Grand Prix Rejects

thehemogoblin wrote:Rare is the unsponsored [] driver.

Fixed.

However: Pérez and especially Gutierrez seem to be genuinely talented.

P_Friesacher wrote:

thehemogoblin wrote:Rare is the unsponsored [] driver.

Fixed.

However: Pérez and especially Gutierrez seem to be genuinely talented.

I was just saying it takes more money to get that high for American drivers.

Yes definetly chassis is better than the current HRT one.

Viresh wrote:Yes definetly chassis is better than the current HRT one.

OK, so HRT is pathetic, but they haven't sunk to those depths.

Why in the >F1 Rejects< Forum are we slagging off HRT? They made it to the grid, unlike Stefan or USF1.

And Viresh, if you arent a bot, SPEAK NOW, or forever hold your pastes.

As a Norewgian I follow this with great interest these days. After the F1 race in Abu Dhabi, there will be a GP2 test. And Pål Varhaug, will test for DAMS, and rumours say that they really want him for 2011. I'm really hoping this can become a possibility for the first Norwegian F1-driver ever!

He seems to be a quality driver. Although I was more impressed by what he did in Intl. Formula Master than by his level of success in GP3.

Varhaug won the opening race in the season in Barcelona, but has done little of note since (finished 13th overall with the 10 points for that win the only points scored all year.) He's not the only one; Renger van der Zande suffered rotten luck with reliabilty. He probs could have won the 2009 British F3 crown if it hadn't been for team orders requiring Grubmuller to beat him. Nico Muller and Rob Wickens have really impressed me; Wickens has been at this level for ages and has a superlicense having finised 2nd in F2 last year. He was also a winner in A1 GP if anyone can remember back that far!!!

Rio Haryanto who was unheard of before this year will test for Virgin at Abu Dhabi also as the highest placed Manor driver (the team who runs Virgin Racing.) bortolotti was disappointing, he has now lost his red bull and ferrari backing, and the 2008 italian f3 champ should have done better than 11th. Well done though to Dean Smith, who finished 7th, after winning the BRDC Autosport Award last year. Title ctrack for 2011?? Alex rossi the american may do gp2 asia again, i would expect him to ste up with gutierrez and muller and co to gp2.

jpm wrote:Varhaug won the opening race in the season in Barcelona, but has done little of note since (finished 13th overall with the 10 points for that win the only points scored all year.) He's not the only one; Renger van der Zande suffered rotten luck with reliabilty. He probs could have won the 2009 British F3 crown if it hadn't been for team orders requiring Grubmuller to beat him. Nico Muller and Rob Wickens have really impressed me; Wickens has been at this level for ages and has a superlicense having finised 2nd in F2 last year. He was also a winner in A1 GP if anyone can remember back that far!!!

Rio Haryanto who was unheard of before this year will test for Virgin at Abu Dhabi also as the highest placed Manor driver (the team who runs Virgin Racing.) bortolotti was disappointing, he has now lost his red bull and ferrari backing, and the 2008 italian f3 champ should have done better than 11th. Well done though to Dean Smith, who finished 7th, after winning the BRDC Autosport Award last year. Title ctrack for 2011?? Alex rossi the american may do gp2 asia again, i would expect him to ste up with gutierrez and muller and co to gp2.

Rio Haryanto, the first Indonesian in F1? Sentul added to the F1 calendar? That would be awful (the latter, not the former).

In Formula 2, no one seems to notice that Plamen Kralev picked up a point for 10th in Monza! Good on the young...I mean old lad.

watka wrote:Rio Haryanto, the first Indonesian in F1? Sentul added to the F1 calendar? That would be awful (the latter, not the former).

I'd prefer Lippo Village (the Tilke street track A1GP wanted to race on).

So the GP2 season is back up and running, after the Asia Series which, of course, doesn't really count. So just gonna give this all-purpose thread a bit of an aul 'bump' to remind you all that these series exist.

In the first race today Rmn Grsjn won from Sam Bird, probably by virtue of being the only ex-F1 man in the field. Who knows how many future F1 men we have though? Personally, my hopes lie in Fairuz Fauzy, to carry the Yoong tradition of Malaysia into the pinnacle of motorsport.

GP3 I know less of, due to the lack of flamboyantly haired 2009reject action, but there are some drivers who seem to be on the radar of F1 - Valeri Bottas and Nico Muller are both names I've heard mentioned in relation to young driver programmes, there are probably several others if I was bothered to check.


Anyway, yes, GP2 and GP3, once again a part of the F1 circus. Hopefully something interesting will happen.

GP2 needed a little over two corners before first flip of the season, GP3 almost four laps.

Drivers in the 2011 GP2 series

Rapax
1 Fabio Leimer
2 Julián Leal

Barwa Addax Team
3 Charles Pic
4 Giedo van der Garde

Lotus ART
5 Jules Bianchi
6 Esteban Gutiérrez

Racing Engineering
7 Dani Clos
8 Christian Vietoris

iSport International
9 Sam Bird
10 Marcus Ericsson

DAMS
11 Romain Grosjean
12 Pål Varhaug

Arden International
14 Josef Král
15 Jolyon Palmer

Super Nova Racing
16 Fairuz Fauzy
17 Luca Filippi

Scuderia Coloni
18 Michael Herck
19 Davide Rigon

Trident Racing
20 Rodolfo González
21 Stefano Coletti

Ocean Racing Technology
22 Kevin Mirocha
23 Johnny Cecotto, Jr.

Carlin
24 Max Chilton
25 Mikhail Aleshin

Team AirAsia
26 Luiz Razia
27 Davide Valsecchi

Of these, I'd certainly say Grosjean and Bianchi were favourites, but Sam Bird is the British Kamui Kobayashi as far as swashbuckling overtaking manouveres are concerned! Aleshin looks quality , having beaten Red Bull man Daniel Riccairdo and my hero Esteban Guerrieri to last years F. Renault 3.5 championship (although he has hardly any funding) whilst Gutierrez (although he is Sauber's test driver and reigning GP3 champ) I don;t rate highly; he was poor in F3, and had a poor GP2 Asia series. Vietrois could be one to look out for; in his 2nd year, he's dovetailing GP2 with the DTM (why not ) whilst Davide Rigon is a twice Superleague Formula champion and Marcus Ericcson is the protege of one Kenny Brack, who has followed in Adrian sutil's footstepts by winning Japanese F3. The two Addax drivers should also be ones to look out for.

Drivers in the 2011 GP3 series

Lotus ART
1 Pedro Nunes
2 Valtteri Bottas
3 James Calado

Status Grand Prix
4 Alexander Sims
5 António Félix da Costa
6 Ivan Lukashevich

Jenzer Motorsport
7 Nico Müller
8 Maxim Zimin
9 Vittorio Ghirelli

Marussia Manor Racing
10 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
11 Rio Haryanto
12 Matias Laine

Carlin
14 Conor Daly
15 Tom Dillmann
16 Leonardo Cordeiro

Tech 1 Racing
17 Aaro Vainio
18 Andrea Caldarelli
19 Tamás Pál Kiss

ATECH CRS GP
20 Marlon Stöckinger
21 Nick Yelloly
22 Zoël Amberg

Addax Team
23 Dominic Storey
24 Gabriel Chaves
25 Dean Smith

MW Arden
26 Mitch Evans
27 Simon Trummer
28 Lewis Williamson

RSC Mücke Motorsport
29 Luciano Bacheta
30 Michael Christensen
31 Nigel Melker

Many more quality drivers in this packed field too; the last two McLaren-Autosport BRDC winners in a row, in the shape of Dean Smith and Lewis Williamson, last years 3rd place Nico Muller (who has the continuity of remaining with the same team), Mitch Evans, the fastest kid from New Zeland since Scott Dixon in Indycar, Cconor Daly, who is currently leading in the Indy Lights championship and is of course Derek Daly's son, Valterri Bottas, the reigning double champion of the Zandvoort GP Masters (the only man ever to win it twice) who is also managed by Mika Hakkinen, his great rival from Euro F3 Alexander sims (who is backed by the same Gravity management company that owns Reanult F1) and JAmes Calado, who has Racing steps backing and was second in last years British F3 series behind Jean Eric Vergne.

Yet Nigel Melker dominated the first race, and he has very little pedigree at all!! However, the winner of last year's GP3 season opener Pal Varhuag didn't score another point all season, so its early days yet...

Anyone know what Craig Dolby is up to this year?

I would assume still Superleague Formula, because most other international single steater championships have already started.

I don't care what everyone says, I still count Bianchi as Belgian

Shame for Davide rigon, who was injured today after being taken out in a doushy move by Julian Leal; did he think that pulling off that move would make him better than Alonso??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQdDzu_LaU

jpm wrote:Shame for Davide rigon, who was injured today after being taken out in a doushy move by Julian Leal; did he think that pulling off that move would make him better than Alonso??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQdDzu_LaU

Suspected multiple fractures to left ankle and foot. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91260

With a great start to this year GP2 championship, Sam Bird might be a driver to watch. It might be a revelation since he never won a open-wheel championship in is career (the best is a 2nd in 2005 Formula BMW).

tommykl wrote:I don't care what everyone says, I still count Bianchi as Belgian

if we would be correct, bot he, his father mauro and his uncle lucien would be more italian than belgian (and mauro was allways racing under french nationality)
i think he should take the luxemburg nationality.

rrmmmmmmnnnnnnn grrrrrrrrrjjjjjjjjjnnnnnnnnnn (was that spelled correctly?) for champion!

Thought I might revive this thread the news that The GP3 series will visit Monaco in 2012.

I predict a demolition derby if GP2 last year is anything to go by

Bruno Michel - the promoter - reckons they might need to split qualifying in two to accomodate the sheer number of cars. That said, GP3 is looking at regulation changes that will make third cars optional rather than compulsory, so there could be as few as 21 cars out there (MW Arden have already got three drivers).

just a quick question are the GP2/3 races broadcast in the uk, if so which channel?

WeirdKerr wrote:just a quick question are te GP2/3 races broadcast in the uk, if so which channel?

They're being broadcast live on Sky as well if my memory is correct.

WeirdKerr wrote:just a quick question are the GP2/3 races broadcast in the uk, if so which channel?

Does anyone know if GP3 races will be broadcasted in the US? I know GP2 races are showed on delay on Sunday mornings but I don't know where I can find GP3. SPEED does have an online streaming channel called SPEED2 where they show everything from Auto GP to V8s but I don't know if they'll be running GP3.

Hope no one minds this being resurrected, given that the GP2 Series starts again early tomorrow morning (3 a.m. UK time) with the feature race at Sepang. It should be an interesting race as a lot of the top drivers (Gutiérrez and Ericsson particularly) have qualified quite far down the grid and so will probably be making up a lot of places.

Also, GP2 has its very own reject drivers: Ricardo Teixeira, the Sonangol-backed 'Angolan' driver who has never scored a point in GP2 and even failed to qualify at Monaco; and Giancarlo Serenelli, the oldest driver on the grid, who arrived in GP2 thanks to having a Venezuelan passport and arrives fresh from winning three LATAM Challenge Series championship - essentially a Latin American Formula VW championship - despite never having scored the most points.

What????????????? Razia was second? Now, were did that came from?

This year I will be cheering on Nathanaël Berthon, I've been following him for a few years now and despite being 18th I have higher hopes for the rest of the season!

DanielPT wrote:What????????????? Razia was second? Now, were did that came from?

He used the options to qualify, and they were faster than the primes. If that's the case tomorrow, and it doesn't rain (which will affect everyone), he will get mugged by the drivers who still have options left. And anyway, he's not an awful driver, but there are better ones. Gutierrez's qualifying was probably let down by the fact that Cecotto smashed his suspension up in free practice, so he didn't get much running.

There's no way I'll get to see this race, but... might my Astra 1 dish be any use for finding channels which broadcast GP2? This time, I really don't mind if the commentary's in foreign.

dinizintheoven wrote:There's no way I'll get to see this race, but... might my Astra 1 dish be any use for finding channels which broadcast GP2? This time, I really don't mind if the commentary's in foreign.

Not sure whether it's true, but apparently La Sexta in Spain broadcast it.

Backmarker wrote:

DanielPT wrote:What????????????? Razia was second? Now, were did that came from?

He used the options to qualify, and they were faster than the primes. If that's the case tomorrow, and it doesn't rain (which will affect everyone), he will get mugged by the drivers who still have options left. And anyway, he's not an awful driver, but there are better ones. Gutierrez's qualifying was probably let down by the fact that Cecotto smashed his suspension up in free practice, so he didn't get much running.

Welp, I was wrong about Razia. He was peerless, taking the lead off the line and holding it all race. Calado and Gutiérrez line up first and second for the sprint race, I think one of them will probably win.

Just watched it, they played a 10 minute brazilian national anthem the drivers were trying not to laugh! Carlin on he podium:)

Backmarker wrote:Welp, I was wrong about Razia. He was peerless, taking the lead off the line and holding it all race. Calado and Gutiérrez line up first and second for the sprint race, I think one of them will probably win.

It was nice to get one prediction right this weekend! Calado won from first on the grid, holding off his team-mate all race, and looked good in the process. I would love to see him get a go at the Young Driver Test at the end of the season (and I think he probably will).

I should warn that if Razia wins this years GP2 I won't change much my opinion of him. A pay-driver. I will just change my opinion about GP2 as a feeder series...

Backmarker wrote:

Backmarker wrote:Welp, I was wrong about Razia. He was peerless, taking the lead off the line and holding it all race. Calado and Gutiérrez line up first and second for the sprint race, I think one of them will probably win.

It was nice to get one prediction right this weekend! Calado won from first on the grid, holding off his team-mate all race, and looked good in the process. I would love to see him get a go at the Young Driver Test at the end of the season (and I think he probably will).

I was planning to bet on Calado winning the series, good odds maybe...?

EDIT - Just checked, 16-1 on sportingbet. Ricardo Teixeira is 2500-1. LOL...

BaconLettuceNinja wrote:

Backmarker wrote:

Backmarker wrote:Welp, I was wrong about Razia. He was peerless, taking the lead off the line and holding it all race. Calado and Gutiérrez line up first and second for the sprint race, I think one of them will probably win.

It was nice to get one prediction right this weekend! Calado won from first on the grid, holding off his team-mate all race, and looked good in the process. I would love to see him get a go at the Young Driver Test at the end of the season (and I think he probably will).

I was planning to bet on Calado winning the series, good odds maybe...?

EDIT - Just checked, 16-1 on sportingbet. Ricardo Teixeira is 2500-1. LOL...

I wouldn't take betting advice from me, but 16-1 seems good odds to me. Over the course of the season I would expect Gutierrez to have the better of him - he probably would have done better had he not had his accident in practice - so I personally don't think he'll win the series, but it's definitely more likely than Teixeira. I suppose it couldn't hurt to bung a quid on Teixeira...shorter odds than Karthikeyan winning the F1 championship! You'll never see your money again, but if he suddenly becomes a great driver you'll win a nice amount for next to no outlay.

Backmarker wrote:

BaconLettuceNinja wrote:I was planning to bet on Calado winning the series, good odds maybe...?

EDIT - Just checked, 16-1 on sportingbet. Ricardo Teixeira is 2500-1. LOL...

I wouldn't take betting advice from me, but 16-1 seems good odds to me. Over the course of the season I would expect Gutierrez to have the better of him - he probably would have done better had he not had his accident in practice - so I personally don't think he'll win the series, but it's definitely more likely than Teixeira. I suppose it couldn't hurt to bung a quid on Teixeira...shorter odds than Karthikeyan winning the F1 championship! You'll never see your money again, but if he suddenly becomes a great driver you'll win a nice amount for next to no outlay.

Err...why is Rodolfo Gonzalez 750/1 while Tom Dillmann is only 200/1? Where is the sense in that?!

Marcus Ericsson at 12/1 doesn't seem like a bad shout either.

Shame sportingbet don't do GP3, I wouldn't mind putting a wager on Antonio Felix da Costa winning, consideirng he was 13th last season for Status he would have good odds too.