DAMS - Jérôme d'Ambrosio (5th) Kamui Kobayashi (25th)

Today, the first of the weekend's two GP2 Series races (the 8th round of the championship) took place on the new Valencia circuit in Spain, which is hosting the European F1 Grand Prix.

Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio met with varying fortunes, as the Japanese driver who started from 25th spot had to retire on lap 1 after a collision. The Belgian fought his way back to the front-runners after losing some places early on. Thanks to a steady drive and a daring strategy, he finished 5th scoring some more points that have helped him move up several positions in the drivers' championship.

Eric Boullier, team manager: "Today, Jérôme showed how much he's progressed since the start of the season. He had to fight hard and he never lost contact with the leaders. His fifth place is a great reward for the work he's done over the past few weeks. Kamui's race was over after a few metres. He was hit on lap one: the collision was not his fault and he could do absolutely nothing to avoid it. But that's the risk when you start from the back of the grid. We're optimistic for tomorrow and Jérôme will be gunning for a rostrum finish."

Jérôme d'Ambrosio: "I'm very happy with this result, my best in GP2. I made a good start. The team's excellent strategy helped me to gain a place, and then I made it a point of honour to keep up the pace to take advantage of race incidents. The final twists of the event helped me gain two places and then lose one. Finally, I scored four points and I'll do my best to continue in the same vein tomorrow."

Kamui Kobayashi: "I was harpooned just after the start and that was that. It's been a very diff icult weekend so far, and scoring points tomorrow will be impossible. I'll use the second race to rack up the kilometres on this track to help me get to grips with it better in the future."

iSport International - Bruno Senna (9th) Karun Chandhok (15th)

The opening GP2 Series race on the new Valencia street circuit ended in peculiar fashion this afternoon. Several cars ran out of fuel on the final lap, including the Racing Engineering car of leader Giorgio Pantano and the two iSport entries of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok.

Senna slowed just after passing the struggling Pantano for fourth, while Chandhok was fighting back from a drive-through pit penalty - awarded after he was adjudged to have rejoined the race in an unsafe manner - and was chasing Luca Filippi for what eventually became eighth place.

Bruno Senna: "These things happen. I was really happy with my pace in the opening stages of the race - I pulled off several strong passing moves, settled into a good rhythm and things were going well.

"I had no warning at all about the fuel problem. If the engine had spluttered during the previous lap I'd have backed off, because I had plenty I hand over the next car, but it cut very suddenly and that was that. I'm not too despondent, though: Giorgio and I both suffered the same problem, the title race remains wide open and I'm confident I can score a good result tomorrow."

Karun Chandhok: "I really don't feel I deserved the drive-through penalty. Earlier this season Lucas di Grassi rejoined a race in exactly the same manner as I did today, right in front of Bruno, in fact, but that went unpunished and I honestly don't think I did anything wrong. That's life, though.

"The car definitely felt good today, but after the penalty I spent most of the race passing slower traffic and wasn't able to exploit it fully. I was catching Filippi quite easily towards the end and felt confident I'd be able to pass him on the final lap. As it turns out that would have put me on pole tomorrow, but instead I'll now be 15th - a frustrating end to a frustrating race."

DPR - Diego Nunes (10th) Michael Herck (12th)

The David Price Racing (DPR) racing team had their first taste of the new venue for this season, a street circuit in the Spanish city of Valencia. With drivers Diego Nunes and Michael Herck having no previous experience of the track, and the first GP2 event on a street circuit for Herck, both drivers had their best Feature race results of the season so far. Nunes recorded 10th place and Herck 12th place at the finish.

The limited track time allowed for the GP2 Series at each event, supporting the Formula One World Championship, favours the more experienced GP2 drivers, so the two DPR rookies were lying back down the order in the first two sessions, with Nunes posting 20th quickest lap in qualifying, and Herck further back with 26th fastest time.

The Feature race held today followed the Formula One qualifying session with warm temperatures and potential rain holding off. The drama started on the first lap with the field of cars fighting for track position through the initial sequence of corners. Both Nunes and Herck avoided sliding cars and gained position to cross the line in 15th and 18th places respectively after the opening lap. Further incidents on the second lap brought out the safety car for one lap of formation racing, before the field were released to return to full power. Nunes remained in 15th, with Herck improving to 17th, and both maintained position for the next few laps.