23/04/2006
NEWS STORY
Ernesto Viso made the most of his second row start by muscling his way by the two BCN drivers, who had lined up on the grid in front of him, after an early safety car period to claim his first GP2 win in race two at Imola.
Looking strong all race, Viso made short work of Timo Glock and former teammate Hiroki Yoshimoto before powering off into the distance, with second placed Nelson Piquet Jr the only man able to run at a comparable pace. Yoshimoto drove strongly to come home a distant third.
Polesitter Yoshimoto had a strong start as the lights went out, with teammate and fellow front row starter Glock slotting in behind him, just ahead of a fast starting Viso and Nicolas Lapierre, who had muscled his way by Piquet on the run down to Tamburello.
Behind them Adrian Valles had failed to get off the line, and an unsighted Lucas di Grassi was unable to avoid a collision. With debris all across the front straight there was no alternative but to bring out the safety car. With emotions high the cars started to slow, but Michael Ammermüller failed to pull up in time – he ran into the back of Alex Premat, spinning the Frenchman out of the race, and the German limped back to the pits and retirement.
The field was funneled through the pitlane twice as the front straight was cleared of debris, but Yoshimoto controlled the pack masterfully to hold his place at the front as the race went live on lap four.
Further back Piquet was immediately making amends for his poor start by reclaiming fourth from Lapierre, while Gimmi Bruni ran wide at Ravazza to drop down from sixth to twelfth position.
Ahead of them Viso was all over the back of Glock at the restart, and it took him just one lap to dispose of his rival. Piquet, who was right behind the pair, spent one lap on the German's tail before repeating his move from race one, muscling his way up to third at the final chicane.
Yoshimoto was the next man in the pair's sights, and Viso was soon harassing the Japanese driver. The former teammates know each other's strengths and weaknesses intimately, but despite his best efforts Yoshimoto saw Viso power past on the run down to Tamburello, with Piquet also by him 3 corners later, the BCN clearly no match for his rivals' cars.
In clear air at last Viso and Piquet set about alternating fastest laps, with Yoshimoto unable to do anything about their pace and dropping back towards his teammate.
Glock had his mirrors filled by the Arden of Lapierre, who was looking for a way past and seemed to put his car alongside the German at every corner. Glock, however, was unwilling to concede another position, and the pair were in a stalemate.
Immediately behind them a train of cars was forming, with Luca Filippi in sixth right on the tail of Lapierre, followed immediately by Felix Porteiro and Andreas Zuber.
Glock, playing a perfect wingman role for his teammate, was unflappable – lap after lap Lapierre looked to pass, and lap after lap Glock firmly but cleanly shut the door in front of him. Something had to happen, and on lap 23 it did – Lapierre, looking for the inside line at Variente Alta, ran too deep under braking and had to run across the grass, leaving the path clear for Filippi and Porteiro to scamper through and into the points, with the now chastened Frenchman lining up behind them.
Further back Lewis Hamilton was making the most of his race after starting from the back of the grid, showing his potential by forcing his way through the field. He would end the race in tenth, with no points but a warning sent to his competitors.
But up at the front Viso and Piquet were untouchable. Piquet looked to be the faster of the pair, but two small mistakes meant he was unable to quite get onto the tail of the man in front.
As the chequered flag dropped Viso had done enough; thanks to the fastest lap of the race on his penultimate tour he took victory by just half a second from Piquet, with Yoshimoto following the pair across the line 24 seconds later.
Glock scored his second set of points of the season with a well deserved fourth place, while Filippi and Porteiro scored for the first time with fifth and sixth position respectively.