12/09/2007
NEWS STORY
The Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series heads to Belgium for its tenth round, where two races on Bridgestone's medium compound GP2 slick racing Potenza will be played out on the undulating Spa circuit, scene of the Belgian Grand Prix on September 14-16.
This will be the penultimate race this season that the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza will be used. Earlier in the season it was raced in Bahrain, France, Germany and Hungary. Six drivers have won races using this tyre in 2007, with Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) taking three wins and Luca Filippi (Super Nova), Nicolas Lapierre (DAMS), Giorgio Pantano (Campos), Timo Glock (iSport) and Adam Carroll (FMS) each taking a win.
Spa is a challenging circuit and one where finding the correct set-up will be difficult. As well as the gradient changes experienced during the course of a lap, there are also a diverse range of corners with fast flowing sections contrasting with tighter technical sections. As if the circuit was not enough of a test for teams and drivers when dry, wet weather is an ever-present threat in the Ardennes location of the circuit, so those who are quick thinking and able to adapt have a potential advantage.
There were no GP2 Series races at Spa in 2006 but in 2005 the Series did visit the Belgian circuit and Nelson Piquet Jr (Hitech Piquet) and Adam Carroll (Super Nova) scored wins. Heading to Spa, Glock leads the drivers' championship on 78 points from second placed Lucas di Grassi (ART) with 67. The teams' championship is led by iSport on 108 points from ART on 77.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: GP2 will return to the medium compound Bridgestone Potenzas in Spa because lower temperatures, due to the cooler weather conditions, mean less heat is generated in the tyres at this circuit. The set-up of the car is important in Belgium as teams need to find downforce levels which mean they can maintain balance in the high speed chicane at Eau Rouge and speed on the straights. It's a very smooth circuit and although it's fast, the circuit offers slow, medium and high speed corners. Opportunities for overtaking are at turn one, under braking at the end of the long straight which follows turn four and the final chicane. Typically at Spa the left front tyre shows high wear and this is due to the downhill section which takes drivers through turns 13 to 15. When it rains in Spa it usually continues for a long time, and if we have these conditions at the weekend it will be very important for the drivers to maintain the performance of the GP2 wet specification tyre.