GP2 drivers to race on Valencia streets

Nine current GP2 racers will enter this weekend's GT races on the Valencia street circuit to learn the track ahead of the Formula One feeder series rounds at the new venue next month.

Championship leader Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering), Trident Racing pairing Mike Conway and Ho-Pin Tung, Pastor Maldonado (Piquet Sports) and Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS) will all drive Dodge Vipers.

GP2 race winner Luca Filippi (Arden) will drive an Aston Martin DBRS9, while Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) and Vitaly Petrov (Campos Racing) will share a Ferrari 430 GTS and Roldan Rodriguez (FMS) will drive a GT2 Ferrari 430GT.

"It should be a lot of fun, although the serious business is to learn the track," Conway told this week's Autosport. "I bet the regulars (GT drivers) are worried about us coming, it'll probably be a bit mad in the early laps. But it's important to keep the car in one piece so we can maximise our track time."

Maldonado said: "Although it's a street track, it's going to be a lot faster than somewhere like Monaco. It looks like it will be a real challenge."

His co-driver for next weekend, d'Ambrosio, added: "It will be strange that Pastor will be my teammate rather than my rival. If we all get together I think it'll be like a kart race, only with bumpers."

The GP2 drivers have been banned from competing in the Spanish Formula 3 rounds on the street circuit on the same weekend, but Super Nova's Andi Zuber will drive in the free practice sessions, believing that track time to be more valuable than GT races.

"This means I get an hour and three quarters of free practice time in a single-seater, that's like a week of going around in a GT car," he said.

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Chandhok wins Hockenheim sprint

Karun Chandhok overcame Lucas di Grassi and a strong challenge from Andi Zuber to win the GP2 sprint race at Hockenheim.

Although Chandhok started from pole, di Grassi made a rocket start from fourth on the grid and drove around the outside of the front row to take a commanding early lead.

But after two laps in front, di Grassi appeared to lose pace on the straights - possibly due to a recurrence of the gearbox problem that cost him fifth gear in yesterday's race. Chandhok drafted past him at the Parabolika, but di Grassi responded at the Spitzkehre and retook the lead.

Chandhok wasn't to be denied, however, and got him back again with a brave move at the kink before the Mercedes Arena. Zuber wasted little time in doing likewise, passing di Grassi at the same place a lap later.

Zuber closed the gap to Chandhok, but despite 19 laps of pressure, the Indian didn't look like cracking under pressure and clinched his first win of the year.

In fact, Bruno Senna came closer to Zuber than he was to Chandhok at the finish, Senna having charged past Alvaro Parente at the Spitzkehre on lap four.

It was also good news for Bruno in the championship: series leader Giorgio Pantano made a brilliant start, gaining two places at the start and another two at the hairpin on the opening lap. But his race was ended by broken steering after a collision with Andy Soucek at Spitzkehre on lap three.

"It was only the lightest of touches, I don't know why it broke," shrugged the Italian.

Di Grassi's race was ruined by an outrageous punt from behind by Pastor Maldonado at Spitzkehre, sending him spinning off the track at high speed.

That promoted Senna to third, and he spent the rest of the race catching Zuber. Romain Grosjean finished fourth after an awful first lap, which saw him drop as low as 10th. Javier Villa finished fifth, ahead of Parente.

Senna has closed the gap to Pantano in the championship to 15 points with four race weekends remaining.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Karun Chandhok iSport International 38:27.955 2. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports + 0.702 3. Bruno Senna iSport International + 1.274 4. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix + 4.947 5. Javier Villa Racing Engineering + 10.893 6. Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing + 16.383 7. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing + 17.423 8. Sebastien Buemi Trust Team Arden + 18.364 9. Mike Conway Trident Racing + 21.808 10. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS + 22.554 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS + 27.503 12. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Campos Team + 28.832 13. Marko Asmer FMS International + 34.160 14. Davide Valsecchi Durango + 34.854 15. Alberto Valerio Durango + 35.468 16. Roldan Rodriguez FMS International + 36.769 17. Carlos Iaconelli BCN Competicion + 41.765 18. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports + 46.526 19. Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing + 1 lap 20. Diego Nunes DPR + 1 lap Retirements:Driver Team Laps Sakon Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 20 Adrian Valles BCN Competicion 9 Lucas Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team 7 Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 2 Michael Herck DPR 0 Luca Filippi Trust Team Arden 0

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Grosjean wins hectic rain-affected race

Romain Grosjean claimed his maiden GP2 Series feature race win by staying out on slick tyres and passing series leader Giorgio Pantano at Hockenheim on Saturday.

Grosjean, who won the sprint race in Turkey, won by 10 seconds but only hit the front with four laps remaining when a brief but heavy rain shower made the circuit incredibly treacherous. Pantano, who had a championship to think about, elected not to fight him too hard and risk crashing out.

Grosjean made his winning move, having tracked Pantano's every move for the first 35 and a half laps of dry action, at the Mercedes Arena. As the rain fell, some chose to switch to wet tyres, which was a very marginal decision.

This was proved by Javier Villa, who crashed out of third place just a couple of hundred yards from the finish having also elected to stay on dry tyres. He was joined seconds later by Andi Zuber, also on slicks, and joined a graveyard of cars that included long-time third placed runner Sebastien Buemi.

Alvaro Parente finished third, thanks to a sensational last lap, which included him losing the position to Bruno Senna when he ran wide at Spitzkehre, but grabbing it back later around the lap.

Senna, who had survived a massive spin at Mobil as the rain fell, finished fourth and the first of the wet-tyred runners, ahead of Lucas di Grassi (on wets) and Pastor Maldonado, who were neck and neck as they crossed the line.

Andy Soucek and Karun Chandhok (on wets) rounded out the point scorers.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Romain Grosjean ART 58:52.430 2. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering +10.996 3. Alvaro Parente Super Nova +54.244 4. Bruno Senna iSport +56.654 5. Lucas di Grassi Campos +60.201 6. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports +60.406 7. Andy Soucek Super Nova +61.764 8. Karun Chandhok iSport +79.413 9. Alberto Valerio Durango +1:07.474 10. Javier Villa Racing Engineering +1 lap 11. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports +1 lap 12. Sakon Yamamoto ART +1 lap 13. Ho-Pin Tung Trident +1 lap 14. Marko Asmer FMS +1 lap 15. Adrian Valles BCN +1 lap 16. Carlos Iaconelli BCN +1 lap 17. Michael Herck DPR +1 lap 18. Roldan Rodriguez FMS +2 laps Retirements Sebastien Buemi Arden 35 laps Mike Conway Trident 35 laps Vitaly Petrov Campos 35 laps Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 35 laps Luca Filippi Arden 33 laps Diego Nunes DPR 33 laps Davide Valsecchi Durango 23 laps Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 0 laps Fastest lap, Pantano 1:24.454 on lap 28

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Flag penalty costs Grosjean victory

Romain Grosjean was stripped of his GP2 feature race victory at Hockenheim on Saturday evening after being judged guilty of overtaking a backmarker under yellow flags.

GP2 race director Charlie Whiting ruled that Grosjean passed Marko Asmer in the stadium section of the track when yellow flags were being waved to recover several cars that went off during a rain shower towards the end of the race.

Grosjean argued that Asmer had been shown five blue flags before getting out of his way, but the incident was judged serious enough to warrant a 25-second penalty, dropping him to second place.

Series leader Giorgio Pantano inherits the victory, his fourth of the season, and extends his championship lead to 19 points over Bruno Senna.

Mike Conway, Jerome d'Ambrosio and Vitaly Petrov have also been penalised for failing to slow sufficiently for yellows and will all be demoted ten places down the grid for tomorrow's sprint race.

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Pantano storms to Hockenheim pole

Giorgio Pantano produced a lap that his GP2 rivals had absolutely no answer to in qualifying at Hockenheim on Friday afternoon, taking pole by over a quarter of a second.

Pantano (Racing Engineering) regards Hockenheim as one of his favourite tracks, and was at the head of the times from the early going until Romain Grosjean (ART) lapped in 1:21.977 - despite tank-slapping across the finish line after running wide at the final corner.

For a while at least, Grosjean headed the times by 1.3 seconds, but Pantano had something in reserve. Halfway through the session the Italian unleashed a 1:21.650, faster than the rest by some three tenths of a second.

Grosjean tried to reassert himself, but ran wide at Turn 1 at his first attempt and only lowered his time to 1:21.934 on his final effort, which wasn't enough.

Andreas Zuber will start third for Piquet Sports, just missing out on the 1:21s club by four thousandths of a second. He was over a tenth clear of Sebastien Buemi (Arden), who was a thousandth quicker than fifth-placed man Lucas di Grassi (Campos).

Title challenger Bruno Senna had a disappointing session for iSport, and his recent streak of poles ended with sixth place, some six tenths off the pace.

Alvaro Parente will start seventh for Super Nova, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) who was unable to repeat his front-running form of free practice.

Javier Villa, who bounced back from an engine problem in practice for Racing Engineering, and Vitaly Petrov (Campos) rounded out the top 10.

Just outside it was Karun Chandhok (iSport) and perhaps the surprise of the session: Sakon Yamamoto (ART) outqualified Luca Filippi (Arden) in the drive Filippi had walked away from.

Pastor Maldonado was 15th for Piquet Sports, after another terribly scrappy session, and Mike Conway was 20th after Trident did a good job of rebuilding his car after he crashed in free practice.

The weather forecast for tomorrow's feature race is rain.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Pantano Racing Engineering 1:21.650 14 2. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:21.934 + 0.284 13 3. Zuber Piquet Sports 1:22.004 + 0.354 14 4. Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:22.171 + 0.521 15 5. Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team 1:22.172 + 0.522 14 6. Senna iSport International 1:22.216 + 0.566 16 7. Parente Super Nova Racing 1:22.391 + 0.741 15 8. Kobayashi Dams 1:22.459 + 0.809 17 9. Villa Racing Engineering 1:22.560 + 0.910 16 10. Petrov Barwa Campos Team 1:22.587 + 0.937 12 11. Chandhok iSport International 1:22.759 + 1.109 17 12. Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:22.788 + 1.138 17 13. Filippi Trust Team Arden 1:22.802 + 1.152 15 14. D'ambrosio Dams 1:22.907 + 1.257 18 15. Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:22.969 + 1.319 17 16. Soucek Super Nova Racing 1:22.992 + 1.342 17 17. Tung Trident Racing 1:23.264 + 1.614 16 18. Valsecchi Durango 1:23.320 + 1.670 15 19. Valerio Durango 1:23.378 + 1.728 18 20. Conway Trident Racing 1:23.433 + 1.783 19 21. Nunes DPR 1:23.434 + 1.784 14 22. Rodriguez FMS International 1:23.497 + 1.847 15 23. Iaconelli BCN Competicion 1:23.913 + 2.263 16 24. Asmer FMS International 1:24.011 + 2.361 16 25. Valles BCN Competicion 1:24.273 + 2.623 12 26. Herck DPR 1:24.641 + 2.991 16

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Grosjean sets practice pace

Romain Grosjean topped the times in free practice for the GP2 Series round at Hockenheim in Germany.

The Renault F1 protege just pipped his Toyota equivalent, Kamui Kobayashi, by 0.067 seconds. Grosjean (ART Grand Prix) lapped the track in 1:22.782, this despite a huge slide at the Mobil Kurve that he was lucky to hang on to.

Kobayashi (DAMS) set the early pace, yet was one of the few drivers to improve on his second run, as a light drizzle was falling on an otherwise dry track.

Series leader Giorgio Pantano (Racing Engineering) was third quickest, and produced a rare error when he hit the apex kerb too hard at the Mercedes Arena and spun late on.

Lucas di Grassi (Campos) improved to fourth fastest with a lap late in the session, which pipped the closely matched Andi Zuber (Piquet Sports) and Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS).

Sebastien Buemi (Arden) and Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) were next up, with Villa out of his car before the end of the session with an apparent engine problem. Rounding out the top 10 were iSport twins Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok.

The session was punctuated by spins and crashes, starting straight away with Andy Soucek (Super Nova) spinning at the Mobil Kurve. Seconds later, Mike Conway (Trident) did likewise, but managed to make it all the way into the concrete wall, via smashing the marker board, crushing his front-right suspension.

Arden new-boy Luca Filippi spun at the North Kurve on his first flying lap, but somehow managed to restart after stalling and rejoin the session. He finished it outside the top 10, however.

ART newcomer Sakon Yamamoto spun at Turn 2, while Piquet Sports' Pastor Maldonado looked like an accident waiting to happen all session. After a big moment at Turn 1, a gravelly off at Mobil, he finally put his car in the barriers on the exit of the North Kurve after a massive spin.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:22.782 15 2. Kobayashi Dams 1:22.849 + 0.067 19 3. Pantano Racing Engineering 1:23.136 + 0.354 15 4. Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team 1:23.290 + 0.508 15 5. Zuber Piquet Sports 1:23.354 + 0.572 12 6. D'ambrosio Dams 1:23.374 + 0.592 17 7. Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:23.514 + 0.732 18 8. Villa Racing Engineering 1:23.676 + 0.894 8 9. Senna iSport International 1:23.705 + 0.923 17 10. Chandhok iSport International 1:23.831 + 1.049 16 11. Soucek Super Nova Racing 1:23.851 + 1.069 13 12. Parente Super Nova Racing 1:23.909 + 1.127 16 13. Tung Trident Racing 1:23.967 + 1.185 18 14. Petrov Barwa Campos Team 1:24.005 + 1.223 16 15. Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:24.012 + 1.230 12 16. Valles BCN Competicion 1:24.090 + 1.308 17 17. Filippi Trust Team Arden 1:24.339 + 1.557 14 18. Rodriguez FMS International 1:24.397 + 1.615 18 19. Asmer FMS International 1:24.582 + 1.800 8 20. Valerio Durango 1:24.637 + 1.855 17 21. Iaconelli BCN Competicion 1:24.810 + 2.028 16 22. Nunes DPR 1:24.820 + 2.038 18 23. Valsecchi Durango 1:24.915 + 2.133 17 24. Herck DPR 1:25.936 + 3.154 16 25. Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:27.243 + 4.461 11 26. Conway Trident Racing No time 2

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Pantano raves about 'perfect lap'

GP2 Series leader Giorgio Pantano expressed his delight at extending his advantage by scoring two points for pole position at Hockenheim on Friday.

The Italian outpaced his opposition by almost three tenths of a second, and said that changes made by his Racing Engineering team had been key to his dominance.

"We did a good job after free practice," said Pantano. "I had a good feeling in the car and drove a perfect lap. We were even able to save some of the tyres for the race, so that is good too."

His closest rival, Romain Grosjean of ART, admitted: "Giorgio was better than us today. I made a little mistake at the final corner on my first run, and got onto the grass, and the track wasn't so fast for my second run. I was fractions faster, but I needed to find a lot more time to challenge Giorgio."

Third fastest qualifier Andi Zuber has sounded a note of caution after recent performances by Piquet Sports have flattered to deceive after qualifying - especially on the medium compound Bridgestone tyres.

"The car is very difficult to drive," said Zuber. "And after two or three laps, the tyres are finished. We saw it at Silverstone, and we're working hard to solve it. I made a slight mistake in the final corner on my quickest lap, but Giorgio did a very good time - I couldn't do that today."

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Filippi replaces Buurman at Arden

Luca Filippi has announced that he will race for Team Arden in the remaining part of the 2008 GP2 season.

The Honda Racing test driver lost his seat at the ART team last week, after the squad announced Sakon Yamamoto in his place.

But Filippi will continue to race in GP2 this weekend in Germany, having joined Arden, for whom he tested during the winter.

Filippi will join Sebastien Buemi at the team, replacing Dutch Yelmer Buurman.

"I have been wanting to make this move for a while and I'm really, really happy to be joining Arden now: anyone who has looked at their history knows just how much success they have had over the years, and I am looking forward to helping them find more success in the future," said Filippi.

"You only have to look at how well my new teammate Sebastien Buemi has gone so far this year compared to his time in GP2 last year to see what is possible with Arden: he has made exactly the same move as I am making now, and it has worked out really well for him so far.

"For me, I don't want to spend any time thinking about what might have been: I am spending all of my time concentrating on what we can build together with Arden.

"I already know most of the team after testing with them during the winter tests, and I think we had a good feeling already between us back then: I am sure that we will build on that relationship very quickly in Hockenheim and can be on the pace straight away."

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DPR sign former Super Aguri engineer

Former Super Aguri F1 chief race engineer Gerry Hughes has joined GP2 team David Price Racing as head of engineering.

Hughes worked at Jaguar, Jordan and Red Bull prior to joining Super Aguri in 2006, and his arrival is the first step in the team's technical investment plan which they hope will move them up the GP2 grid.

DPR plan a Formula One-level aerodynamics research consultancy and an advanced research and development programme with Hughes at the helm.

He believes the role will enable him to significantly improve DPR's results.

"We have very experienced race engineers and I hope I will add another element to the team, bringing fresh ideas and recent
Formula One thinking.

"I think this can add to the professionalism in terms of procedures and operational aspects of running the car which will reap rewards in terms of on-track performance."

Team boss David Price added: "GP2 continues to become more and more competitive. Gerry's arrival strengthens our team, which was already highly experienced, so it brings us up to a very high standard. Combining this level of personnel with a structured R&D programme aims to improve our capabilities.

"Our commitment to making performance gains is a long-term strategy and our aim is that over the remainder of this European season, through the Asia Series this winter, and into next season. We'll keep developing our package of drivers, car and team, and that ultimately will translate into improved results."

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Senna: The title fight starts here

Bruno Senna believes his sprint race victory today at Silverstone puts him right back in the title fight with GP2 Series leader Giorgio Pantano.

Although Pantano finished third today, meaning iSport's Senna only closed the gap by two points to 11, Bruno thinks his win can spur him on to greater achievements in the second half of the season and that he can close the gap and scoop the title.

"It's a big gap to Giorgio, but there is still half of the season to go," he told autosport.com. "He hasn’t had much bad luck yet, so maybe there is some to come his way. My car was easy to drive today, despite the conditions.

"I could push when I needed to push, and there was only really a problem when it rained again and there was some aquaplaning on the straights. I knew I had to take it easy there.

"Yesterday, I wasn't consistent enough and we paid the price. The car was on a knife-edge, but today it all went to plan. I got into the lead early on, and the only problem was my radio wasn't working, but I could see my pitboard when I wanted to. When I saw I had a nine-second lead, I knew I didn't have to look at it again."

Senna also explained the strange situation on the last lap of the race, when he slowed on the approach to Becketts behind Yelmer Buurman.

"I was coming up to lap Buurman and there was yellow flags everywhere," he explained. "There was a blue flag for him, so he backed off, but I didn't want to pass him and pick up a silly penalty for passing under yellows.

"So I just sat there and waited until I saw a green flag. I knew I had a big gap to Lucas [di Grassi]."

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Senna dominates Silverstone sprint

Bruno Senna atoned for his scrappy feature race performance yesterday with a polished victory in the GP2 Series sprint race at a wet Silverstone on Sunday morning.

Senna, who started third, took advantage of front row man Andi Zuber's terrible start and ran second to poleman Luca Filippi until Abbey corner on the opening lap, where he took the lead.

Filippi went off at Brooklands a couple of corners later, gifting second to Lucas di Grassi.

Yesterday's feature race winner Giorgio Pantano was already up to third, but he lost a lot of time with a grassy off at Vale, dropping him into the clutches of a charging Mike Conway.

Despite constantly changing conditions, as the track dried out slightly before more rain soaked it once more, Senna was in total control until a bizarre situation on the final lap where he appeared to slow at Becketts, behind a backmarker, and was almost run into by a car he'd just lapped.

Despite losing five seconds in the confusing incident, he still won by 8.5secs over di Grassi, who had Pantano right behind him in the closing stages.

Conway dropped back to a distant fourth as his engine went off-song in the closing stages, but any danger that Vitaly Petrov would catch him ended when the Russian spun at Becketts on the final lap, and had to settle for fifth.

The final point swapped hands with five corners to go, when Kamui Kobayashi tripped over a spinning Adrian Valles at Abbey just as he was lapping him, and Pastor Maldonado hit the spinning Spaniard too in a spectacular three-car pile-up.

Kobayashi dragged his car into the pits on three wheels, but not before Davide Valsecchi, in his first race weekend since a spinal injury at Istanbul, nipped past him.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Senna iSport International 44:29.867 2. Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team + 8.598 3. Pantano Racing Engineering + 9.420 4. Conway Trident Racing + 17.784 5. Petrov Barwa Campos Team + 23.390 6. Valsecchi Durango + 62.921 7. Kobayashi Dams + 65.887 8. Grosjean ART Grand Prix + 76.083 9. Valerio Durango + 79.835 10. Buurman Trust Team Arden + 1 lap 11. Zuber Piquet Sports + 1 lap 12. D'ambrosio Dams + 1 lap 13. Asmer FMS International + 1 lap 14. Valles BCN Competicion + 2 laps 15. Maldonado Piquet Sports + 2 laps Retirements: Driver Team Laps Villa Racing Engineering 20 Rodriguez FMS International 20 Iaconelli BCN Competicion 17 Soucek Super Nova Racing 14 Filippi ART Grand Prix 8 Tung Trident Racing 3 Chandhok iSport International 0 Parente Super Nova Racing 0 Nunes DPR 0 Buemi Trust Team Arden 0 Herck DPR 0 Fastest lap: Maldonado, 1:47.801 on lap 21

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Exclusive: China will open Asia series

The second GP2 Asia Series will start at Shanghai in China in October, autosport.com can reveal, adding a third Formula One support event to the schedule.

Teams received the calendar during a meeting at Silverstone this morning, and it begins in Shanghai on October 18/19.

Japan was the other event that could have taken the slot, but it is understood that a lack of preseason testing time at the Fuji track was a deciding factor.

Other F1 support dates are as last year: Sepang in Malaysia and Sakhir in Bahrain. This delivers on series chief Bruno Michel's promise of three F1 supports in the series.

Bahrain will also host a standalone race, taking over the slot of Sentul in Indonesia, which was roundly condemned in the paddock earlier this year for its lack of facilities. It is likely to happen towards the end of January, although the exact date has yet to be decided.

Dubai Autodrome in the UAE will again host two events, but this time in the middle of the season, rather than bookending it.

The schedule has been well received by the team bosses. One told autosport.com: "The first race is quite soon after we finish the main series, so that will keep us busy. It's nice that there's then a bit of a gap, so we can take a breather. It's a good calendar."

The full schedule:

October 18/19 Shanghai, China * December 5/6 Dubai, UAE January 23/24 Sakhir, Bahrain (date TBC) February 27/28 Dubai, UAE April 4/5 Sepang, Malaysia * April 18/19 Sakhir, Bahrain * * F1 support race

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Pantano wins thriller at Silverstone

Giorgio Pantano extended his lead in the GP2 Series with a brilliant victory in Saturday's feature race at Silverstone, topping an outstanding, incident-packed event.

Pantano started fifth, but made immediate headway when the slow-starting Romain Grosjean forced Andi Zuber to lift at the first corner, allowing Pantano to grab fourth. Bruno Senna led from pole, with Lucas di Grassi passing fellow Renault protege Grosjean off the line.

Senna set fastest lap on the third tour, to forge a convincing lead, only to run wide at Stowe and lose four places as he fought for control on the grass.

He gained one back almost immediately, as Zuber had a huge spin at Vale a lap later, almost wiping Pantano out, but dropping himself to 12th.

Di Grassi now led, and pulled away as Grosjean battled with Pantano, with Senna still in touch too. Further back, Karun Chandhok, who was making superb progress from 10th on the grid, pulled off a superb move around the outside of Andy Soucek at Stowe corner. A couple of laps later, he dived past Luca Filippi to take fifth at Brooklands.

The mandatory pitstops started on lap 15 for the leaders, with Grosjean, Pantano and di Grassi stopping in successive laps. This didn't change the top three, but thanks to a charge on new tyres after an early stop, Kamui Kobayashi leapt up to fourth, only to lose it when his car ground to a halt at half distance.

Zuber too had also stopped early, and leapt ahead of the iSport cars of Chandhok and Senna, which had swapped places in the pitstops when Bruno had to brake to miss di Grassi, who had been released directly into his path.

Pantano attacked second-placed Grosjean for lap after lap, finally finding a way past at Abbey after a bout of wheel-banging under braking. He was 3.7secs behind leader di Grassi, but carved into his advantage.

With six laps remaining, Pantano caught him and pulled off a spectacular move that started at Stowe and ended at Club, as di Grassi did not give his lead up without a fight. Pantano eased away to a 4sec victory - and seta a new record for total GP2 wins (eight), eclipsing the tally he previously shared with Timo Glock.

Behind them, Chandhok and Senna caught Grosjean, who was struggling for pace with tyres that were completely shot. After aborting a pass Chandhok made under waved yellows on Grosjean at Stowe, Sebastien Buemi took the chance to jump past Senna a couple of corners later, making it a four-way fight for the final spot on the podium.

Chandhok grabbed third from Grosjean with just two laps to go with a decisive lunge at Brooklands. Moments later, Senna repassed Buemi at Becketts, only to lose the place again by running wide at Stowe.

On the next lap, it was Buemi who gained a place, passing Grosjean for fourth at Becketts, with Senna making it three abreast for a hair-raising moment. On the final lap, Senna drove around the outside of Grosjean at Stowe, only to throw the place away with a trip across the gravel at Priory, costing himself a vital point.

Pantano now leads the championship by 13 points from Senna, with Buemi now passing Grosjean for third in the standings.

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Pantano Racing Engineering 56:38.094 2. Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team + 4.060 3. Chandhok iSport International + 10.280 4. Buemi Trust Team Arden + 15.114 5. Grosjean ART Grand Prix + 18.842 6. Senna iSport International + 18.988 7. Zuber Piquet Sports + 20.205 8. Filippi ART Grand Prix + 23.311 9. D'ambrosio Dams + 25.590 10. Petrov Barwa Campos Team + 35.431 11. Rodriguez FMS International + 36.886 12. Soucek Super Nova Racing + 40.911 13. Villa Racing Engineering + 50.712 14. Conway Trident Racing + 53.147 15. Buurman Trust Team Arden + 53.384 16. Parente Super Nova Racing + 56.497 17. Nunes DPR + 59.654 18. Tung Trident Racing + 61.002 19. Valsecchi Durango + 61.263 20. Asmer FMS International + 64.667 21. Valerio Durango + 67.767 22. Valles BCN Competicion + 76.876 23. Herck DPR + 1 lap Retirements: Driver Team Laps Maldonado Piquet Sports 30 Kobayashi Dams 20 Iaconelli BCN Competicion 0 Fastest lap: Pantano, 1:31.995 on lap 27

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Senna snatches pole at Silverstone

Bruno Senna produced a brilliant lap to grab pole position for Saturday's GP2 feature race away from practice pacesetter Romain Grosjean at Silverstone on Friday afternoon.

Senna was the only man to break the 1:27 barrier, producing a lap of 1:26.912, just over a tenth faster than Grosjean, who had set the pace for the first half of the session.

Grosjean's response on new tyres was first hindered by a spot of road rage with FMS driver Roldan Rodriguez at Becketts, who felt he'd held him up and drove him right to the edge of the track. Grosjean too found traffic, and just couldn't string a lap together that came close to bettering his, or Senna's, time.

Andi Zuber will start third for Piquet Sports, but last year's feature race winner was totally on the edge, and eventually went off at Becketts just after setting his fastest time - narrowly avoiding Senna as he spun across the track.

Lucas di Grassi will start fourth in his second event with the Campos squad, edging out series leader Giorgio Pantano, who will start fifth for Racing Engineering. Luca Filippi qualified sixth for ART, but blamed his team-mate Grosjean for baulking his best effort, and himself for sliding wide in the Complex on his final run.

Andy Soucek (Super Nova) will start seventh, but was called in for questioning by the stewards after he appeared to hold up the fastest lap of iSport's Karun Chandhok at Luffield. Video evidence will no doubt be the judge there, as Chandhok was carrying an on-board camera.

Mike Conway was next up for Trident, not quite repeating his form of this morning. Kamui Kobayashi (DAMS) and Chandhok rounded out the top 10, but Kobayashi was also invited for a chat with the stewards. Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Bruno Senna iSport 1:26.912 2. Romain Grosjean ART 1:27.034 +0.122 3. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 1:27.147 +0.235 4. Lucas di Grassi Campos 1:27.350 +0.438 5. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:27.487 +0.575 6. Luca Filippi ART 1:27.554 +0.642 7. Andy Soucek Super Nova 1:27.699 +0.787 8. Mike Conway Trident 1:27.754 +0.842 9. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:27.774 +0.862 10. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:27.786 +0.874 11. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:27.845 +0.933 12. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:27.931 +1.019 13. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:28.164 +1.252 14. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:28.172 +1.260 15. Adrian Valles BCN 1:28.174 +1.262 16. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:28.228 +1.316 17. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:28.365 +1.453 18. Diego Nunes DPR 1:28.442 +1.530 19. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:28.590 +1.678 20. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:28.596 +1.684 21. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:28.751 +1.839 22. Marko Asmer FMS 1:28.857 +1.945 23. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:29.027 +2.115 24. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:29.107 +2.195 25. Carlos Iaconelli BCN 1:29.429 +2.517 26. Michael Herck DPR 1:29.516 +2.604

Grosjean leads Silverstone practice

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Grosjean leads Silverstone practice

ART Grand Prix narrowly missed out on a one-two in the 30-minutes of free practice at Silverstone today, with Romain Grosjean leading the way.

Renault F1 protege Grosjean lapped in 1:27.411s, over two-tenths clear of Mike Conway's Trident Racing machine. Grosjean's team-mate Luca Filippi was third fastest, the Italian on a high after his recent podium at Magny-Cours following a difficult start to the season.

Both Conway and Filippi had big moments during the session, which was held in sunny but windy conditions. Conway was forced into a long grassy moment after losing control at Becketts, but he bounced across the grass without doing any harm to his car.

Filippi spun at the high-speed at Stowe corner, a feat repeated shortly after by fellow frontrunner Bruno Senna (iSport). Both got briefly airborne as they rattled over the kerbs, but both returned to earth safely.

Series leader Giorgio Pantano was fourth fastest for Racing Engineering, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, who stalled his DAMS car at the end of the pitlane at the conclusion of the session after a disastrous practice start.

Andi Zuber, a winner last year here with iSport, was sixth quickest for Piquet Sports. Super Nova duo Andy Soucek and Alvaro Parente were next up, ahead of Lucas di Grassi (Campos) and iSport partners Senna and Karun Chandhok. The latter had a big grassy moment exiting Luffield, that he did well to catch.

Other expected frontrunners well down included Pastor Maldonado, who was only 15th for Piquet Sports. Returning from injury with Durango, Davide Valsecchi was 24th fastest.

Pos Driver bTeam Time Gap 1. Romain Grosjean ART 1:27.411 2. Mike Conway Trident 1:27.699 +0.288 3. Luca Filippi ART 1:27.741 +0.330 4. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 1:27.746 +0.335 5. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:27.791 +0.380 6. Andi Zuber Piquet Sports 1:28.062 +0.651 7. Andy Soucek Super Nova 1:28.076 +0.665 8. Alvaro Parente Super Nova 1:28.119 +0.708 9. Lucas di Grassi Campos 1:28.128 +0.717 10. Bruno Senna iSport 1:28.296 +0.885 11. Karun Chandhok iSport 1:28.403 +0.992 12. Sebastien Buemi Arden 1:28.468 +1.057 13. Adrian Valles BCN 1:28.477 +1.066 14. Vitaly Petrov Campos 1:28.627 +1.216 15. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports 1:28.809 +1.398 16. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:28.967 +1.556 17. Javier Villa Racing Engineering 1:28.978 +1.567 18. Marko Asmer FMS 1:29.109 +1.698 19. Roldan Rodriguez FMS 1:29.209 +1.798 20. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:29.466 +2.055 21. Diego Nunes DPR 1:29.721 +2.310 22. Yelmer Buurman Arden 1:29.876 +2.465 23. Ho-Pin Tung Trident 1:30.044 +2.633 24. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:30.460 +3.049 25. Michael Herck DPR 1:30.509 +3.098 26. Carlos Iaconelli BCN 1:31.349 +3.938

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ART boss tips Grosjean to beat Senna

ART Grand Prix team boss Frederic Vasseur believes his charge Romain Grosjean can defeat iSport's Bruno Senna in Saturday's GP2 feature race at Silverstone, despite narrowly losing out on pole position on Friday afternoon.

Senna beat Grosjean to pole by just 0.122s after the Frenchman had led the way for the first half of the session. Grosjean was unable to respond, blaming the team's strategy for putting him back on track just as other cars were leaving the pits, leaving him prone to being held up by cars on their start-up laps.

Vasseur said: "Pole position pace was there, but Romain could not improve because of the traffic. But he has the pace to win tomorrow."

Grosjean added: "The traffic was the worst I'd seen all season. The strategy was not so good, because I was on track as people were coming out of the pitlane. I struggled in that traffic, but I know a 1:26.9 [Senna's pole time] was possible.

"It's frustrating because I was P1 in free practice and knew I could do it again. It was a very tricky decision when to use the second set of tyres, and it ended in a big mess."

Senna, meanwhile, was delighted with his second pole position on the trot.

"We went the wrong way with set-up in free practice but we made some changes, which was a risk, and the car was really good," he said. "It was a really good lap, and it was nice to finish the lap in the perfect way - with no incidents on the way to pole [referring to Magny-Cours when he crashed exiting the final corner on his pole position lap]."

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Valsecchi returns to Durango seat

Davide Valsecchi will return to take his seat in the Durango squad for this weekend's Silverstone GP2 Series event after recovering from the spinal injury he sustained earlier this year.

The Italian suffered compressed vertebrae in a 175mph crash in qualifying at Istanbul Park in Turkey in May.

He has now been cleared by doctors, allowing him to retake his seat, which had been filled by Marcello Puglisi (Monaco) and Ben Hanley (Magny-Cours).

Valsecchi, who finished eighth in GP2 Asia with Durango, has been recuperating at home since the crash, but has been forced to miss the last six races.

His best result in the main series came in the season-opener in Barcelona, where he was fifth in the sprint race.

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