FOR MORE! Vandoorne leads an ART 1-2 and delivers the French team the crown. Evans bounces back to double podium finish.

Transcription

1 Following young drivers on their way to the pinnacle of motorsport 92 ISSUE , november 25 Sakhir ROUND 10 GREDDY FOR MORE! Vandoorne leads an ART 1-2 and delivers the French team the crown. Evans bounces back to double podium finish.

2 CONTENT 92 ISSUE , NOVEMBER 25 SAKHIR ROUND 10 FOLLOWING YOUNG DRIVERS ON THEIR WAY TO THE PINNACLE OF MOTORSPORT P4 P6 P8 GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK A DAY IN THE LIFE BEST BITS Who shone and who had a weekend to forget in Round 10? Rio Haryanto. Some of the best, noteworthy facts about round 10 at Sakhir. GREEDY FOR MORE! Vandoorne leads an ART 1-2 and delivers the French team the crown. Evans bounces back to double podium finish. P10 STATS TO CHAT Some of the best stats of the past race weekend. P12 LIGHTNING ROUND Short series of quick-fire questions with newly crowned GP2 Champion Stoffel Vandoorne P14 DIALLING IN An in-depth interview with MP Motorsport s Rene Binder. P16 P18 P20 P22 NEWSFLASH OUR GRADUATES FAN ZONE PIRELLI Q&A with Prema s Team Manager Rene Rosin. Rosberg wins twice as Hamilton claims the title. Round 10 events at Sakhir summed up in the best tweets and instagram pictures! How GP2 tyres are made? P24 EXTRA P26 GAME ZONE P28 #HitMeWithYourBestShot All materials on this e-zine, including, but not limited to copyright, trade marks, live timing data, historical race data, photographs, other images, illustrations, text and written and other materials contained in this e-zine are protected by copyrights, database rights, trademarks and/or other intellectual property rights owned, or used with permission of their owners, by GP2 Motorsport Limited and/or its affiliates. This e-zine as a whole is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. All rights are reserved. The GP2 logo, GP2 SERIES logo, GP3 logo, GP3 SERIES logo, GP2, GP3, GP2 SERIES and GP3 SERIES and related marks are trade marks of GP2 Trade Marks Limited and its affiliates. All rights reserved. Raffaele Marciello & Daniël de Jong. You think you know GP2 better than anyone else? Prove it! Enter the Zone and play. We had loads to choose from, but that s our favourite picture from Round 10. Agree?

3 GOOD WEEK BAD WEEK ART GRAND PRIX They had been waiting for that fourth crown since 2009 ART Grand Prix were able to seal the title last week at Bahrain International in the best possible way: a 1-2 in the feature race, Stoffel Vandoorne ahead of Nobuharu Matsushita. From all of us at The Insider, congratulations for an amazing season! MITCH EVANS The Kiwi never gives up: P15 in free practice and clearly lacking his usual pace, Mitch worked hard with his RUSSIAN TIME team to improve his car. Seventh in qualifying, he put his experience to good use to claim P3 at the chequered flag of the feature race. The following day, he was able to avoid a turn 1 incident at the start of the sprint race and then zoomed past Stoffel Vandoorne and Alex Lynn to take the victory. With a total of 20 points scored at Sakhir, he is now lying fifth in the drivers standings. SERGEY SIROTKIN When the Russian rookie qualified P14 on Thursday at Sakhir, one could have thought that Sergey was having an off-weekend. But true to his fighting spirit, he sliced his way through the field the next day to finish fifth. On Saturday, he ended up one place higher in spite of a delicate start. One week from the season finale, Sergey has reclaimed third in the drivers standings, seven points ahead of Rio Haryanto. DAMS Round 10 could have been so much more for the French team: when Pierre Gasly put his #1 car on pole position, it seemed like he held all the cards to fight for a maiden win. Alas, a lack of pace during the race meant that the Frenchman had to settle for sixth at the chequered flag. On the following day, it was his teammate Alex Lynn who started from reverse pole, but he quickly struggled with tyre degradation and finished third. Still, the French squad can be pleased: they scored a solid 30 points at Sakhir and moved up to third place in the teams standings ahead of Campos Racing. ALEXANDER ROSSI Last time Alexander failed to score points during a race weekend was in Budapest back in July. It was a tough weekend for the American at Bahrain International Circuit: although quickest in free practice, he qualified only ninth. During both races, he showed great pace and his usual aggressiveness, but it was all for nothing in the end. Surely Alexander will want to conclude his strong 2015 season with a much different result next week at Yas Marina Circuit. 5

4 A DAY RIO HARYANTO Driver #15 Campos Racing IN THE LIFE 07:30 Wake up. 08:00 Breakfast with the team. 09:00 Light training and massage with my physio. 10:30 Leave the hotel. 11:30 Campos Technical meeting. 12:30 Photo session for Tag Heuer, my new sponsor. 13:00 Lunch at the GP2 Hospitality. 7 14:30 Warm up with my physio. 15:00 Leave the garage and proceed to the pit lane. FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 15:30 GP2 Race start. 16:30 Interviews with Indonesian media. 17:00 Campos Technical meeting (Race debrief). It will run until 18,30. 19:00 Leave the circuit. 20:00 Dinner with Indonesian media and some guests from Pertamina. 21:30 Return to the hotel. 22:00 Sleep.

5 BEST BITS BEST BITS #Fighter Norman Nato had qualified a strong sixth (his season best) and was fighting for a podium in the feature race until a slow puncture ruined his efforts. The next day, he fought back from the back of the grid to finish P10 in the sprint race. #Complete All the cars took the chequered flag on Friday during the feature race. That s the first time this season this has happened. 9 #WrongOption Only four drivers opted to start the feature race on Soft tyres in the feature race. Unfortunately, this didn t seem to be the winning strategy this time as none of them made it into the points on Friday. #WelcomeBack Daniël de Jong returned to the Series last week at Bahrain International Circuit at the wheel of the Trident car. It had been just over two months since his accident in Spa-Francorchamps. It s good to see that huge smile back in our paddock!

6 STATS TO CHAT STATS FROM SAKHIR Stoffel Vandoorne s winning margin over Nobuharu Matsushita on Friday. It s the largest of the season. The total number of race wins pocketed by Vandoorne so far. He equals Pastor Maldonado s record for the most wins in one season The number of podiums achieved by Vandoorne this season so far. He beats Lewis Hamilton s previous record of 14 podium finishes in one season. The total number of Teams title achieved in GP2 by ART Grand Prix.

7 LIGHTNING ROUND STOFFEL VANDOORNE Driver #5 ART Grand Prix Do you have any nicknames? Not really, just Stoff. That s what everybody at McLaren call me. Stoffel is not a common name to begin with Twitter or Facebook? Twitter because I think it s a bit more professional and easier to get up to date with the latest news. What song is the most played on your ipod? I don t have an ipod (Laughs). I m not that much into music to be honest Do you have any bad habits? Chocolate. Favourite film? I like some movies, but I always forget their titles. I quite like watching TV series such as Prison Break. Last person you received a text from? Probably my mom Last person you rang? My team boss, Fred. Blondes, Redheads, or Brunettes? Brunettes. PS4 or Xbox? I don t have either. Left handed or Right handed? Right handed. Main course or Dessert? Desert, but I don t get to have a lot. Do you have a guilty pleasure? I will have to say chocolate again! Do you have any pets? No. I wanted a dog when I was young, but I wasn t allowed. Soft drink or Bubbly? Soft drink, but I like champagne on the podium! Wet race or Dry race? Wet race. Grid girl or Girl next door? Girl next door. Tennis or football? I played both when I was a kid, but now I don t anymore. Indoor training or Outdoor training? Outdoor. What s the most important thing in life? Happiness. What word or phrase do you use often? I have no idea! (Laughs) If you could have any superpower what would it be? Flying. Describe your perfect Saturday evening? Go out with some friends and chill together. Best advice you ve ever received? In 2011, when I was with the FIA Young Driver Academy, Alex Wurz told us to really believe in our own talent and to never give up our dream. When you re so young and at the early stages of your career, it s always a bit tricky to know your talent, so I think he gave us the confidence to believe in ourselves. n 13

8 15 DIALLING IN RENE BINDER In the Beginning It started quite early: I was probably seven years old when my father bought me a gokart. I was really interested in racing since my dad was a racing driver. At the beginning, I just drove on really small circuits which we built ourselves inside our company. When I was ten Driver #17 MP Motorsport years old, it became a bit more professional, but I only raced in our region in Austria. I remember my first race which took place really close to where I live. It was a regional race. I remember that it was good fun! I was not really nervous. I just sat in the go-kart and drove (Laughs). HEROES I watch a lot of skiing and I follow a lot of the motorsport events. I also watch football. When I was younger, I always followed Michael Schumacher. He raced with my father in Formula 3. When I was eight years old, he was a real hero. He won so many races. But today, Hamilton is one of my favourite drivers along with Vettel. Training I train a lot and I really like it. I do a lot of training in the gym, but I also like to train outdoor like hiking in the mountains. I do some cross-country skiing and some skiing during the winter. It s a good mixture of everything. Most of the time, I train alone, but somebody looks after my programme. For me, training is fun. RACE DAY ROUTINE I don t do anything specific, really. I train every morning on a race weekend. On race day, I try to just relax and focus on my driving. People can come and talk to me before the race, I don t mind. I ve never been nervous before a race. I like the start a lot: it s my favourite part. OFF TRACK I work for my father s company, so outside of the track I spend most of my time there. Basically, if we race on Sunday in Monza, I m back at the office at 7am on Monday. Everybody there knows that I m a racing driver. They ask me quite a lot of questions. We take a lot of our clients to the race tracks nearly every weekend in Europe, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. It s something nice to do: I like to show them this part of our lives. n

9 17 NEWSFLASH Q&A WITH PREMA S TEAM MANAGER RENé ROSIN The 2016 GP2 Series season will welcome Italian squad Prema who will make their first appearance during the post-season tests at Yas Marina Circuit on December. We sat down with team manager René Rosin GP2 Series: Rene, why did you decide to join the GP2 field? René Rosin: After many years of witnessing the success of the GP2 Series we decided it was finally the right time for us to step up to the category. Having achieved so much success in other championships we see this as a new challenge for the team, especially considering that the new car cycle will start in GP2 Series: What will be the biggest challenges for your team to adapt quickly to the Series? René Rosin: Entering in a Series at the end of the cycle is difficult considering all the unknown factors and competing against other teams with many years of experience, but at the same time we see it like a challenging task. All the teams participating are really well prepared, so for us the biggest challenge will be to get the right people involved in this new project working together as fast as possible, in order to be ready for the start of the new season. GP2 Series: How are you getting prepared before the post-season tests at Yas Marina? René Rosin: Basically our aim is to create a structure combining experience in the Series and Prema s heritage, methods and know-how. We will use the Yas Marina test to acknowledge the various dynamics present in the Series. Unfortunately at Yas Marina we will not have our definite structure at 100% since we will still have to rely on Lazarus in some areas for the test, but we are confident it will help us prepare the 2016 season in the best way. GP2 Series: What are your thoughts on the current GP2 season? René Rosin: Vandoorne and ART did an exceptional job and I want to congratulate them personally for the title they won in Sochi. The level of teams and drivers is really impressive in GP2 and this gives us extra motivation to participate in the Series in n

10 OUR IN GRADUATES FORMULA 1 CURRENT STANDINGS #16 UNITED STATES Austin #17 ICO Mexico City #18 ZIL São Paulo Lewis Hamilton Mercedes #44 1st M 2nd M 1 st 2 nd 10 th 9 th 2nd M Nico Rosberg 2nd M 1st M 1st M Nico Hülkenberg NC 7th 6th Sergio Pérez 363 PTS Mercedes #6 297 PTS Force India #27 52 PTS Force India #11 68 PTS 5th 8th 12th Romain Grosjean NC 10th 11 th 14 th 13 th 18 th 20 th Pastor Maldonado Felipe Nasr Marcus Ericsson Alexander Rossi Lotus #8 49 PTS Lotus #13 27 PTS Sauber #9 27 PTS Sauber #12 9 PTS Manor #53 0 PTS 8th 8th 11th 10th 9th NC 13th NC 12th 16th 12th 15th 18th Rosberg wins twice as Hamilton claims the title THEY RAN IN FP1 Raffaele Marciello Sauber #36-19 LAPS Jolyon Palmer Lotus #30 ICO - 24 LAPS ZIL - 33 LAPS Nico Rosberg s current pole run has now extended to five in a row, with two wins out of three at the United States, Mexico and Brazilian Grands Prix, but teammate Lewis Hamilton has taken all the adulation after winning his third World Championship (and his second in a row) to deny the German once again. Rosberg s form has been magisterial, largely dominating his more highly regarded teammate, but the Briton s early season was more consistent en route to another title, with the German having to make do with second place and playing his part in another Mercedes constructor s title after a small mistake in Austin handed the win to Hamilton. Over at Force India it was honours even between teammates Sergio Pérez (5th/8th/12th) and Nico Hülkenberg (DNF/7th/6th) over the last three races, with the German just squeaking ahead in qualifying (6th/10th/5th versus the Mexican s 5th/9th/11th) following another stunning performance in Brazil, a track at which he has previously claimed pole. Competition between the pair is putting both men ahead of where they should be on equipment alone, with both men beating better cars over the last month as they try to get any advantage over their real rivals: each other. Following the pattern of the rest of the season, the last three races have seen Lotus teammates Romain Grosjean alternating with each other to pick up points: the Frenchman has had the edge in qualifying and was rewarded with a tenth (in Mexico) and eighth (in Brazil), while the Venezuelan has generally lined up just behind him and claimed an eighth (in the US) and a tenth (in Brazil) to keep their team s points ticking over in the constructor s contest with Toro Rosso. Alexander Rossi showed that the risk of handing him a F1 race seat during his GP2 season was worth taking, outqualifying teammate Stevens for three races in a row and staying ahead twice, with a car problem dropping him backwards in Brazil for a slightly disappointing finish to his 2015 F1 season. Becoming the first American to race at home since 2007 was a reward in itself, but results of P12/P15/P18 in a Manor with no previous testing is as good as can be expected, and he will now look forward to (hopefully) solidifying second in the GP2 drivers championship before planning his return to the F1 paddock next year. One points finish in three races suggests that Sauber s rivals have caught (and possibly overtaken) the Swiss team since their tremendous start to the season: Felipe Nasr s P9 was the highlight of the last month for the squad as they found themselves looking in their mirrors at the hard charging McLarens. Marcus Ericsson has had the edge over his teammate in qualifying (14th/14th/12th against 15th/15th/13th) but struggled with an electrical fault in Austin, limped to 12th in Mexico with overheating brakes and was punted into a spin in Brazil by Maldonado, while Nasr found points in the US despite five pitstops before retirement in Mexico with burning brakes and scraped ahead of the McLarens in Brazil for a P13 finish. n 19

11 FAN #YourSay ZONE The best of Twitter and Instagram from the paddock and the fans Follow 21 Follow Follow Follow Follow US Follow gp2_official

12 PREVIEW contains all the relevant data about the tyre and allows its usage to be tracked from production to race. The next step, the vulcanisation period during which the tyre is cooked, determines the definitive characteristics of the compound and structure. It also seals in the barcode. Finally there is quality control, which takes in a visual check, weight check and a scan of the tyre similar to an x-ray. The tyre is then ready for dispatch to a race or test. Pirelli s engineers constantly monitor the performance and durability of all the GP2 tyres throughout the season, in line with the evolution of the teams and cars. This information is fed back into the test and development programme, in order to keep the tyres as relevant to the series as possible. n November, ABU DHABI YAS MARINA Yas Marina Circuit SPEED TRAP SECTOR 1 SECTOR SECTOR CIRCUIT LENGTH KM START/FINISH OFFSET KM 9 ROUND 9 ROUND 11 GP3 SERIES GP2 SERIES FEATURE RACE 31 LAPS >> KM SPRINT RACE 22 LAPS >> KM RACE 1 19 LAPS >> KM RACE 2 14 LAPS >> KM TYRES 2015 PRIME: MEDIUM OPTION: SUPERSOFT HOW GP2 TYRES ARE MADE I n Milan, the home of Pirelli, around 50 research engineers and technicians work exclusively on motorsport, including GP2 tyres. The starting points are the physics and chemistry labs, where new compounds and structures are tested, while tyres are also tested virtually using computer simulation. At the motorsport factories in Izmit (Turkey) and Slatina (Romania), physical prototypes are built on the basis of the virtual model. This is when the theory gets turned into practice: the compounds and structure are tailormade and all the components are finally put together. The first physical tests take place at Pirelli s experimental test centre in Milan, where sophisticated machines simulate every race condition and measure all the stresses to which the tyres are subjected. Once various laboratory tests have been concluded, the tyres then get to experience a real circuit. The tyres that have successfully made it through the track tests are then eligible to form part of the final selection offered to GP2 for racing, following the GP2 test programme that takes place throughout the year. In the factories that actually make the GP2 tyres, there are two parallel production lines. One line makes the shoulder and the carcass of the tyre. At the same time, on a parallel line, the belt and tread pattern are produced. Natural rubber, synthetic rubber and other artificial fibres are among the key ingredients. The elements produced by the first two production lines are assembled on a third line which represents the key part of the production process, as a recognisable GP2 tyre is born. The barcode, which acts as the tyre s passport, is then affixed to the tyre. This SOFT LAP RECORD 1: : ( KPH) ( KPH) S. Vandoorne (ART Grand Prix) in 2014 M. Kirchhöfer (ART Grand Prix) in GP2 SERIES - FEATURE RACE (31 LAPS) WINNER S STRATEGY S. Vandoorne (ART Grand Prix) 6 LAPS SUPERSOFT GP2 Series Round 10 - SAKHIR Feature Race Tyre Strategy From Prime: Medium to Option: Soft From Option: Soft to Prime: Medium Vandoorne Medium (used) 21 laps Soft (used) 11 laps Matsushita Medium (used) 20 laps Soft (used) 12 laps Evans Medium (used) 19 laps Soft (used) 13 laps Marciello Medium (new) 21 laps Soft (used) 11 laps Sirotkin Medium (used) 17 laps Soft (used) 15 laps Gasly Medium (new) 21 laps Soft (used) 11 laps Haryanto Medium (used) 18 laps Soft (used) 14 laps Lynn Medium (used) 20 laps Soft (used) 12 laps King Medium (used) 21 laps Soft (used) 11 laps Pic Medium (used) 14 laps Soft (used) 18 laps Canamasas Medium (used) 16 laps Soft (used) 16 laps Stöckinger Medium (new) 17 laps Soft (used) 15 laps Latifi Medium (used) 21 laps Soft (used) 11 laps Markelov Medium (new) 13 laps Soft (used) 19 laps Malja Medium (new) 19 laps Soft (used) 13 laps Negrão Medium (used) 18 laps Soft (used) 14 laps Rossi Medium (new) 18 laps Soft (used) 14 laps De Jong Medium (new) 22 laps Soft (used) 18 laps Binder Medium (used) 20 laps Soft (used) 12 laps Nato Medium (used) 21 laps Soft (used) 4 laps Soft (used) 7 laps Berthon Soft (used) 8 laps Medium (new) 24 laps Stoneman Soft (used) 6 laps Medium (used) 26 laps Rowland Soft (used) 7 laps Medium (used) 25 laps Gelael Soft (used) 11 laps Medium (used) 21 laps 25 LAPS MEDIUM Nicholas Latifi(MP Motorsport) Speed Trap Maximum Speed 2015 SAKHIR FACTS 2015 GP2 SERIES - FEATURE RACE (32 LAPS) WINNER S STRATEGY S. Vandoorne (ART Grand Prix) 22 LAPS MEDIUM 10 LAPS SOFT FASTEST PIT STOP (PIT LANE TRAVEL TIME) N. Matsushita (ART Grand Prix) LAP 21 SPEED TRAP MAXIMUM SPEED (Feature Race) N. Latifi (MP Motorsport) KM/H 23

13 EXTRA The GP2 Series was born ten years ago. How time flies! We wanted to celebrate this anniversary of course. Therefore, we decided to see what this season s drivers looked like in We will reveal new drivers in each issue this year. This week, we present you Trident s duo Raffaele Marciello and Daniël de Jong. How cute were they? 25

14 GP2 GAME ZONE Enter the zone to accept the challenge! Answer our trivia question, work out which 3 drivers helmet designs we ve mixed up and name that race from the photo. Got it? GP2 TRIVIA NAME THAT RACE MIND BOGGLE 27 #GP2TRIVIA #NTRGP2 #GP2MINDBOGGLE Recognise these helmet designs? Name the drivers.

15 29 #HitMeWithYourBestShot When Friday November, 20 _ 16:07 Where Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. Who Alexander Rossi (Racing Engineering). Whom Alastair Staley With CANON EOS -1D X EF300mm f/2.8l IS USM 250 ISO 300mm F3.5