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Friday, 20 April 2012 06:27 |
 GP2 Series report and result of the qualifying session in Sakhir - DAMS racer Davide Valsecchi was once again untouchable during Friday’s qualifying session at the Bahrain International Circuit when he pocketed second pole of 2012 season.
The Italian put his DAMS car at the top of the timesheets early with a lap time of 1'41.200 which was never bettered to secure to best start position ahead of Esteban Gutierrez and Felipe Nasr.
It was slightly cooler as the twenty six GP2 cars fed onto the track. Johnny Cecotto set the early pace, but on his third lap and on Option Pirelli tyres, Valsecchi dipped under the 1'42 mark, posting the fastest first and second sectors times.
On his third attempt Gutierrez was also able to break the 1'42 barrier, but ended a tenth shy off the leading Italian.
Rookie Stephane Richelmi found his way to P3 ahead of Max Chilton, but the pair were pushed back when Nasr moved into third.
Ten minutes into the session series points leader Luiz Razia shot to P4, just 0.6s behind Valsecchi who in turn improved his time by one tenth for good measure.
The proceedings were red flagged following a small collision between Brendon Hartley and Giedo van der Garde.
The Caterham racer overtook the Ocean Racing Technology driver in the last corner and midway through the manoeuvre the two cars touched slightly taking Hartley's front wing off.
Debris was left on the track calling for a quick red flag which prompted the Kiwi driver, along with the rest of the field, to take to the pits until the session resumed.
At the restart, all eyes returned to the timesheets after Marcus Ericsson found some extra pace to move up to P5, but Fabio Leimer also improved and made his way into P4 ahead of Cecotto and the young Swede.
No one however could match Valsecchi’s pace and with three minutes to spare, Gutierrez, Nasr and Leimer re-entered the pits and chose to end their session early in order to save their tyres followed two minutes later by Ceccoto, Richelmi, Ericsson and Calado with the same idea in mind.
At the chequered flag, Valsecchi enjoyed his new success while Gutierrez and Nasr also celebrated their best qualifying ever.
Leimer will start from P4 ahead of Cecotto and Richelmi while Marcus Ericsson faces a ten place grid penalty picked up in the Malaysia Sprint Race with James Calado, Razia, Chilton and Rio Haryanto all moving up a slot.
Fabio Leimer
"When I was here for the last time, we drove on the long track, so the new track configuration includes two corners that are new to me. Also, when I drove here it was with a different car and tyres. Therefore the driving style was completely different and you cannot really compare it. Today we decided to only go for two fast lap times in free practice. Doing this we were able to save tyres as was our plan. Qualifying was OK, I think there was more possible, but 4th position is not too bad as a starting position for tomorrow. I have to have a good start again and then I am sure a podium finish is possible. This wouldn't be too bad, keeping in mind the championship."
Nathanael Berthon
"In free practice we only pushed for two laps. This was a bit hard for me, but we did save tyres for the race, this was the main goal as racing here is very hard on the tyres. Then we decided to play the same kind of game during qualifying. I went out on options and hoped to be able to keep a set of four new tires for the race. Initially I was around P10, but then I dropped back, so I needed to go our once more towards the end of the session. But it wasn't possible to improve the position anymore. Tomorrow I will have better tyres than the others, that was the goal. I am obviously disappointed as on my fast lap I found traffic and I know I could have set a much better time. I think P10 would have been possible for me today. But I start 18th, a position we didn't expect, but we had the right strategy. I will have to push throughout the entire race, but I am used to it and my goal is to m ake it to the top 8 for the reverse grid for the sprint race. It's a very hard job to do and I will also need some luck to achieve this. But I am sure I will have a good race pace."
Simon Trummer
“I had a technical problem during free practice and managed only three laps, but my pace was pretty good and I ended up 16th. I was happy with that, because I have not previously driven at Sakhir and felt sure I could improve during qualifying. I struggled to get the best from the car, though, after switching from the prime tyre to the softer option. I need to study the data to see what went wrong so that I can get back up to speed in the feature race.”
Luiz Razia
“Free practice went well. I was happy with my car’s balance and made only a few detail changes to improve the set-up for qualifying. Unfortunately, I then got caught behind a group of four cars on my first run, and that was my best lap because I’d chosen to begin with the softer tyre. Looking at the sector times I could easily have made it into the top four, but at least I know I have a strong car for the race. I’m starting in a points scoring position and will do my best to move as far up the field as I can. Let’s see how things go.”
Giedo van der Garde
“We were off the pace this morning so we made several changes for qualifying, some of which worked, some of which did not. Since the end of qualifying we have been busy analysing all the data to see where we can improve for tomorrow and this must be our focus. I think we have a good plan for the race, it is similar to the strategy we had in Malaysia for race two which was very good so I am feeling positive. It is a long championship and we must aim to take points from every round. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish in the top six and get some more points in the bag.”
Rodolfo Gonzalez
“The cars were not quite as we wanted them today but for me it was another good step forward. I had a good first fast lap on the medium compound tyre which would have put me in top ten but I made a mistake and went off track at turn seven, and then again on the last corner, which probably cost me about a second. Two laps later, when I pushed for another timed lap, the rear tyre grip had dropped off and I wasn’t able to get the most out of them. I am a bit frustrated with myself for making those mistakes but I will take the positives from this. I think overall my driving is improving and I will keep working hard on it. It’s hard to say what will happen tomorrow. It is a long run from the start to the first corner so when we get into the braking zone I’m sure there will be people locking up, so I will concentrate on getting a good start and trying to overtake as many people as I can and from there have a strong race.”
2012 Bahrain – Qualifying session results
| Pos. |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Laps |
| 1 |
Davide Valsecchi |
DAMS |
1'41.200 |
10 |
| 2 |
Esteban Gutiérrez |
Lotus GP |
1'41.479 |
7 |
| 3 |
Felipe Nasr |
DAMS |
1'41.785 |
6 |
| 4 |
Fabio Leimer |
Racing Engineering |
1'41.798 |
10 |
| 5 |
Johnny Cecotto |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'41.858 |
11 |
| 6 |
Stéphane Richelmi |
Trident Racing |
1'41.862 |
10 |
| 7 |
Marcus Ericsson |
iSport International |
1'41.933 |
10 |
| 8 |
James Calado |
Lotus GP |
1'41.939 |
9 |
| 9 |
Luiz Razia |
Arden International |
1'41.962 |
10 |
| 10 |
Max Chilton |
Carlin |
1'41.980 |
12 |
| 11 |
Rio Haryanto |
Carlin |
1'42.097 |
13 |
| 12 |
Giedo van der Garde |
Caterham Racing |
1'42.139 |
12 |
| 13 |
Jolyon Palmer |
iSport International |
1'42.156 |
11 |
| 14 |
Dani Clos |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'42.158 |
10 |
| 15 |
Tom Dillmann |
Rapax |
1'42.190 |
12 |
| 16 |
Fabio Onidi |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'42.374 |
10 |
| 17 |
Rodolfo Gonzalez |
Caterham Racing |
1'42.409 |
12 |
| 18 |
Nathanaël Berthon |
Racing Engineering |
1'42.427 |
8 |
| 19 |
Julian Leal |
Trident Racing |
1'42.456 |
12 |
| 20 |
Fabrizio Crestani |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1'42.706 |
13 |
| 21 |
Brendon Hartley |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'42.782 |
13 |
| 22 |
Stefano Coletti |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'42.853 |
11 |
| 23 |
Nigel Melker |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'42.895 |
12 |
| 24 |
Simon Trummer |
Arden International |
1'43.014 |
14 |
| 25 |
Giancarlo Serenelli |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1'43.907 |
11 |
| 26 |
Ricardo Teixeira |
Rapax |
1'44.078 |
14 |
F1SA.com
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