2008 UAE 1st GP2 Asia Series round explained

Country:	UAE
Grand Prix:	UAE
Round No:	1
Season No:	5
Season:	2008
Year:	2008
Location:	Dubai Autodrome in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Course:	Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:	2.666
Course Km:	4.290
Date R1:	25 January
Laps R1:	42 (180.180 km)
Pole Driver Country:	FRA
Pole Driver:	Romain Grosjean
Pole Team:	ART Grand Prix
Pole Time:	1:21.760
First Driver Country R1:	FRA
First Driver R1:	Romain Grosjean
First Team R1:	ART Grand Prix
Second Driver Country R1:	BRA
Second Driver R1:	Bruno Senna
Second Team R1:	iSport International
Third Driver Country R1:	ESP
Third Driver R1:	Andy Soucek
Third Team R1:	DPR
Fast Driver Country R1:	BRA
Fast Driver R1:	Bruno Senna
Fast Team R1:	iSport International
Fast Time R1:	1:22.462
Fast Lap R1:	40
Date R2:	26 January
Laps R2:	28 (120.120 km)
First Driver Country R2:	FRA
First Driver R2:	Romain Grosjean
First Team R2:	ART Grand Prix
Second Driver Country R2:	MYS
Second Driver R2:	Fairuz Fauzy
Second Team R2:	Super Nova Racing
Third Driver Country R2:	IND
Third Driver R2:	Karun Chandhok
Third Team R2:	iSport International
Fast Driver Country R2:	FRA
Fast Driver R2:	Romain Grosjean
Fast Team R2:	ART Grand Prix
Fast Time R2:	1:22.453
Fast Lap R2:	23

The 2008 UAE 1st GP2 Asia Series round was a GP2 Asia Series motor race held on 25 and 26 January 2008 at Dubai Autodrome in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was the first round of the 2008 GP2 Asia Series.

Classification

Qualifying

		Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	4	Romain Grosjean	ART Grand Prix	1:21.760		1
2	2	Bruno Senna	iSport International	1:21.809	+0.049	2
3	23	Andy Soucek	DPR	1:21.859	+0.099	3
4	1	Karun Chandhok	iSport International	1:21.963	+0.203	4
5	16	Adrián Vallés	Fisichella Motor Sport International	1:22.180	+0.420	5
6	27	Luca Filippi	Qi-Meritus Mahara	1:22.187	+0.427	6
7	21	Marco Bonanomi	Piquet Sports	1:22.373	+0.613	7
8	26	Hiroki Yoshimoto	Qi-Meritus Mahara	1:22.469	+0.709	8
9	14	Davide Valsecchi	Durango	1:22.485	+0.725	9
10	11	Sébastien Buemi	Trust Team Arden	1:22.520	+0.760	10
11	10	Kamui Kobayashi	DAMS	1:22.556	+0.796	11
12	19	Ho-Pin Tung	Trident Racing	1:22.595	+0.835	12
13	8	Fairuz Fauzy	Super Nova Racing	1:22.874	+1.114	13
14	15	Alberto Valerio	Durango	1:22.891	+1.131	14
15	7	Christian Bakkerud	Super Nova Racing	1:22.947	+1.187	15
16	18	Harald Schlegelmilch	Trident Racing	1:23.048	+1.288	16
17	6	Diego Nunes	Barwa International Campos Team	1:23.190	+1.430	17
18	24	Miloš Pavlović	BCN Competicion	1:23.240	+1.480	18
19	3	Stephen Jelley	ART Grand Prix	1:23.637	+1.877	19
20	12	Adam Khan	Trust Team Arden	1:23.859	+2.099	20
21	9	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	1:23.867	+2.107	21
22	25	Jason Tahincioglu	BCN Competicion	1:23.941	+2.181	22
23	17	Michael Herck	Fisichella Motor Sport International	1:24.078	+2.318	23
24	20	Marcello Puglisi	Piquet Sports	1:24.378	+2.618	24
25	22	Armaan Ebrahim	DPR	1:24.864	+3.104	25
26	5	Vitaly Petrov	Barwa International Campos Team	No time		26
Source:^[1]

Feature race

		Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Romain Grosjean	ART Grand Prix	42	59:25.309	1	10+2
2	2	Bruno Senna	iSport International	42	+12.358	2	8+1
3	23	Andy Soucek	DPR	42	+17.347	3	6
4	16	Adrián Vallés	Fisichella Motor Sport International	42	+17.768	5	5
5	27	Luca Filippi	Qi-Meritus Mahara	42	+18.309	6	4
6	26	Hiroki Yoshimoto	Qi-Meritus Mahara	42	+28.209	8	3
7	1	Karun Chandhok	iSport International	42	+36.568	4	2
8	8	Fairuz Fauzy	Super Nova Racing	42	+40.767	13	1
9	15	Alberto Valerio	Durango	42	+46.218	14
10	24	Miloš Pavlović	BCN Competicion	42	+59.581	18
11	9	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	42	+1:00.029	21
12	6	Diego Nunes	Barwa International Campos Team	42	+1:02.146	17
13	10	Kamui Kobayashi	DAMS	42	+1:02.634	11
14	18	Harald Schlegelmilch	Trident Racing	42	+1:09:902	16
15	3	Stephen Jelley	ART Grand Prix	42	+1:24.834	19
16	20	Marcello Puglisi	Piquet Sports	41	+1 lap	24
17	14	Davide Valsecchi	Durango	41	+1 lap	9
18	12	Adam Khan	Trust Team Arden	41	+1 lap	20
19	25	Jason Tahincioglu	BCN Competicion	41	+1 lap	22
20	21	Marco Bonanomi	Piquet Sports	41	+1 lap	7
21	22	Armaan Ebrahim	DPR	40	+2 laps	25
22	19	Ho-Pin Tung	Trident Racing	40	+2 laps	12
Ret	17	Michael Herck	Fisichella Motor Sport International	10	Retired	23
Ret	7	Christian Bakkerud	Super Nova Racing	6	Retired	15
DNS	5	Vitaly Petrov	Barwa International Campos Team	0	Gearbox	26
DSQ	11	Sébastien Buemi	Trust Team Arden	42	Disqualified	10
Source:^[2]

Notes:

• – Vitaly Petrov did not start due to a gearbox failure.
• – Sébastien Buemi finished seventh but was disqualified because the car's side skirts did not meet the technical regulations.^[3]

Sprint race

		Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Romain Grosjean	ART Grand Prix	28	43:32.991	8	6+1
2	8	Fairuz Fauzy	Super Nova Racing	28	+3.778	1	5
3	1	Karun Chandhok	iSport International	28	+5.974	2	4
4	26	Hiroki Yoshimoto	Qi-Meritus Mahara	28	+12.147	3	3
5	15	Alberto Valerio	Durango	28	+12.854	9	2
6	14	Davide Valsecchi	Durango	28	+18.367	17	1
7	23	Andy Soucek	DPR	28	+19.360	6
8	9	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	28	+25.052	11
9	5	Vitaly Petrov	Barwa International Campos Team	28	+25.687	25
10	19	Ho-Pin Tung	Trident Racing	28	+26.339	22
11	7	Christian Bakkerud	Super Nova Racing	28	+28.754	24
12	3	Stephen Jelley	ART Grand Prix	28	+34.481	15
12	21	Marco Bonanomi	Piquet Sports	28	+35.562	20
14	24	Miloš Pavlović	BCN Competicion	28	+36.624	10
15	12	Adam Khan	Trust Team Arden	28	+43.462	18
16	25	Jason Tahincioglu	BCN Competicion	28	+48.157	19
17	17	Michael Herck	Fisichella Motor Sport International	28	+48.750	23
18	18	Harald Schlegelmilch	Trident Racing	27	+1 lap	14
19	2	Bruno Senna	iSport International	27	+1 lap	7
Ret	22	Armaan Ebrahim	DPR	19	Retired	21
Ret	27	Luca Filippi	Qi-Meritus Mahara	4	Retired	4
Ret	16	Adrián Vallés	Fisichella Motor Sport International	0	Retired	5
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	DAMS	0	Retired	13
Ret	20	Marcello Puglisi	Piquet Sports	0	Retired	16
Ret	11	Sébastien Buemi	Trust Team Arden	0	Retired	26
DNS	6	Diego Nunes	Barwa International Campos Team	0	Fuel leak	12
Source:^[4]

Notes:

• – Diego Nunes did not start due to a fuel leak.

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings

		Driver	Points
	1	Romain Grosjean	19
	2	Bruno Senna	9
	3	Fairuz Fauzy	6
	4	Karun Chandhok	6
	5	Andy Soucek	6

Teams' Championship standings

		Team	Points
	1	ART Grand Prix	19
	2	iSport International	15
	3	Qi-Meritus Mahara	10
	4	Super Nova Racing	6
	5	DPR	6

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2008 UAE 1st Speedcar Series round

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grosjean takes pole . 5 January 2022 . Pitpass.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20100106191916/http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=33777 . 6 January 2010 . dead.
2. Web site: Grosjean takes dominant Dubai win . 26 July 2022 . Autosport.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080128150858/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64856 . 28 January 2008 . dead.
3. Web site: Buemi excluded for infringement . 5 January 2022 . Autosport.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080129015605/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64858 . 29 January 2008 . dead.
4. Web site: Grosjean storms to second Dubai win . 26 July 2022 . Autosport.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080129002607/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64862 . 29 January 2008 . dead.