24/09/2007
NEWS STORY
The Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series returns to Spain for its final round, where two races on Bridgestone's medium compound GP2 slick racing Potenza will be played out at the Valencia circuit on September 29-30.
The Series had its first European round in Barcelona back in May so this will be the second visit to Spain this season. Unlike every other round, the two races in Valencia are not held as part of a Formula One Grand Prix. Formula One will instead be in action on the same weekend, at the Japanese circuit of Mount Fuji, where the GP2 Series champions from 2005 and 2006, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, as well as the rest of the F1 field, will also be racing on Bridgestone Potenza tyres.
Just like every previous year, the battle to win this year's GP2 title continues to the final round. German driver Timo Glock (iSport) currently holds a mere two point lead over Brazilian rival Lucas di Grassi (ART), meaning the title is very much up for grabs. Both drivers have been linked to F1 roles for 2008 but winning the hotly contested GP2 Series title will truly cement their credentials.
Valencia will be the sixth race this season that the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza GP2 tyre will be used. Earlier in the season it was raced in Bahrain, France, Germany, Hungary and Belgium. Seven drivers have won races using this tyre in 2007, with Javier Villa (Racing Engineering) taking three wins, Nicolas Lapierre (DAMS) taking two wins and Luca Filippi (Super Nova) , Giorgio Pantano (Campos), Timo Glock (iSport), Adam Carroll (FMS) and Karun Chandhok (Durango) each taking a single win.
The 2006 GP2 Series season started in Valencia and Nelson Piquet Jr (Piquet Sports) and Michael Ammermuller (Arden) scored wins. Heading to Valencia, Glock still leads the drivers' championship, with 79 points, just two points ahead of Lucas di Grassi (ART) on 77. Filippi remains in third with 58 points. In the teams' championship, iSport International lead on 109 points followed by ART Grand Prix on 87 and Super Nova International, closing the gap, with 77.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: Valencia is an anti-clockwise circuit which means the tyres on the right-hand side of the car will typically show more wear due to the stress they are under, the same stress which the left-hand side tyres experience at all clockwise circuits. Valencia is a track with many corners, meaning teams will run with higher levels of downforce for increased speed through the consecutive turns. Understeer is generally experienced more than oversteer at Valencia as a result of these numerous tight corners. Overtaking is difficult in the first corner as it is fast and challenging, but drivers do have the opportunity to overtake at turn two, the turn following the short straight and the final corner.