Senna wins wet GP2 sprint race
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| (L to R) Di Grassi, Senna and Pantano |
Bruno Senna controlled the elements and his rivals to record a dominant second win of the season on a soaking wet Silverstone circuit this morning, taking the top spot on the podium ahead of Lucas di Grassi and Giorgio Pantano.
The Brazilian reigned supreme in a race which saw most of the field succumb to the extreme conditions in some form: a strong start and pressure on polesitter Luca Filippi handed Senna the lead one the first lap and he never looked back, building and then maintaining a solid lead to take the checkered flag by 8.5 seconds over his countryman.
The first few laps were chaotic, with Zuber bogging down from the front row at the start and bunching up the field causing problems further back: Senna, di Grassi and Pantano were effectively the only drivers to not run off the soaked circuit, pushing most of the regular point scorers into unfamiliar positions and forcing them to challenge drivers who they do not normally fight with in the dry.
Rain reappeared heavily halfway through the race, causing misery for much of the field but an amazing spectacle for the spectators: while Senna pulled away Grosjean was slicing through the field after stopping for a new front wing, with Vitaly Petrov and Andy Soucek running almost side by side for lap after lap, and Kamui Kobayashi also showing strong speed to try and make up for his disappointment from race one.
The race result wasn't clear until the checkered flag dropped: while Senna was clearly ahead of di Grassi at the end, Pantano pushed hard over the closing laps to put himself on the Brazilian's tail at the end of the race after watching his mirrors throughout the race and seeing them full of Mike Conway's car; the Briton just failed to get onto the podium at his home circuit while behind him Petrov won the battle over Soucek when the latter fell off track in the fight for fifth. The last place should have gone to Kobayashi only for Adrian Valles to spin unavoidably in front of him on the final lap, handing sixth to series returnee Davide Valsecchi.
The second podium in a row meant that Pantano has stretched his lead out to 50 points, ahead of Senna on 39 and Sébastien Buemi, who spun on the installation lap and therefore did not race, on 25 points, which is one ahead of di Grassi and a further point ahead of Grosjean as the field looks towards Hockenheim for the next round of the series.
Silverstone – Race 2
Driver Team
1. Bruno Senna iSport International
2. Lucas di Grassi Barwa Int. Campos Team
3. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering
4. Mike Conway Trident Racing
5. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Int. Campos Team
6. Davide Valsecchi Durango
7 Kamui Kobayashi Dams
8. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix
9. Alberto Valerio Durango
10. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden
11. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports
12. Jérôme d’Ambrosio Dams
13. Marko Asmer Fisichella Motor Sport Int.
14. Adrián Valles BCN Competicion
15. Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports
Fastest lap time: Pastor Maldonado (Piquet Sports): 1:47.801 on lap 21
Maldonado did not finish in the Top 10. He does not qualify for Bonus Point.
Vitaly Petrov (Barwa Int. Campos Team) was second fastest in a 1:48.226 and collects the Bonus Point.
Not Classified
Driver Team
Javier Villa Racing Engineering
Roldan Rodriguez Fisichella Motor Sport Int.
Carlos Iaconelli BCN Competicion
Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing
Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix
Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing
Karun Chandhok iSport International
Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing
Diego Nunes DPR
Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden
Michael Herck DPR