + 33.536 11. Sebastien Buemi Team Arden + 35.756 12. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix + 37.885 13. Javier Villa Racing Engineering + 39.162 14. Benjamin Hanley Campos Team + 40.604 15. Vitaly Petrov Campos Team + 41.865 16. Adrian Valles BCN Competicion + 43.233 17. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports 1 lap Retirements: Driver Team Laps Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 14 Marcello Puglisi Durango 11 Alberto Valerio Durango 8 Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 7 Adam Carroll FMS International 2 Karun Chandhok iSport International 0 Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 0 C.Bakkerud Super Nova Racing 0

Angel delivers first goal, win for NY

Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol

Ianni hopes for exciting summer

Drivers hit by penalties in Istanbul

Grosjean wins bizarre sprint race

Maldonado king of Monaco qualifying

Pastor Maldonado proved he's the king of sub-Formula One single-seaters around Monaco once again by setting pole position for Friday's GP2 feature race.

The Venezuelan Piquet Sports driver lapped the famous street circuit in 1:21.057s, which was 0.178s quicker than iSport's Bruno Senna.

Maldonado's session did not start well, as he shot up the escape road on his second flying lap, and was lucky to be deemed to be in a dangerous position so he was allowed a push backwards from the marshals.

He ran second to Senna early on, but soon got into his stride. He took the top spot halfway through, with a 1:21.189s, and followed that up with a second clear lap to lower the mark to 1:21.057s. That lap featured him brushing the wall on the exit of Portier, which proved how hard he was pushing.

Mike Conway led the surprises by snatching third position in his Trident Racing machine, just half a tenth off Senna's time.

The session was red flagged with 3:19s on the clock when Adrian Valles, who had just set the fourth fastest time, clobbered the wall at Ste Devote, removing his left-rear corner and spinning across the track to the inside wall. His car deposited much of its oil across the track, causing the stoppage.

At the restart, no-one in the top eight improved, so series leader Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering) will start fifth, ahead of Karun Chandhok (iSport), Romain Grosjean (ART) and Sebastien Buemi (Arden).

The latter pairing, who scrapped over last year's F3 Euro Series crown, set exactly the same time, but Buemi set his lap just before the red flag - so Grosjean will start ahead of him having set his time earlier.

Andi Zuber qualified ninth for Piquet Sports, but his position is likely to be reviewed by stewards after his clash with Adam Carroll this morning. The team are currently appealing the first decision, so how many places he will be penalised is as-yet unclear.

Jerome d'Ambrosio set the 10th fastest lap for DAMS, his car retaining the requisite number of wheels in this session, unlike in free practice.

At the back, Andy Soucek's return to DPR was a disaster. After running fourth fastest this morning, he got no further than the Ste Devote tyrewall on his first flying lap.

Also in the wall was Ben Hanley, who visited the Ste Devote tyres for the second time today, and Ho-Pin Tung, who made it as far as the Swimming Pool before shunting his car into the barrier. Durango newcomer Marcello Puglisi was another to spin out, this time on the exit of Casino Square.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:21.057 2. Bruno Senna iSport 1:21.235 +0.178 3. Mike Conway Trident 1:21.283 +0.226 4. Adrian Valles BCN 1:21.368 +0.311 5. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:21.466 +0.409 6. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:21.614 +0.557 7. Romain Grosjean ART 1:21.663 +0.606 8. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:21.663 +0.606 9. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:21.773 +0.716 10. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:21.777 +0.720 11. Luca Filippi ART 1:21.849 +0.792 12. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:21.907 +0.850 13. Adam Carroll FMS 1:21.981 +0.924 14. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova 1:22.210 +1.153 15. Ben Hanley Campos 1:22.697 +1.640 16. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:22.785 +1.728 17. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:22.802 +1.745 18. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:23.048 +1.991 19. Diego Nunes DPR 1:23.224 +2.167 20. Milos Pavlovic BCN 1:23.684 +2.627 21. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:23.798 +2.741 22. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:24.037 +2.980 23. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:24.283 +3.226 24. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 1:21.667 +0.610 25. Marcello Puglisi Durango 1:24.633 +3.576 26. Andy Soucek DPR no time

Senna name wins again at Monaco

Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Brazilian Monaco master Ayrton, scored his first GP2 Series win of the season on Friday in the biggest race of the year at Monte Carlo.

Senna effectively won the race at the start, leaping into the lead as poleman Maldonado was slow away with too much wheelspin. Maldonado just held off Mike Conway into Ste Devote, who then had to defend his third place from Adrian Valles up the hill to Casino Square.

Senna pulled out an impressive lead, and was over 4secs clear when he straight-lined the Swimming Pool chicane on lap 12. Not to be outdone, Maldonado then straight-lined the new chicane a lap later to level the score.

Senna was 6secs clear when he pitted on lap 21, with Maldonado stopping a lap later. The lead was now 4.6secs, but all that was about to be made irrelevant.

Series leader Giorgio Pantano was punted into a spin at Mirabeau by Sebastien Buemi, and he blocked the track for about 30secs. Half the field was stuck behind him, while marshals moved his stricken car, and the leaders got caught up in the mess too.

Senna cleverly passed a whole host of parked cars, but Maldonado followed him through, so the lead was now just under 3secs when racing resumed.

Maldonado got the hammer down, closing the gap completely as the race entered its final stages. With eight laps to go there was less than a second between them, but Senna responded with a blindingly quick lap, which would have put him fourth on the grid, to counter Maldonado's charge and net the extra point for fastest lap.

Senna crossed the line six-tenths ahead of the Venezuelan, who charged back onto his tail on the final lap.

The final place on the podium changed on the final lap. It should have been Conway, but he was punted off by the lapped Javier Villa on the final lap at the new chicane. That gifted Karun Chandhok the place, making it a great day for iSport.

Valles finished fourth, holding off Alvaro Parente in the late stages. Roldan Rodriguez benefited from a clever strategy from his FMS team to take sixth, ahead of Ho-Pin Tung, who also ran a very long first stint.

Conway was classified eighth, and so will start Saturday’s sprint race from reverse grid pole position. That honour would have gone to Jerome d’Ambrosio had the Belgian not allowed himself to be lapped on the final tour by Senna.

Despite his non-finish, Pantano still leads the championship, but by only two points from Senna.

Results to follow.

Dynamo on unlucky side of draw

Maldonado seeks Monaco double

Grosjean wins bizarre sprint race

Maldonado king of Monaco qualifying

Zuber faces 15-place grid penalty

GP2 Series front-runner Andi Zuber is facing a 15-place grid penalty for his collision with Adam Carroll in this morning's free practice session at Monaco.

Zuber qualified ninth this afternoon, but if the 15-place penalty is confirmed he will drop to 24th position - second from last. His Piquet Sports team have appealed against the penalty, and are now awaiting the final decision.

Zuber protested his innocence in his clash with Carroll, claiming his car was forced into the FMS car when he hit a bump on the run from Casino Square to Mirabeau.

"I hit the bump as I was overtaking Carroll," said Zuber. "The car just went to the left when we were side-by-side. Of course I didn't mean to hit him. I was steering right, and it went left, you can see it in the telemetry, so what could I do? It was definitely not on purpose."

Zuber says the penalty has wrecked any chance he has of scoring points this weekend.

"To penalise me 15 places is ridiculous," he said. "They might as well penalise me 30 places. Five would be okay, but 15? Forget it. They could make me start half a lap behind everyone else, it would be the same result."

Carroll was unimpressed with Zuber's manoeuvre, and even less with the lack of an apology afterwards: "My grandfather told me that good manners cost you nothing," he said. "He's not even sent me a card, never mind apologised to my face!"

Also penalised is Campos driver Vitaly Petrov, who was given a five-place grid penalty for touring back to the pits with a damaged car in free practice and impeding those behind him as he did so.

Petrov had hit the barrier at Ste Devote, and completed almost a full lap of the track with his left-rear wheel broken. He will start 17th.

Dynamo pressure results in victory

Davis: What’s gotten into the Crew?

Rapids take command of West

Pantano keeps cool to win in Turkey

Pantano tops Istanbul free practice

Drivers hit by penalties in Istanbul

Maldonado on top at Monaco

Pastor Maldonado took his usual position at the top of the times in GP2 free practice on Thursday.

Maldonado (Piquet Sports), who has previously won here in Renault World Series and GP2, lapped the famous street circuit in 1:21.701, almost half a second clear of teammate Andi Zuber and Bruno Senna (iSport).

As usual around the streets of Monte Carlo, the only track time before qualifying was hectic.

Adding to the drama was Zuber, who barged Adam Carroll (FMS) into the wall on the run between Casino Square and Mirabeau, wrecking Carroll's right-front corner. The Briton ended the session slowest of all, having completed only nine laps.

Earlier, Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS) lost a left-rear wheel at Mirabeau after it hadn't been attached properly.

Fourth fastest, having switched from Super Nova to DPR, was Andy Soucek. He was just a fraction behind Bruno Senna's time, and a tenth clear of the second iSport car of Karun Chandhok.

Series leader Giorgio Pantano was sixth fastest, almost nine tenths off the pace, ahead of Adrian Valles (BCN) and Turkey sprint race winner Romain Grosjean (ART), who was just quicker than Barcelona feature winner Alvaro Parente (Super Nova).

It was a bad session for Campos, as both of their cars hit the wall at Ste Devote. Ben Hanley spun backwards into the tyres, ending his session, while teammate Vitaly Petrov smote the Armco, re-arranging his left-rear wheel.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:21.701 20 2. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports 1:22.176 18 3. Bruno Senna iSport International 1:22.224 20 4. Andy Soucek DPR 1:22.251 20 5. Karun Chandhok iSport International 1:22.336 18 6. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:22.595 16 7. Adrian Valles BCN Competicion 1:22.607 17 8. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:22.832 19 9. Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing 1:22.917 17 10. Sebastien Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:23.020 17 11. Vitaly Petrov Campos Team 1:23.168 15 12. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova Racing 1:23.320 19 13. Mike Conway Trident Racing 1:23.438 10 14. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix 1:23.794 18 15. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:24.173 15 16. Roldan Rodriguez Fisichella Motor Sport 1:24.201 19 17. Ben Hanley Campos Team 1:24.305 13 18. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:24.306 19 19. Jerome d'Ambrosio Dams 1:24.413 17 20. Marcello Puglisi Durango 1:24.495 17 21. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden 1;24.697 18 22. Milos Pavlovic BCN Competicion 1:25.305 18 23. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing 1:25.916 16 24. Diego Nunes DPR 1:25.925 19 25. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:26.769 18 26. Adam Carroll Fisichella Motor Sport 1:27.352 9

Five-a-side: Managerial shelf lives

Pantano tops Istanbul free practice

Maldonado seeks Monaco double

Pastor Maldonado is looking to repeat last season's GP2 victory at Monaco when the Formula One-supporting championship revisits the principality this weekend.

The 23-year-old Venezuelan took his maiden GP2 win in last year's race and will have two chances to repeat the feat this season as the series holds a double-header at Monte Carlo for the first time.

Maldonado says Monaco is the jewel in the crown of GP2 as well as F1, but believes he is prepared for the challenge.

"To win at Monaco is fantastic," he said. "It's the most important race in the whole season, and the most difficult circuit of the year. You can't make any mistakes, not even the slightest, it's so narrow and the reaction times are so short.

"It's a street circuit so the track surface has very little grip, you slide a lot and it's very bumpy. The set-up at Monaco is a one-off. We set the car very high off the ground, with very soft dampers, and use maximum aero on the wings."

He expects qualifying to be even more crucial than usual and warned against a lapse in concentration during the mentally tiring races.

"It's incredibly difficult to overtake at Monaco so the most important thing is qualifying. If you're on pole position you have 80 per cent of the race in your pocket.

"Staying focussed is the hardest thing of all. You can't relax for a second because the barriers are so close at all times. Your concentration needs to be 100 per cent and at the end of the race you feel totally drained, but mentally rather than physically."

Red Bulls’ quick answer dooms LA

New Valencia track secures GP2 race

Bakkerud to miss Istanbul race

Soucek to stand in for Herck at DPR

Spaniard Andy Soucek will join the David Price Racing team to replace the injured Michael Herck at Monaco.

Herck missed the opening two rounds of the championship after breaking his hand in the GP2 Asia event in Bahrain.

He was replaced by Giacomo Ricci in Barcelona and Turkey, but Soucek will be driving the second DPR car in Monte Carlo.

Soucek had raced with the Super Nova Racing team in Istanbul, where he replaced the injured Christian Bakkerud.

He rejoins DPR, with whom he raced in the GP2 Asia Series, in a one-race deal.

"I'm looking forward to running with DPR in Monaco," said Soucek. "Thanks to my sponsors, Knight Frank, Interwetten, and L'Equip Asset Management, which is a new partner for me, I'm able to be on the grid and I'm hoping to bring them and DPR some good results.

"It's one of the most exciting, high-pressured, prestigious motor racing events and it's very special to be part of this.

"I scored three podiums in my last three races with the team so I'm hoping to continue that momentum. I raced here last year with DPR and it was a fairly strong weekend. I was fifth quickest in free practice, but made a mistake in qualifying.

"In the race I had an early incident which damaged the steering on my car, yet despite this I was able to keep running and the pace was there. Against this background, I'm feeling very confident.

"My focus will be on doing the best job I can and I'll be aiming to bring the team more valuable championship points."

Wheldon steps out of car, onto field

Revs embrace return to normalcy

Ricci to replace Herck at DPR

Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud

Puglisi to stand in for Valsecchi

Puglisi to stand in for Valsecchi

Marcello Puglisi has been drafted in by the Durango team for the next round of the GP2 Series in Monaco, in place of Davide Valsecchi who is still recovering from his crash in Turkey.

Valsecchi injured his back in a terrifying 100mph crash in Istanbul, when his car suffered brake failure at the end of the back straight. He is targeting a return at the French Grand Prix support round.

Puglisi, who raced for Piquet Sports in the GP2 Asia Series, has vowed not to let his step-up with Durango divert attention from his main effort in the Formula Master series.

"I am sorry for my friend Davide," said Puglisi. “Anyway in Monaco I will try to bring his car home in the best possible position.

“I know that it will not be easy but I am quite confident in myself and in the potential of Durango. Then I will totally concentrate on the Formula Master, which is my main program this year”.

Valsecchi said he is skipping Monaco on advice from doctors, but is hopeful about his chances for a return at Magny-Cours.

“I am sorry to skip the Monaco event, but the doctors convinced me that is better to be a little bit more patient," he explained.

“This to be sure of avoiding any kind of problems in the future. So I give my car to a good driver and a dear friend - but only for this time. From Magny-Cours I will be back in the cockpit.”

Vaughn bides time before return

Valsecchi escapes serious injury

Grosjean wins bizarre sprint race

Romain Grosjean won the GP2 sprint race in Turkey with a superb drive from seventh on the grid, but the race will be remembered for Bruno Senna's exit - when he hit a stray dog.

Adam Carroll led from pole, but his clutch failed almost immediately. Multiple pile-ups at Turn 1 and Turn 3 then brought out the safety car, with yesterday's podium finisher Andi Zuber the highest-placed casualty.

At the start, Vitaly Petrov had dived down the inside to grab the lead from third on the grid, ahead of Sebastien Buemi, Javier Villa and Grosjean.

Grosjean passed Villa at the chicane on lap four and quickly closed on Buemi, dispensing with him on the back straight two laps later.

Petrov put up a sterner defence, but Grosjean eventually passed him at Turn 12 at the end of lap 11.

Just after that, two dogs ran onto the circuit, and sixth placed Senna, who had worked his way up from 15th on the grid, struck one at high speed, smashing his car's right-front corner and leaving Senna livid.

The safety car was required again, as marshals rounded up the other canine track invader. At the restart, Grosjean caught Petrov napping, before pulling out a huge lead to the finish.

Petrov kept Buemi at bay for second, ahead of Saturday winner Giorgio Pantano, Mike Conway and Ben Hanley - both Britons doing well to score points from lowly grid positions.

Both Villa and Karun Chandhok should have finished in the points, but they both spun while battling with each other and would finish 15th and 12th respectively.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 41:53.377 2. Vitaly Petrov Campos Team + 8.019 3. Sebastien Buemi Arden + 8.447 4. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering + 9.897 5. Mike Conway Trident Racing + 11.508 6. Benjamin Hanley Campos Team + 12.847 7. Alberto Valerio Durango + 14.150 8. Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing + 16.329 9. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS + 17.533 10. Diego Nunes DPR + 24.392 11. Giacomo Ricci DPR + 24.850 12. Karun Chandhok iSport International + 25.743 13. Roldan Rodriguez FMS International + 26.094 14. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix + 26.450 15. Javier Villa Racing Engineering + 27.449 16. Milos Pavlovic BCN Competicion +1:24.665 Retirements:Driver Team Laps Bruno Senna iSport International 11 Adam Carroll FMS International 0 Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports 0 Adrian Valles BCN Competicion 0 Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing 0 Yelmer Buurman Team Arden 0 Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing 0 Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 0 Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 0

Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol

Rout of RSL may turn corner for D.C.

Stoic Moreno providing Crew big lift

Pantano keeps cool to win in Turkey

Pantano keeps cool to win in Turkey

Giorgio Pantano won the GP2 Series feature race at Istanbul Park today in convincing fashion, leading from start to finish in his Racing Engineering car.

Even though he had a late safety car to contend with, Pantano kept his cool to win by 1.7 seconds ahead of Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix) and Andi Zuber (Piquet Sports).

Pantano took the lead from the start, holding his pole position advantage into Turn 1. Behind him, Grosjean grabbed second from Zuber, while Adam Carroll (who started third) and Bruno Senna (who started fifth) both bogged down badly.

Senna's race was ruined when he clipped another car on the approach to Turn 1, damaging his front wing. He would finish 15th after being forced to make two pitstops.

At the front, Pantano pulled out as much as a 7.8 seconds lead over Grosjean, but all his good work was undone by the safety car, required for Alberto Valerio's spin at Turn 8, which left him stranded just off the racing line at the fastest corner on the circuit.

This allowed the three leaders to pit under yellows, and they resumed in the same order. Zuber lost time at the restart, which was effectively a six-lap sprint to the finish on new rubber.

Pantano pulled out a three-second lead immediately, and then cruised to victory, while Zuber made a poor restart and had to fight his way back onto Grosjean's tail, which he only managed at the finish.

Karun Chandhok was a lonely fourth for iSport, ahead of Vitaly Petrov (Campos), Sebastien Buemi (Arden) and Javier Villa, who dropped from sixth to eighth when passed by Buemi and Carroll, but got one place back on the penultimate lap.

Carroll will now start Sunday's race from reverse grid pole.

Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Pantano Racing Engineering 56:51.163 2. Grosjean ART Grand Prix + 1.792 3. Zuber Piquet Sports + 2.252 4. Chandhok iSport International + 11.321 5. Petrov Campos Team + 12.474 6. Buemi Trust Team Arden + 13.773 7. Villa Racing Engineering + 14.894 8. Carroll FMS International + 16.675 9. Conway Trident Racing + 17.743 10. Valles BCN Competicion + 19.012 11. Tung Trident Racing + 20.346 12. Rodriguez FMS International + 21.238 13. Nunes DPR + 22.507 14. Buurman Trust Team Arden + 23.294 15. Senna iSport International + 23.765 16. Filippi ART Grand Prix + 1 Lap 17. Hanley Campos Team + 1 Lap 18. Valerio Durango + 2 Laps 19. Soucek Super Nova Racing + 3 Laps Classified: Pos Driver Team Laps D'ambrosio Dams 29 Maldonado Piquet Sports 19 Pavlovic BCN Competicion 16 Ricci DPR 8 Parente Super Nova Racing 7 Kobayashi Dams 1 Fastest lap: Zuber, 1:33.482 on lap 33

Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol

Rout of RSL may turn corner for D.C.

Grosjean wins bizarre sprint race

Pantano tops Istanbul free practice

Giorgio Pantano topped the times in the 30-minutes of free practice at Istanbul Park on Friday morning for round two of the GP2 Series.

The Italian's Racing Engineering machine outpaced the Piquet Sports duo of Andi Zuber and Pastor Maldonado. Pantano's 1:33.815s was almost two-tenths quicker than Zuber, with Maldonado over half a second adrift.

Fourth fastest was Romain Grosjean of ART Grand Prix, ahead of Vitaly Petrov (Campos), Super Nova's new man Andy Soucek and Durango's Davide Valsecchi.

Bruno Senna was eighth fastest for iSport, ahead of Javier Villa (Racing Engineering), who would later spin into the tyrewall, and Barcelona Sprint Race winner Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS). Fellow Barca winner Alvaro Parente was down in 12th, behind iSport's Karun Chandhok, and ended his session stranded at Turn 1.

Adam Carroll was 13th fastest on his return to GP2 and FMS. The man he replaced, Adrian Valles, got off to a bad start with BCN Competicion, clashing with a Durango car and spinning off.

Valles only managed to complete six laps and was the slowest of the 26 cars.

Spinners during the session included Luca Filippi (ART) and Yelmer Buurman (Arden). The were both able to continue running.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Pantano Racing Engineering 1:33.815 11 2. Zuber Piquet Sports 1:34.010 + 0.195 15 3. Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:34.373 + 0.558 14 4. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:34.547 + 0.732 13 5. Petrov Campos Team 1:34.689 + 0.874 13 6. Soucek Super Nova Racing 1:34.835 + 1.020 15 7. Valsecchi Durango 1:34.952 + 1.137 15 8. Senna iSport International 1:34.969 + 1.154 16 9. Villa Racing Engineering 1:34.986 + 1.171 13 10. Kobayashi Dams 1:34.989 + 1.174 16 11. Chandhok iSport International 1:35.055 + 1.240 14 12. Parente Super Nova Racing 1:35.070 + 1.255 15 13. Carroll FMS International 1:35.228 + 1.413 15 14. Filippi ART Grand Prix 1:35.269 + 1.454 14 15. Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:35.297 + 1.482 15 16. D'Ambrosio Dams 1:35.433 + 1.618 15 17. Conway Trident Racing 1:35.456 + 1.641 14 18. Rodriguez FMS International 1:35.476 + 1.661 12 19. Valerio Durango 1:35.502 + 1.687 15 20. Hanley Campos Team 1:35.567 + 1.752 13 21. Buurman Trust Team Arden 1:35.705 + 1.890 16 22. Pavlovic BCN Competicion 1:35.761 + 1.946 16 23. Ricci DPR 1:36.225 + 2.410 15 24. Nunes DPR 1:36.470 + 2.655 17 25. Tung Trident Racing 1:36.563 + 2.748 16 26. Valles BCN Competicion 1:37.194 + 3.379 6

Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol

Dynamo thrilled to have Onstad back

Galaxy looking for scoring balance

Pantano keeps cool to win in Turkey

Drivers hit by penalties in Istanbul

Valsecchi begins recovery from crash

GP2 Series racer Davide Valsecchi remains in an Istanbul hospital following his estimated 100mph impact with the tyre wall in qualifying yesterday.

The Italian crashed at Turn 12 after suffering a loss of brake efficiency. He has spoken about his crash with GP2 technical director Didier Perrin, who is understandably keen to trace the cause of the issue.

Perrin has told autosport.com that Valsecchi's braking was normal to begin with, but that the brakes then gradually lost efficiency, causing the crash. He has inspected the wreckage, but admits that damage incurred in the impact has made tracing the problem much more difficult.

Perrin is pleased, however, with how the GP2/08 chassis stood up to the high-speed impact, and reports that all the safety systems, including the tyre wall at the track, performed admirably.

Valsecchi's condition continues to be monitored in hospital. He suffered a minor concussion in the impact, and is also being evaluated for a spinal injury that is likely to keep him out of the cockpit for an unspecified number of weeks.

Following a report that FIA medics were unable to extricate Valsecchi as quickly as they'd like, due to an issue with his crotch strap getting wedged between the foam seat and the chassis, a technical bulletin has been issued for teams to ensure that the cut-outs the crotch strap runs through are improved.

Valsecchi escapes serious injury

Pantano grabs pole, Valsecchi shunts

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Fire sign Paraguayan defender Marmol

Valsecchi escapes serious injury

Davide Valsecchi has escaped serious injury in his 175mph GP2 qualifying crash at Istanbul Park in Turkey today.

The Italian was on his final lap of the session when he suffered an apparent brake failure for the left-hander at the end of the back straight, Turn 12.

GP2 cars have been recorded with a top speed approaching 175mph before the braking point for the corner.

Pole position man Giorgio Pantano was right behind Valsecchi when he crashed. He said: "I was braking, and he was maybe 10-metres in front of me, and the car just went straight on. Maybe he lost the brakes or something, he just went out in front of me, very fast."

Valsecchi's Durango team have confirmed that he was complaining of back pain, as TV footage showed him waving his hands around in the cockpit in the aftermath of the accident.

He has not broken any bones after initial examinations, but he will definitely not play any further active part in the race weekend.

Pantano grabs pole, Valsecchi shunts

Valsecchi begins recovery from crash

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Filippi rues pointless weekend

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Drivers hit by penalties in Istanbul

The starting grid for today's GP2 Series feature race has been altered substantially following a number of penalties that have been handed out.

Five drivers were each handed a five-position penalty after failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags in qualifying.

Diego Nunes, Alberto Valerio, Milos Pavlovic, Andy Soucek and Mike Conway were all penalized for driving too quickly after Kamui Kobayashi spun off track at Turn 1 and Alvaro Parente spun at Turn 3.

Valerio's penalty is in addition to the earlier five-grid position penalty he picked up for completing two laps at the end of free practice, a penalty which Kamui Kobayashi also collected.

Ben Hanley will start 10 places behind his qualifying position as a result of causing an avoidable crash in race two Barcelona. Fortunately for him, the other penalties have moved him up to 19th, from 22nd

Today's grid:

Pos Driver Team 1. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 2. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports 3. Adam Carroll FMS International 4. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 5. Bruno Senna iSport International 6. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 7. Karun Chandhok iSport International 8. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 9. Vitaly Petrov Campos Team 10. J.D'Ambrosio DAMS 11. Adrián Valles BCN Competicion 12. Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden 13. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden 14. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix 15. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing 16. Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing 17. Mike Conway Trident Racing 18. Álvaro Parente Super Nova Racing 19. Benjamin Hanley Campos Team 20. Roldán Rodriguez FMS International 21. Giacomo Ricci DPR 22. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 23. Diego Nunes DPR 24. Alberto Valerio Durango 25. Milos Pavlovic BCN Competicion

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Parente romps to win on debut

Bakkerud to miss Istanbul race

Christian Bakkerud will miss the second round of the GP2 season at Istanbul next weekend after suffering severe spinal bruising in an accident in race one at Barcelona last weekend.

The Dane says the injury is not a recurrence of a disc problem that kept him out of five races last season, and expects to be back in the car for the rounds at Monaco on May 24-25.

"The diagnosis from the team of specialists who have been treating me in Austria is that it's not that problem that kept me out last year," he said.

"Instead, I incurred severe spinal bruising as a result of incidents in Dubai and Spain.

"Contact with another car pitched me up in the air and the heavy landing inflicted the bruising.

"While I'm obviously very disappoint to be missing the Istanbul race, I'm relieved it's not a recurrence of last year's problem and I feel very confident that I will be fully fit for Monaco."

Bakkerud's Super Nova team have not yet confirmed his replacement for Turkey.

Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud

Pantano grabs pole, Valsecchi shunts

Giorgio Pantano will start from pole position in Saturday's GP2 Series feature race at Istanbul Park in Turkey, but Friday's qualifying session was marred by a huge crash for Davide Valsecchi.

Right at the end of the session, Valsecchi's Durango car hit the tyrewall at the left-hander at the end of the back straight so hard that it was completely enveloped in tyres, making it hard for the rescue crews to attend to him.

The Italian was unable to climb out of the car, but was moving his hands in the cockpit. He has since been taken to the medical centre to be evaluated.

It was a sad end to a brilliant qualifying session in which Pantano was the class of the field, taking pole by just over a quarter of a second.

"My car was perfect," he said. "It's really good here and the grip from the Bridgestone tyres was so consistent. Thanks to everyone."

Andi Zuber will start second for Piquet Sports, ahead of perhaps the star of qualifying, Adam Carroll. Called up by FMS to replace Adrian Valles, Carroll got faster and faster as the session progressed, and will start third.

Fourth was Romain Grosjean of ART, ahead of Bruno Senna (iSport), who was balked by traffic on numerous occasions, and Pastor Maldonado (Piquet) - who was on a very quick lap when he got the final sector wrong.

Karun Chandhok will start seventh, ahead of Javier Villa, Valsecchi (if he's fit to race) and Vitaly Petrov (Campos), who struggled for much of the session before improving late on.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:32.659 2. Andreas Zuber Piquet 1:32.913 +0.254 3. Adam Carroll FMS 1:33.141 +0.482 4. Romain Grosjean ART 1:33.248 +0.589 5. Bruno Senna iSport 1:33.449 +0.790 6. Pastor Maldonado Piquet 1:33.451 +0.792 7. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:33.703 +1.044 8. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:33.813 +1.154 9. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:33.841 +1.182 10. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:33.896 +1.237 11. Jerome D:Ambrosio DAMS 1:33.948 +1.289 12. Ben Hanley Campos 1:33.957 +1.298 13. Adrian Valles BCN 1:34.006 +1.347 14. Andy Soucek Super Nova 1:34.064 +1.405 15. Mike Conway Trident 1:34.170 +1.511 16. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:34.173 +1.514 17. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:34.186 +1.527 18. Luca Filippi ART 1:34.366 +1.707 19. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:34.506 +1.847 20. Diego Nunes DPR 1:34.617 +1.958 21. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:34.620 +1.961 22. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:34.667 +2.008 23. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:34.678 +2.019 24. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:34.698 +2.039 25. Milos Pavlovic BCN 1:35.398 +2.739 26. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:35.878 +3.219

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Maldonado grabs pole in Barcelona

Pastor Maldonado scored his second career GP2 Series pole position at Barcelona today, the first of the new era with the advent of the new chassis, for Piquet Sports.

Maldonado was already in the pits and looking forward to celebrating a dominant pole when Super Nova's Alvaro Parente suddenly produced a flyer that was quicker than the Venezuelan in sectors one and two - only for him to lose four-tenths in the final section.

Still, Parente's lap was good enough for second, just under two-tenths slower than the pole time. Practice pacesetter Andi Zuber will start third for the Piquet Sports squad, although his best effort was some six-tenths slower than his team-mate.

Bruno Senna will start fourth, but he ruined his chances of improving on that when he spun into the gravel on the exit of Turn 2 before his final run. He will start ahead of Giorgio Pantano, who set the early pace for Racing Engineering, and Adrian Valles (FMS).

Karun Chandhok produced some heroics in the second iSport car to take seventh in a car that team boss Paul Jackson admitted "wasn't 100 per cent" after his practice shunt this morning. Vitaly Petrov will start eighth for Campos, ahead of Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) and Mike Conway (Trident).

The session was red-flagged 10 minutes in when Sebastien Buemi suffered a huge crash at Turn 9. He was forced to avoid a dawdling BCN car by taking to the kerb on the high-speed exit, but he hit a bump and spun across the track into the tyrewall. His Arden car was briefly flicked up onto two wheels, before landing heavily. He will start 20th tomorrow.

In other incidents, GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean suffered a spectacular engine failure, while his ART Grand Prix team-mate Luca Filippi also joined him outside the top 10 after a surprising lack of pace.

Alberto Valerio (Durango) and Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) got involved in a post-session spat that involved the Brazilian swerving at him and repeatedly waving his middle finger in Kamui's general direction as they returned to the pits.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:27.547 15 2. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:27.705 +0.158 16 3. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 1:28.155 +0.608 15 4. Bruno Senna iSport 1:28.273 +0.726 10 5. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:28.290 +0.743 15 6. Adrian Valles FMS 1:28.323 +0.776 15 7. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:28.385 +0.838 15 8. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:28.423 +0.876 17 9. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:28.562 +1.015 15 10. Mike Conway Trident 1:28.622 +1.075 15 11. Romain Grosjean ART 1:28.684 +1.137 14 12. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:28.713 +1.166 17 13. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:28.799 +1.252 16 14. Luca Filippi ART 1:28.868 +1.321 15 15. Ben Hanley Campos 1:28.889 +1.342 14 16. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:28.937 +1.390 16 17. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:29.338 +1.791 17 18. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:29.339 +1.792 18 19. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova 1:29.394 +1.847 16 20. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:29.478 +1.931 5 21. Milos Pavlovic BCN 1:29.618 +2.071 12 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 1:29.628 +2.081 17 23. Paolo Nocera BCN 1:29.708 +2.161 15 24. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:29.762 +2.215 16 25. Diego Nunes DPR 1:30.343 +2.796 11 26. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:30.443 +2.896 13

Pantano grabs pole, Valsecchi shunts

Carroll to make return with FMS

Adam Carroll will return to GP2 with Fisichella Motor Sport this weekend at Istanbul.

The Irishman, who won two races for FMS in last year's series, will replace Adrian Valles following the Spaniard's departure from the team after the opening round at Barcelona two weeks ago.

Carroll contested 16 of the 21 races in 2007 with FMS, winning in Britain and Hungary and finishing seventh in the championship.

He has been confirmed for the next two rounds in Turkey and Monaco, and was delighted to receive the late call up.

"It all came out of the blue. The team called me to say they needed a driver and it was a simple decision to say yes, so now I'm off to Turkey.

"It's a fantastic opportunity and it's going to be brilliant to drive the new car. Turkey and Monaco are two circuits I really love so I'm looking forward to the whole experience."

Carroll has spent the winter racing for Team Ireland in A1GP, where he scored the nation's maiden victory in Mexico in March.

With Carroll only confirmed until Monaco later this month, the team plan to announce their line-up for the remainder of the season after the mid-season test at Paul Ricard in June, ahead of the French round on June 21-22.

FMS declined to comment on the departure of Valles from the team, other than to say: "FMS would like to thank Adrian for his contribution to the team's GP2 Asia campaign and wish him all the best for his future career."

Valles replaces Nocera at BCN

Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud

Andy Soucek will make a GP2 comeback at Istanbul this weekend, replacing the injured Christian Bakkerud at Super Nova.

The Spaniard drove for David Price Racing in the series last season but his plans for this season collapsed when Fisichella Motor Sport cancelled his contract a week before the first race.

Soucek started the GP2 Asia series this winter with DPR, but was replaced at the team by Diego Nunes after the first round, where he finished third and seventh.

Although he is only expected to stand in for Bakkerud at Super Nova for one race, until the Dane recovers from the back injury he sustained in an accident in the second race at Barcelona last month, Soucek still hopes to find a seat for the rest of the season.

Mixed fortunes for Super Nova duo

Parente romps to win on debut

Valles replaces Nocera at BCN

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Valles replaces Nocera at BCN

Adrian Valles will race for the BCN Competicion team during the remaining part of the GP2 season.

Valles competed with the FMS International team in the first round of the series in Barcelona, but left the Italian outfit, making way for Briton Adam Carroll.

But Valles will be racing at Istanbul this weekend, after confirming a deal with BCN for the rest of the season.

Valles will replace Italian Paolo Maria Nocera, becoming the first Spaniard to race for Barcelona-based squad.

The Spanish driver finished 18th and 11th in the first round of the championship in Spain.

Carroll to make return with FMS

Parente romps to win on debut

Soucek replaces injured Bakkerud

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Filippi rues pointless weekend

Luca Filippi was disappointed after leaving the first GP2 round of the year at Barcelona this weekend with no points.

The Honda Formula One test driver qualified a frustrating 14th for the first race and made his way up to 11th place, where he started the second race. He made further progress but just as a points finish looked likely he retired with an engine failure.

"I'm really disappointed," he said. "The car felt really good and I was sure I could get some points today.

"I made a nice start and was able to overtake very easily. I don't want to say where I could have finished, but (Davide) Valsecchi was behind me and he ended up fifth.

"I was just about to go past Maldonado when a cylinder went and it was clear there was nothing more for me today. I guess my usual Barcelona luck has struck again."

The Italian is eager to make up the lost ground as quickly as possible next time out in Turkey, in what could be a make or break season in his career.

"Now we go to Istanbul: I took pole there last year and ART won the race, so I'm sure we will be able to fight back and get a great result there."

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

No animosity between Piquet drivers

Parente romps to win on debut

ITV4 to broadcast GP2 this season

The GP2 Series will be broadcast live on terrestrial British television for the first time this season, starting with the opening round at Barcelona next weekend.

ITV4 have agreed to screen the Formula One support races throughout year, putting an end to satellite channel British Eurosport's coverage of the championship.

GP2 boss Bruno Michel said: "It's great news for our fans that races will be shown live in such an important market as Britain."

The programme will be presented by Charlie Webster.

Mixed fortunes for Super Nova duo

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Parente romps to win on debut

Ricci to replace Herck at DPR

Grosjean accepts stewards' penalty

GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean has accepted the stewards' decision to give him a drive-through penalty which cost him his maiden win in the main series at Barcelona on Sunday.

Grosjean, who was seven seconds ahead of Kamui Kobayashi before a safety car period negated his lead, overshot the chicane before the restart and compromised his speed onto the straight. This allowed Kobayashi to tow alongside him into Turn 1, but Grosjean swerved across the track and pushed him over the kerbs.

"It was strange, the safety car came out and then went straight back in," said Grosjean. "My tyres went cold, so I made a mistake. I didn't know where Kamui was because you see nothing in the mirrors, so I defended and then moved back onto the clean line. If I'd stayed where I was, I would have locked up and gone off on the dirt there.

"It seems I moved too much back to the left, and I have to accept the decision of the FIA. They are the experts and it's their job to do this. It could have been a great result, but it's racing."

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

Parente romps to win on debut

New Valencia track secures GP2 race

The GP2 Series will race on the Valencia street circuit this year after agreeing a deal to support the Formula One race at the new track.

GP2 had been scheduled to hold a round at the city's purpose-built Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but series bosses decided to shelve that date in favour of joining F1 at the new venue.

The change has been supported by the GP2 teams and drivers, including iSport's Karun Chandhok, who carried out a recce of the streets around the port where the circuit is to be based last year.

"I'm delighted," he told autosport.com. "Partly because I can't stand the other circuit in Valencia but also because the street race is going to be a great event.

"I had a walk round the streets that it will run on last year and it looks like a mega setting. Looking at the computer generated graphics it looks like it's going to be pretty quick too. Nothing like Monaco where we all run super high downforce round twisty streets.

"I think it will be very difficult to anyone who doesn't like doing street races and driving between barriers, it's going to be great."

Campos Racing's Ben Hanley is also looking forward to the event and told autosport.com: "Every street circuit gets that little bit extra adrenalin pumping with the walls so close. Everyone really enjoys Monaco so another street race is extremely welcome.

"We'll all be starting from the same point when we get there and Campos have shown they can hit the ground running from the first test with the new car when we were quickest, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. It's going to be one of the highlights of the calendar."

GP2 rookie Alvaro Parente added: "I've raced on street circuits a few times and gone really well at Monaco in the past so it's good. It will be a big challenge, especially if the circuit is very fast, which will make things interesting."

The Valencia street race will take place over the weekend of August 22-24.

First XI: MLS top tandems

Parente romps to win on debut

Alvaro Parente made a stunning start to his GP2 career in the season opener at Barcelona on Saturday, winning the feature race for Super Nova on his category debut.

The Renault World Series champion led from start to finish, taking control after poleman Pastor Maldonado stalled at the start. Parente made his mandatory pitstop when the safety car appeared on lap two, and rejoined at the head of the field.

Bruno Senna took second from Andi Zuber during the frantic early pitstops, with both of them almost colliding with cars that were still coming in as they departed. There was initial confusion when the safety car appeared, as it failed to pick up the leaders. They then pitted, meaning it took even longer for them to catch up with it again.

At the restart on lap seven, Senna timed his run to perfection to get a tow from Parente going into Turn 1. The Portuguese defended his lead, however, and that's as close as Senna got to pasing him.

That didn't mean the race at the front was boring: Senna hounded Parente for the remaining 31 laps. Parenta just never gave him the opportunity to pass and he clung on by half a second despite Senna's best efforts.

Zuber finished third, less than a second behind Senna, while Giorgio Pantano took fourth. Romain Grosjean stormed through the field to finish fifth from 11th on the grid. Vitaly Petrov finished sixth, losing his place cheaply to Grosjean after he ran through the gravel.

Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the point scorers, both taking advantage as Adrian Valles, who ran as high as fifth early on, slipped back through the order when he rooted his tyres. Valles pitted for more rubber and set the fastest lap on the final tour - but it won't count for a point as he had to finish in the top 10 for it to count.

Karun Chandhok finished just out of the points in ninth, which was harsh as he'd been running fourth when he was forced to stack behind teammate Senna in the pits.

Maldonado was forced to start from the pitlane after his stall, and the safety car helped him gain ground. He stormed his way through the pack, passing car after car, until he used too much of his tyres, and having fought up to 10th, he then slipped back down the order to finish 12th.

The safety car was required for a multiple pile-up at Turn 1, which started when Christian Bakkerud hit Ben Halney into a spin, and heavy contact behind sent Roldan Rodriguez flying over Ho-Pin Tung. Mike Conway was also an early retirement on the start/finish straight, and his car had to be retrieved too.

Pos Driver Team Gap 1. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:01:09.902 2. Bruno Senna iSport +0.579 3. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports +1.511 4. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering +3.768 5. Romain Grosjean ART +8.155 6. Vitaly Petrov Campos +19.729 7. Sebastien Buemi Arden +27.326 8. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS +27.945 9. Karun Chandhok iSport +30.394 10. Davide Valsecchi Durango +34.573 11. Luca Filippi ART +34.816 12. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports +38.600 13. Alberto Valerio Durango +42.489 14. Javier Villa Racing Engineering +43.200 15. Diego Nunes DPR +1:09.867 16. Giacomo Ricci DPR +1:10.152 17. Paolo Nocera BCN +1:08.749 18. Adrian Valles FMS +1:08.778 Not classified Driver Team Laps Christian Bakkerud Super Nova 20 laps Yelmer Buurman Arden 18 laps Ben Hanley Campos 15 laps Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 15 laps Roldan Rodriguez FMS 4 laps Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1 lap Mike Conway Trident 0 laps Milos Pavlovic BCN 0 laps Fastest lap, Valles 1:30.357 on lap 38

Mixed fortunes for Super Nova duo

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

New Valencia track secures GP2 race

Ricci to replace Herck at DPR

No animosity between Piquet drivers

Kobayashi inherits sprint race win

GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean threw away his first main series victory in Barcelona's sprint race on Sunday, when he was given a drive-through penalty for over-aggressive defending from Kamui Kobayashi, who inherited the win.

Grosjean started fourth but climbed up to second by the first corner as Kobayashi squeezed Sebastien Buemi onto the grass on the run to Turn 1, dropping Buemi to third, and third-placed starter Vitaly Petrov was slow off the line.

Grosjean took two laps to line up Kobayashi and passed him with ease going into Turn 1 at the start of lap three. He pulled away by over 7secs when his lead was negated by a safety car as Giacomo Ricci spun and stalled at the chicane.

Just before the restart, Grosjean locked up and understeered off at the chicane, leaving him prone to attack from Kobayashi on the start/finish straight. Grosjean chose the inside line to defend, and Kobayashi pulled to the outside. Grosjean then chose to move left as well, squeezing the Japanese onto the kerb.

The stewards took a dim view of this second defensive movement, and took little time in slapping him with a drive-through penalty. He peeled off into the pits on the penultimate lap, allowing Kobayashi to stroke home to his third sprint race win (counting GP2 Asia).

Sebastien Buemi drove well to hold Giorgio Pantano at bay throughout the race to take second. Bruno Senna finished fourth to take the joint lead of the championship with yesterday's winner Alvaro Parente, who lost time on the opening lap when Luca Filippi hit Karun Chandhok into a spin in front of him at Turn 3.

Davide Valsecchi finished fifth, with Javier Villa just holding off Parente by a matter of hundredths for the final point.

Pos Driver Team Gap 1. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 40:27.229 2. Sebastien Buemi Arden +1.176 3. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering +1.962 4. Bruno Senna iSport +2.808 5. Davide Valsecchi Durango +3.501 6. Javier Villa Racing Engineering +8.480 7. Alvaro Parente Super Nova +8.573 8. Mike Conway Trident +9.593 9. Ben Hanley Campos +11.469 10. Yelmer Buurman Arden +16.974 11. Adrian Valles FMS +22.871 12. Milos Pavlovic BCN +23.360 13. Romain Grosjean ART +23.558 14. Ho-Pin Tung Trident +25.486 15. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS +47.929 16. Diego Nunes DPR +1 lap Not classified Driver Team Laps Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 22 laps Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 22 laps Karun Chandhok iSport 18 laps Giacomo Ricci DPR 18 laps Vitaly Petrov Campos 15 laps Alberto Valerio Durango 14 laps Roldan Rodriguez FMS 13 laps Paolo Nocera BCN 12 laps Luca Filippi ART 3 laps Fastest lap, Grosjean 1:29.204 on lap 5

Parente romps to win on debut

Mixed fortunes for Super Nova duo

While Alvaro Parente basked in the glory of winning on his GP2 debut at Barcelona on Saturday, his Super Nova teammate Christian Bakkerud was in the medical centre receiving pain-killing injections after suffering another back injury and will miss today's second race.

Parente, who led the season-opener from start to finish, was delighted with his race win after holding off Bruno Senna of iSport for over 30 laps.

"It feels great," said Parente. "I felt confident since free practice. I got into first at the start, when (Pastor) Maldonado stalled, and then it was a case of not making a mistake. There was a lot of pressure, but I managed to keep the gap the same."

Team boss David Sears added: "We've seen Alvaro was a complete natural since karts and we've tracked his progress ever since. He's never done that kind of race distance before, so he found it very physical and realises he's got to train harder now.

"We expected a top six before the race weekend, a podium after qualifying, so we're delighted that he won."

Teammate Bakkerud will not start the sprint race after suffering a recurrence of the back injury that plagued his season with DPR last year.

He clashed with Ben Hanley at the start of lap two, and completed another 18 laps before pulling into the pits in agony.

"When I came together with Hanley something happened with my back as I landed from being airborne for a second," he said. "After that it kept getting worse until I just couldn't move from pain."

No animosity between Piquet drivers

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No animosity between Piquet drivers

Piquet Sports drivers Andi Zuber and Pastor Maldonado have sat down together and discussed their multiple collisions in Sunday's GP2 Sprint Race at Barcelona which meant both retired with suspension damage.

Zuber was the first to make contact, hitting Maldonado on two occasions at Turn 5, getting ahead in the second instance in their battle for fifth. Following the safety car period, however, Maldonado lunged down the inside of Zuber into Turn 1, and the resulting contact inflicted damage to both cars that put them out.

Maldonado, who was suffering from a gearbox problem at the time, said: "He touched me when he passed me, and then his restart was very bad so I had a big tow. I arrived much quicker than him into Turn 1, but when we got to the middle of the corner we touched.

"It's difficult to say whose fault it was. The big problem is these mirrors - you can't see anything behind you."

Zuber said: "I let Pastor past me earlier, but then he was much slower than me. I tried to pass two or three times and when I made the move stick, which was fair, he turned in me and we touched a bit.

"At the restart, it was completely silly. He was 100 metres behind me and still tried to pass. He broke my rear suspension. He needs to keep cool in the future because we lost three points for the team today."

Team boss Filipe Vargas said he disappointed with the outcome, but added: "There is no animosity between them. The mirrors in these cars are very difficult. We will recover from this and regroup for the next race."

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Ricci to replace Herck at DPR

The David Price Racing team have confirmed Giacomo Ricci as replacement for the injured Michael Herck at the first round of the GP2 Series in Barcelona.

Belgian Herck will miss the opening round of the championship after breaking his hand in the GP2 Asia event in Bahrain, where he jarred his hand on the steering wheel after striking a kerb.

The 19-year-old is receiving specialist treatment in order to return to full fitness as quickly as possible.

Ricci will be his replacement until he is fully fit.

The Italian, who will be making his GP2 debut this weekend, raced in the Champ Car Atlantic series in 2007, finishing in sixth place in the standings.

"We're obviously disappointed that we're not able to start the season with our two regular drivers, but we're pleased to welcome Giacomo to the team for the first round and we hope that he'll quickly settle in to the team," said team boss David Price.

"Without any GP2 experience Giacomo has a tough task ahead of him especially with so little track time that we have at these F1 meetings, but we'll give him as much help as possible to bring him up to speed.

"It will be the first time that any team has raced with the new GP2 car, so from that perspective Giacomo will be at no disadvantage."

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