The pair of GP2 races at Silverstone saw Rapax driver Pastor Maldonado extend his impressive championship lead thanks to another comfortable feature race win, while ART man Esteban Gutierrez continued to dominate the GP3 Series.
Another race weekend, another happy pair of races for the championship leaders in both GP2 and GP3. Pastor Maldonado came into the weekend in the lead of the feeder series, and left even further ahead after dominating proceedings in the main feature race, with the rest of the field struggling to keep up. It remains odd that the Venezuelan, who had scored just four wins across his previous three years in the series, is finding the going so easy in 2010, but thanks to a lack of a clear frontrunning rival, and some new-found racecraft and determination, he is playing his way into the sights of a number of Formula One teams.
Gutierrez, meanwhile, is having a similarly happy time of things in GP3. While his rivals fight each other, he is racking up the victories.
By and large, the racing wasn't the most impressive that either series has ever produced, with the GP2 races in particular producing few outright thrills, but presumably Maldonado won't care about that one bit.
GP2 Series Report
Driver Changes
After the first four rounds featured an alarming amount of driver parity from all 12 teams, GP2 had its first driver swap of the weekend at Silverstone, albeit an enforced one. With Super Nova's Josef Kral sidelined after he fractured two vertebrae in a high-speed crash at Valencia that mirrored Mark Webber's own spectacular flip, the team drafted in GP2 veteran and all-round hapless buffoon Luca Filippi to replace him.
Qualifying
The qualifying session at nu-Silvy saw a titanic scrap at the front, with no less than seven drivers taking time to lead the session, but it was the consistently inconsistent form of Jules Bianchi who took his second pole position of the season for ART Grand Prix.
He finished just over a tenth of a second ahead of championship leader Pastor Maldonado, who would start alongside the Frenchman on the front row for Rapax. The two Racing Engineering cars of Christian Vietoris and title contender Dani Clos finished third and fourth, but Vietoris would start ten places back after picking up a grid penalty two weeks ago in Valencia.
That penalty promoted Clos to third, with iSport driver and British homeboy Oliver Turvey lining up fourth. The second ART car of Sam Bird was fifth, with Arden's Charles Pic sixth.
Also getting penalised were the Coloni car of Alberto Valerio, who dropped from 9th to 19th, and Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident), who went from 18th to dead last. DAMS driver Ho-Pin Tung failed to post a time after writing off his car in Friday practice.
Silverstone GP2 Grid Positions:
1 Jules Bianchi (ART) 1:39.189, 2 Pastor Maldonado (Rapax) +0.136, 3 Dani Clos (Racing Eng) +0.464, 4 Oliver Turvey (iSport) +0.512, 5 Sam Bird (ART) +0.567, 6 Charles Pic (Arden) +0.602, 7 Giedo van der Garde (Barwa Addax) +0.620, 8 Sergio Perez (Barwa Addax) +0.705, 9 Davide Valsecchi (iSport) +0.712, 10 Jerome D'Ambrosio (DAMS) +0.752, 11 Luca Filippi (Super Nova) +0.795, 12 Christian Vietoris (Racing Eng) +0.234*, 13 Giacomo Ricci (DPR) +1.099, 14 Michael Herck (DPR) +1.153, 15 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova) +1.322, 16 Luiz Razia (Rapax) +1.370, 17 Alberto Valerio (Coloni) +0.622*, 18 Adrian Zaugg (Trident) +1.623, 19 Max Chilton (Ocean) +1.857, 20 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden) +2.155, 21 Fabio Leimer (Ocean) +2.359, 22 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Coloni) +2.465, 23 Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident) + 1.558*, 24 Ho-Pin Tung (DAMS) No Time.
Feature Race
Bianchi couldn't convert his pole position into any sort of lead, though, as Maldonado scorched past on the run to Copse for the first time, and from then on, the Rapax man dominated the race to take his third straight feature race victory.
By the end of the race the Venezuelan was over ten seconds clear, extending his already-impressive championship lead in the process.
Bianchi held onto second with similar comfort, unable to do anything about Maldonado's lead, but finishing well clear of Clos, who converted his third-placed grid slot into third on the road. A poor start from Oliver Turvey allowed Sam Bird up into fourth, with the ART man keeping the place to the flag.
Further back, the main action was provided by the recovering Vietoris, who moved up from his penalty-assisted grid slot to run as high as fifth place, only to cede the place to Sergio Perez (Addax) with two laps to go.
Behind Vietoris came the iSport duo of Davide Valsecchi and Turvey, with the duo set to share the front row for the sprint race on Sunday. Giedo van der Garde picked up ninth place, just missing out on a points finish, while Charles Pic completed the top ten.
Overall though, the race was something of a procession throughout, with few retirements or on-track action. Not that Maldonado was particularly worried about that.
| Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax Team | 50:21.479 | 10 |
| 2 | Jules Bianchi | ART Grand Prix | +10.125 | 8 |
| 3 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | +19.549 | 6 |
| 4 | Sam Bird | ART Grand Prix | +20.979 | 5 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Barwa Addax Team | +32.039 | 4 |
| 6 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | +35.739 | 3 |
| 7 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | +37.702 | 2 |
| 8 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +38.753 | 1 |
| 9 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +39.087 | |
| 10 | Charles Pic | Arden International | +39.845 |
11 Jerome d'Ambrosio (DAMS) +40.101, 12 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova Racing) +53.949, 13 Giacomo Ricci (DPR) +54.906, 14 Alberto Valerio (Scuderia Coloni) +1:02.132, 15 Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +1:11.973, 16 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden International) +1:12.825, 17 Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) +1:14.214, 18 Johnny Cecotto Jr (Trident Racing) +1:16.113, 19 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +1:17.805, 20 Luca Filippi (Super Nova Racing) +1:33.652, 21 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) +1:34.243, 22 Michael Herck (DPR) +1 Lap, Ret Luiz Razia 18 Laps, Ret Ho-Pin Tung 12 Laps.
Sprint Race
For the sprint race, Valsecchi jumped ahead of Turvey at the start, but it was the Addax driver Perez that was the man on the move, passing both iSport drivers early on and then extending an almost ludicrous lead by the end of the race, finishing over 15 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
Turvey got past GP2 Asia champion Valsecchi fairly easily, and took second place after holding off sustained pressure from Racing Engineering's Dani Clos.
Clos wrapped up the final podium slot from sixth on the grid, and finished just ahead of Maldonado, who forced his way up to fourth. Bianchi finished in a quiet fifth place, ahead of Valsecchi, who slipped back throughout the race but took the final point.
The home hopes took an early dip when Sam Bird's car failed on the formation lap, while Max Chilton (Ocean Racing) could only manage 19th place.
Maldonado has reached the midway point of the season with a 19 point lead in the championship over Clos, and despite the fact that there are still ten races to go, it is looking increasingly unlikely that anyone will be capable of putting together the run of results needed to prevent him from taking the title..
| Sprint Race Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Sergio Perez | Barwa Addax Team | 35:54.531 | 6 |
| 2 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | +15.386 | 5 |
| 3 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | +15.997 | 4 |
| 4 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax Team | +16.426 | 3 |
| 5 | Jules Bianchi | ART Grand Prix | +17.600 | 2 |
| 6 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | +21.767 | 1 |
| 7 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | +22.752 | |
| 8 | Charles Pic | Arden International | +24.407 | |
| 9 | Luca Filippi | Super Nova Racing | +24.483 | |
| 10 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | +25.057 |
11 Jerome D'Ambrosio (DAMS) +25.853, 12 Giacomo Ricci (DPR) +25.977, 13 Fabio Leimer (Ocean Racing Technology) +30.192, 14 Michael Herck (DPR) +30.507, 15 Ho-Pin Tung (DAMS) +30.903, 16 Luiz Razia (Rapax Team) +45.728, 17 Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Scuderia Coloni) +48.713, 18 Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova Racing) +49.956, 19 Max Chilton (Ocean Racing Technology) +50.214, 20 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arden International) +55.456, 21 Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +1:19.313, 22 Alberto Valerio (Scuderia Coloni) +1 lap, Ret Johnny Cecotto (Trident Racing) 19 laps, Ret Sam Bird (ART Grand Prix) 0 laps.
Drivers Championship after 10 of 20 rounds -
1 Maldonado 56pts, 2 Clos 37pts, 3 Bianchi 31pts, 4 Perez 30pts, 5 van der Garde 27pts, 6 Bird 22pts, 7 Razia 20pts, 8 Valsecchi 17pts, 9 Pic 15pts, 10 Turvey 12pts, 11 Herck 10pts, 12 Ericsson, Leimer, Ricci 8pts, 15 d'Ambrosio 7pts, 16 Vietoris 5pts, 17 Valerio 4pts, 18 Cecotto Jr 3pts.
Teams Championship after 10 of 20 rounds -
1 Rapax Team 76pts, 2 Barwa Addax Team 57pts, 3 ART Grand Prix 53pts, 4 Racing Engineering 42pts, 5 iSport International 29pts, 6 DPR 18pts, 7 Arden International 15pts, 8 Super Nova Racing, Ocean Racing Technology 8pts, 10 DAMS 7pts, 11 Scuderia Coloni 4pts, 12 Trident Racing 3pts.
GP3 Series Report
Esteban Gutierrez came into the fouth GP3 race weekend of the season with a decent lead in the championship, and started off in fine form, taking pole position and benefiting from his nearest rival, Canadian Robert Wickens, having to take a ten place grid penalty, leaving him well down the order.
He followed that up with a comfortable win in the feature race, giving ART another maximum score and extending his lead in the championship. Early on, he came under some pressure from Rio Haryanto, but he soon gapped the Manor man and took a comfortable victory, his third consecutive feature race win.
Haryanto held on for second place, well clear of the chasing pack, which saw Nico Muller (Jenzer) come out on top after Manor driver Adrian Quaife-Hobbs had retired with mechanical problems shortly after half distance.
Muller finished ahead of RSC Mucke's Tobias Hegewald, with the second ART car of Alexander Rossi securing fifth place. Dean Smith took sixth for Carlin in front of his home fans, while Wickens put in a bold recovery drive, but could only end up 9th and outside the points.
Sometime Ferrari junior driver Mirko Bortolotti took the pole for the sprint with 8th place.
The sprint race provided plenty of entertainment after the slightly dull feature, with Status GP's Daniel Morad emerging in the lead from second on the grid, and comfortably leading the rest of the field home.
Behind him, though, there was a huge scrap for second place, with pole man Bortolotti, Alex Rossi and Gutierrez fighting it out. The Italian made a break in the final couple of laps to take second, while team mates Rossi and Gutierrez enjoyed a ding-dong scrap on the final lap, with the American just fighting off the Mexican.
Gutierrez settled for fourth, with Nico Muller (Jenzer) and Robert Wickens (Status) completing the points scorers.
Despite losing out to Rossi, Gutierrez now holds a 26 point lead over his team mate in the championship, and looking set to become the first ever GP3 champion.
| Race 1 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Esteban Gutierrez | ART Grand Prix | 26:40.761 | 10 |
| 2 | Rio Haryanto | Manor Racing | +3.631 | 8 |
| 3 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | +10.201 | 6 |
| 4 | Tobias Hegewald | RSC Mucke Motorsport | +12.329 | 5 |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | ART Grand Prix | +14.416 | 4 |
| 6 | Dean Smith | Carlin Motorsport | +15.399 | 3 |
| 7 | Daniel Morad | Status Grand Prix | +17.966 | 2 |
| 8 | Mirko Bortolotti | Barwa Addax | +23.335 | 1 |
| 9 | Robert Wickens | Status Grand Prix | +29.646 | |
| 10 | Stefano Coletti | Tech 1 Racing | +30.534 |
| Race 2 Result | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Daniel Morad | Status Grand Prix | 26:35.990 | 6 |
| 2 | Mirko Bortolotti | Barwa Addax | +4.974 | 5 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | ART Grand Prix | +5.537 | 4 |
| 4 | Esteban Gutierrez | ART Grand Prix | +5,626 | 3 |
| 5 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | +6.116 | 2 |
| 6 | Robert Wickens | Status Grand Prix | +6.869 | 1 |
| 7 | Tobias Hegewald | RSC Mucke Motorsport | +7.714 | |
| 8 | Renger van der Zande | RSC Mucke Motorsport | +10.872 | |
| 9 | Oliver Oakes | ATECH CRS | +16.493 | |
| 10 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | +19.226 |
Drivers Championship after 8 of 16 rounds -
1 Gutierrez 51pts, 2 Rossi 25pts, 3 Muller 22pts, 4 Haryanto 21pts, 5 Wickens 20pts, 6 Morad 15pts, 7 James Jakes 13pts, 8 Roberto Merhi, Miki Monras 12pts, 10 Varhaug, Dean Smith 10pts, 12 Jean-Eric Vergne 9pts, 13 Lucas Foresti, Felipe Guimaraes 7pts, 15 Bortolotti 6pts, 16 Hegewald 5pts, 17 Nigel Melker 4pts, 18 Simon Trummer 3pts, 19 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 2pts, 20 Coletti, Pedro Nunes 1pt.
Teams Championship after 8 of 16 rounds -
1 ART Grand Prix 77pts, 2 Manor Racing 36pts, 3 Jenzer Motorsport, Status Grand Prix 35pts, 5 Carlin 17pts, 6 Barwa Addax Team 13pts, 7 ATECH CRS GP, MW Arden 12pts, 9 Tech 1 Racing 10pts, 10 RSC Mucke Motorsport 9pts.
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