2009 Algarve GP2 Series round explained

Country:Portugal
Grand Prix:Portuguese
Round No:10
Season No:10
Year:2009
Location:Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Portimão, Portugal
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.915
Course Km:4.692
Date R1:19 September
Laps R1:37
Pole Driver Country:Russia
Pole Driver:Vitaly Petrov
Pole Team:Barwa Addax Team
Pole Time:1:30.819
First Driver Country R1:Germany
First Driver R1:Nico Hülkenberg
First Team R1:ART Grand Prix
Second Driver Country R1:Italy
Second Driver R1:Luca Filippi
Second Team R1:Super Nova Racing
Third Driver Country R1:Brazil
Third Driver R1:Lucas di Grassi
Third Team R1:F. B. Racing Engineering
Fast Driver Country R1:Brazil
Fast Driver R1:Diego Nunes
Fast Team R1:iSport International
Fast Time R1:1:32.113
Fast Lap R1:14
Date R2:20 September
Laps R2:24
First Driver Country R2:Italy
First Driver R2:Luca Filippi
First Team R2:Super Nova Racing
Second Driver Country R2:Spain
Second Driver R2:Javier Villa
Second Team R2:Super Nova Racing
Third Driver Country R2:Spain
Third Driver R2:Dani Clos
Third Team R2:F. B. Racing Engineering
Fast Driver Country R2:Germany
Fast Driver R2:Nico Hülkenberg
Fast Team R2:ART Grand Prix
Fast Time R2:1:32.388
Fast Lap R2:10

The 2009 Portuguese GP2 round was the final round of the 2009 GP2 Series season. It was held on September 19 and 20, 2009 at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve at Portimão, Portugal. This race was the only race in the 2009 GP2 Series season that was not acting as a support race for Formula One, instead supporting an 2009 FIA GT Algarve 2 Hours event.

Report

Background

As Nico Hülkenberg claimed the drivers title at the previous round in Monza, only the battle for the Teams championship could be fought in the Algarve. This was the final GP2 race for Hülkenberg, as he will step up to Formula One in . Durango team was forced to also lose this round of not being able to hire any pilot to compete.

Feature race

Vitaly Petrov started on pole for the feature race, with Dani Clos qualifying a career best second. GP2 Champion Hülkenberg started from third on the grid, but got a good start down into turn 1, where he slotted in behind Petrov. After a few laps behind the Russian, Hülkenberg made the decision to pit first. His gamble eventually paid off as after Petrov stopped, Hülkenberg gained the lead and never looked back, winning by 10 seconds. Petrov faded afterwards, by finishing in fourth, with Luca Filippi battling his way through the field to finish second ahead of a surging Lucas di Grassi. Roldán Rodríguez was fifth behind Petrov, with Michael Herck earning his first points in GP2 in sixth, before stewards disqualified him. Kamui Kobayashi finished seventh, while Davide Valsecchi finished eighth, both moved up one place after Herck's disqualification, with Valsecchi scoring his first points for Barwa Addax Team. Andreas Zuber finished ninth but was promoted to the reverse-grid pole. With Hülkenberg winning, both championship battles finished, as he earned enough points for ART Grand Prix to win the teams championship.

Sprint race

The Sprint Race was equally thrilling, with a large collision at the start. Vitaly Petrov struggled to get away in his Barwa Addax car, with the car's anti-stall system kicking in race was red flagged. Most drivers passed him, but Michael Herck was not so lucky and crashed into the back of him, hitting the pit wall afterwards. It ended a miserable weekend for the Romanian, who lost what would have been his first GP2 points finish in Race 1 due to a technical infringement. The crash left the main straight covered with debris and prompted a suspension while the mess was cleaned up. After nearly half an hour the field was led back out behind the safety car, with Coloni's Andreas Zuber leading from Davide Valsecchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi, Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado. Zuber backed the field up at the final corner in preparation for the green flag on lap six, but timed his charge too early and shot past the safety car as it was still entering the pit lane. The top seven, with the exception of Filippi, passed the safety car and were all duly given drive-through penalties. After the penalties were issued, Filippi was in the lead. He never looked back and won by over 4 seconds to claim his first win since 2007, and his team's first win of the season. Sergio Pérez was second on the road ahead of Filippi's team-mate Javier Villa. Dani Clos scored his first points of the season in fourth, with Álvaro Parente and Diego Nunes completing the top six. Pérez lost his second place due to a post-race time penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He slipped to eleventh, giving Super Nova a 1-2 and third place in the teams championship on countback.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverTeamTimeGrid
11 Vitaly PetrovAddax Team1:30.8191
28 Dani ClosRacing Engineering1:30.8592
310 Nico HülkenbergART Grand Prix1:30.8843
47 Lucas di GrassiRacing Engineering1:31.0674
52 Davide ValsecchiAddax Team1:31.1295
65 Roldán RodríguezPiquet GP1:31.3896
76 Alberto ValerioPiquet GP1:31.4187
89 Pastor MaldonadoART Grand Prix1:31.4498
93 Giedo van der GardeiSport International1:31.5329
104 Diego NunesiSport International1:31.56910
1116 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDAMS1:31.60111
1220 Andreas ZuberScuderia Coloni1:31.56912
1314 Luca FilippiSuper Nova Racing1:31.76413
1415 Javier VillaSuper Nova Racing1:31.81214
1511 Sergio PérezArden International1:31.88615
1621 Luiz RaziaScuderia Coloni1:32.14016
1719 Davide RigonTrident Racing1:32.16517
1817 Kamui KobayashiDAMS1:32.18318
1926 Michael HerckDavid Price Racing1:32.37619
2012 Edoardo MortaraArden International1:32.55220
2124 Karun ChandhokOcean Racing Technology1:32.76521
2227 Johnny Cecotto Jr.David Price Racing1:32.80722
2318 Ricardo TeixeiraTrident Racing1:34.08323
2425 Álvaro ParenteOcean Racing Technologyno time24

Race 2

Standings after the round

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Nico Hülkenberg100
2 Vitaly Petrov75
3 Lucas di Grassi63
4 Romain Grosjean45
5 Luca Filippi40
Teams' Championship standings
PosTeamPoints
1 ART Grand Prix136
2 Addax Team122
3 Super Nova Racing67
4 Racing Engineering67
5 iSport International42