iSport International - Davide Valsecchi (2nd) Oliver Turvey (14th)

It was a mixture of highs and lows in Race 1 at Istanbul Park for iSport duo Davide Valsecchi and Oliver Turvey. Italian racer Valsecchi lined up on the grid in pole position but was passed at the start by second placed man Pastor Maldonado. Valsecchi then lost another position to Sergio Perez during the pit stops dropping Valsecchi to third. However the GP2 Asia champ kept the pressure on Perez closing him down and eventually made his move to snatch back second position on lap 26 giving Davide and iSport the first podium of the season. British racer Oliver Turvey also lost positions at the start dropping two places from his starting position of third after being boxed in going into the first corner. After a good pit stop Turvey’s charge was stopped in its tracks after he was slapped with a drive through penalty after he was adjudged to have weaved too many times defending his position. To add insult to injury, Turvey was then handed another penalty for speeding in the pit lane when serving his first drive through. Rookie Turvey ended the race in fifteenth, disappointed by the penalty which cost him a good chance at points or a podium finish.

Davide Valsecchi: We had a good race today. I did not make the best start and Maldonado had incredible pace today which I could not match. The car was fantastic and I was quicker than all the cars behind me. I lost a position to Perez but I knew I would be able to catch him as he was struggling. I hope to score some more good points tomorrow.

Oliver Turvey: I had a good start, better than Davide and Maldonado and I tried to challenge them but Davide got quite a slow getaway and I got boxed in behind him and that compromised me going into turn 1. We lost position to Perez and Bird. From there on we had quite quick pace and we were getting quicker, we were catching the guys ahead. We had a good pit stop and we almost caught Van Dr Garde but not quite but I knew I was going to have better pace later in the race. But then a couple of laps after the pit stop I got told I had a drive through penalty, didn’t know what for. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong but you can’t argue as you have to take them within three laps. So we had to take the drive though and that ruined our race. It was a real shame really because after qualifying so well we had a good chance of being on the podium and I’m quite disappointed because of that. I got told after the race the penalty was for moving more than once but in the incident involved I felt I had moved once to defend my position I then moved back to the inside to take the first corner which is a left hand corner, so I moved to take the corner and not to defend my position.

Racing Engineering - Christian Vietoris (7th) Dani Clos (8th)

Racing Engineering had a challenging feature race at Istanbul Park today, where high temperatures made tyre management the crucial point. Dani Clos, who started seventh on the grid, suffered from excessive tyre wear and struggled to eighth position, whilst Christian Vietoris, starting from eleventh position, finished seventh and scored his first points of the 2010 GP2 Series. The Racing Engineering drivers will start tomorrow's sprint race from pole position and second on the grid respectively.

The race started under sunny conditions with an air temperature of 26 degrees. Maldonado took the lead at the start, whilst Dani Clos lost a position to Razia. Christian Vietoris had a bad start, but was able to recover quickly. The round of pit stops started surprisingly early, with Dani and another three drivers coming into the pits to pick up new tyres on lap seven. Christian Vietoris made his pit stop on lap nine and by next lap, most drivers had completed their compulsory round of tyre changes.

Dani Clos set the fastest lap on lap 10 whilst he was chasing Turvey, who was given a drive through for crossing the track more than once whilst trying to defend his position from the Racing Engineering driver. As the race progressed, the medium compound tyres started to wear excessively and many drivers struggled to keep their positions. Christian Vietoris, after fighting with Ricci for several laps, had a slight collision with him, but managed to continue. Meanwhile, Dani lost a position to Herck as his tyres abandoned him. With two laps to go, Christian overtook Dani, and they finished eighth and ninth.

After the race, the car of Mexican driver Perez, who had finished fourth, was found to be underweight and was disqualified. This means that Christian moves up to seventh position and Dani to eighth. For tomorrow's sprint race, and because of the reverse grid rule, both Racing Engineering drivers will start on the front row, with Dani Clos on pole position and Christian Vietoris second. The race will take place in the morning at 9:25 CET.