2008–09 GP2 Asia Series
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Alex_Yoong.jpg/220px-Alex_Yoong.jpg)
The 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season was the second season of the GP2 Asia Series. It began on 18 October 2008 and ended on 26 April 2009 and consisted of eleven races at six events.
Season summary
All teams from the 2008 GP2 Series season except for Racing Engineering took part in the competition, with the thirteenth slot being filled by Qi-Meritus Mahara. The reigning champion Romain Grosjean did not defend his title.
Kamui Kobayashi clinched the title with a fourth place at the penultimate race in Bahrain. 8 different winners were in 12 races: Kamui Kobayashi become champion, after Japanese won in two consecutive feature races at Dubai Autodrome, and at Bahrain International Circuit.
Diego Nunes won the last two feature races at Sepang International Circuit, and at Bahrain International Circuit. Roldán Rodríguez wins in first race of the season. Nico Hülkenberg, Luiz Razia, Vitaly Petrov, Davide Valsecchi, and Sergio Pérez each other won one race.
Teams and drivers
All of the teams used the Dallara GP2/05 chassis with Renault-badged 4.0 litre (244 cu in) naturally-aspirated Mecachrome V8 engines order and with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.
* – Team was known as BCN Competición at round one in Shanghai, before Tiago Monteiro bought over the team's assets and renamed it as Ocean Racing Technology.[30]
Calendar
On 12 July, GP2 Series organisers announced a provisional calendar for their second season. Unlike the first season of the GP2 Asia Series, this season will start prior to the new year, and be expanded to six events from the previous five. The Indonesian round has been dropped, while Bahrain earns a second event and Shanghai earns its first GP2 races. Shanghai will also host the official GP2 Asia Series test session prior to the start of the season.[31]
The sprint race of the second round of the championship – at the Dubai Autodrome – was cancelled due to flooding.[32]
On 17 December, an alteration was made to the calendar, with the Losail International Circuit in Qatar replacing the February meeting in Dubai. The meeting was also moved to February 12–14 because the original date on the calendar was unsuitable, due to MotoGP testing. This event introduced night racing to GP2, following the circuit's lead with MotoGP and its support classes and also Formula One's night race in Singapore.[33]
Race Calendar
Championship standings
- Scoring system
Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 6 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race will also receive two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.
|
|
Drivers' Championship
|
|
Notes:
- † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Teams' Championship
|
|
Notes:
- † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Notes
- ^ Zuber is an Austrian driver who competed under an Emirati racing licence.
- ^ Chen is a Taiwan driver who competed under a United States racing licence.
- ^ Sakon Yamamoto set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Javier Villa[34] was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Diego Nunes set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jérôme d'Ambrosio[35] was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Álvaro Parente set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Nico Hülkenberg[36] was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Jérôme d'Ambrosio set the fastest time in qualifying, but did not start due to gearbox problems. The pole position remained empty on the grid. Diego Nunes was the first driver on the grid in second place. d'Ambrosio is still considered to hold the pole position.
- ^ Javier Villa set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. James Jakes[37] was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Jérôme d'Ambrosio recorded the fastest time in the time trial, but got a ten-place penalty after receiving a black flag in the previous Malaysian sprint race. Kamui Kobayashi was identified for the race pole position.
References
- ^ Sakon Yamamoto: official GP2 Asia driver of ART Archived 2008-10-09 at the Wayback Machine art-grandprix.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Freeman, Glenn, ed. (October 2008). "Japan leads GP2 Asia charge". Autosport. 194 (3): 22–23.
- ^ "Maldonado to race for ART in 2009". autosport.com. 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ "Hulkenberg takes pole on GP2 debut". Autosport.com. 2009-01-22. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
- ^ a b "Razia joins Arden, Villa to Super Nova". GPUpdate.net. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "GP2: Trust Team Arden Confirm Mika Maki and Luiz Razia for GP2 Asia 2008/09". Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ "Van der Zande to replace Maki in Dubai". GPUpdate.net. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Mortara signs for Arden". autosport.com. 2009-01-21. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^ Campos Racing Archived 2008-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Van der Garde joins iSport for Asia Series". GPUpdate.net. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Al Fardan joins GFH iSport". GPUpdate.net. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ "Gonzalez joins Fisichella for GP2 Asia". autosport.com. 2009-01-21. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^ "Durango and Valsecchi extend contract". GPUpdate.net. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ GP2: Iaconelli to team with valsecchi at shanghai durango.it
- ^ "Durango signs teen for Asia campaign". crash.net. 2008-12-01. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ My Team Qi-Meritus.Mahara signs Alex Yoong
- ^ "Bonanomi replaces Yoong at Meritus". autosport.com. 2009-01-17. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-17.
- ^ GP2: Meritus confirms Kiwi to second seat crash.net
- ^ "Parente joins Meritus for Qatar". autosport.com. 2009-02-11. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ GP2: Piquet GP & Rodríguez together for GP2 Asia and GP2 Main Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Piquet GP official site – 23.09.2008.
- ^ GP2: Diego Nunes second car in GP2 Asia Series Archived 2008-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Piquet GP official site – 07.10.2008.
- ^ a b "Sekiguchi joins DPR for Asia campaign". crash.net. 2008-10-15. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- ^ a b "Driver changes aplenty in Dubai". crash.net. 2008-12-04. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- ^ GP2: Filippi back with BCN Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine crash.net
- ^ a b "Ocean sign Crestani as second driver". autosport.com. 2008-12-02. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ "08/09 GP2 Asia Series – Round 6". GP2 Asia Series. 2009-04-23. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ^ a b "Trident names new pairing". crash.net. 2009-01-21. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^ "08/09 GP2 Asia Series – Round 5". GP2 Asia Series. 2009-04-02. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ "Rigon replaces Valles at Trident". autosport.com. 2009-02-10. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^ "Tiago Monteiro confirms the acquisition of GP2 team". tiagomonteiro.com. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-11-27.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "GP2 Asia 2008–09 Calendar". UpdateF1.com. 2008-07-12. Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- ^ "Floods force cancellation of Dubai race". autosport.com. 2008-12-06. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
- ^ "Qatar night race for Asia Series". autosport.com. 2008-12-17. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ "Sprint race - GP2 Asia: Chinese 2008". Pitpass.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
- ^ "Sprint race - GP2 Asia: Bahrain 2009". Pitpass.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Feature race - GP2 Asia: Qatar 2009". Pitpass.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Feature race - GP2 Asia: Malaysian 2009". Pitpass.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
External links
- GP2 Series official website
- GP2 Asia Series fansite