gp2-giorgio-pantano-dominates-race-istanbul-romain-grosjean-andreas-zuber

Giorgio Pantano has claimed his first win of the season in style, leading all the way from start to finish despite a safety car period, storming his way to the chequered flag ahead of Romain Grosjean and Andreas Zuber.

When the lights went out the Italian disappeared from pole, while Grosjean made an equally good start to get past a bogged down Adam Carroll and slide inside Zuber into turn one. Behind them was mayhem as Pastor Maldonado was pushed wide, Sébastien Buemi was tapped into a spin, while Ben Hanley spinning in avoidance behind him. Carroll's poor start pushed him back into the pack as did Bruno Senna's, who soon suffered the added discomfort of losing a piece of his front wing in an accident.

As the top three pulled away Karun Chandhok led Vitaly Petrov, Javier Villa, Jérôme D'Ambrosio and Carroll, but with Pantano walking away the battle behind him was at fever pitch, with Zuber all over the back of Grosjean but just unable to find a way past, while Petrov was equally resolute in defence from a fast charging Villa. With the competition on a knife edge, it was clear that pitstops were going to be crucial.

Villa had a lucky escape during his stop: as he was released by his team Maldonado came from nowhere and cut straight across the Spaniard's front, forcing an emergency stop before he could get away again. The delay was enough that he was unable to jump Petrov, while the Venezuelan came out on the tail of the D'Ambrosio / Buemi / Carroll battle, with all four drivers swapping position all over the track until the Belgian and Maldonado had to finally return to the pits and retirement.

When Alberto Valerio spun and stalled in the middle of the long, fast turn eight there was no option but to bring out the safety car, giving the lead trio the chance to come in for their stops, returning in the same order to line up ahead of the rest of the field. When the safety car peeled off it was a straight sprint to the finish line, with just five laps remaining in the race. Buemi and Villa pushed each other all over the track, with the Swiss driver pulling Carroll through with him as the Spaniard ran wide to avoid a backmarker, but all eyes were on the battle at the front of the field.

It was a sprint that was easily controlled by Pantano, who crossed the line 1.7 seconds ahead of Grosjean and Zuber, who was delayed enough by backmarkers at the restart to deny him the attack he had been waiting all race to perform, but picked up the fastest lap for his efforts. Chandhok opened his points account with a fine fourth place drive, ahead of Petrov, Buemi, Villa and Carroll, with the Spaniard taking seventh place at the end of the back straight on the last lap, in a move that must have had the Ulsterman flashing back to the same place two years ago when Lewis Hamilton made the exact same move.

The win pushed Pantano into a strong early lead in the championship on 21 points, ahead of Zuber on 13 and Grosjean on 12, with the trio toasting their good fortune on the podium with champagne and thinking of the battle to come tomorrow.

-gp2 series also photos -

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1 G. Pantano Racing Eng. - 36 01'31"994 00'28"869 00'39"899 00'23"227 0 01'31"646 00'28"810 00'39"770 00'23"066 1 16 - - 2 L. Di Grassi Campos 00'04"060 36 01'32"720 00'29"609 00'39"959 00'23"152 0 01'32"293 00'29"307 00'39"959 00'23"027 1 17 -...

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1 B. Senna iSport - 15 01'26"912 00'27"425 00'37"653 00'21"834 0 01'26"912 00'27"425 00'37"653 00'21"834 2 3 10 2 R. Grosjean ART 00'00"122 11 01'27"034 00'27"795 00'37"536 00'21"703 0 01'26"807 00'27"568 00'37"536 00'21"703 1 6 - 3 A. Zuber...

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1 R. Grosjean ART - 15 01'27"410 00'27"753 00'37"708 00'21"950 0 01'27"279 00'27"753 00'37"608 00'21"918 1 7 - - - - 2 M. Conway Trident 00'00"288 15 01'27"698 00'27"897 00'37"975 00'21"827 0 01'27"698 00'27"897 00'37"975 00'21"827 2 8 11 - -...

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GP2 Series: Sébastien, you've just won an amazing race in absolutely chaotic conditions: you must be over the moon... Sébastien Buemi: Yeah, I'm really happy with this win! It is really good for me and the team, and we are back in third in the...

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Giorgio Pantano has claimed yet another win at the Circuit Magny-Cours, outlasting Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean in scorching conditions to cross the finish line well ahead of series returnee Lucas di Grassi and Pastor Maldonado. The...

MAGNY-COURS - Race 1 results 21.06.08

1 G. Pantano Racing Eng. - 41 01'25"352 00'24"752 00'32"821 00'27"779 0 01'24"976 00'24"644 00'32"668 00'27"664 1 18 - 2 L. Di Grassi Campos 00'08"607 41 01'25"720 00'25"105 00'32"747 00'27"868 0 01'25"502 00'25"014 00'32"747 00'27"741 1 17 - 3...

Magny-Cours - Qualifying results 20.06.08

1 B. Senna iSport - 13 01'22"250 00'24"045 00'31"612 00'26"593 0 01'22"250 00'24"045 00'31"612 00'26"593 1 7 - 2 R. Grosjean ART 00'00"037 16 01'22"287 00'24"060 00'31"564 00'26"663 0 01'22"138 00'24"060 00'31"432 00'26"647 1 9 - 3 G. Pantano...

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Bruno Senna took pole position in the most dramatic way possible this afternoon in Magny-Cours by crossing the line a fraction of a second before hitting the wall heavily after bouncing over the kerbs in the final complex, claiming the top spot...

Magny-Cours - Free Practice results 20.06.08

1 R. Grosjean ART - 16 01'22"676 00'24"076 00'31"624 00'26"976 0 01'22"548 00'24"076 00'31"621 00'26"852 1 2 A. Zuber Piquet Sports 00'00"158 16 01'22"834 00'24"195 00'31"603 00'27"036 0 01'22"774 00'24"195 00'31"553 00'27"026 2 3 J. Villa...

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Romain Grosjean has set the pace in free practice at his home circuit of Magny-Cours this morning, taking the top spot by less that two tenths from Andreas Zuber and Javier Villa. The Frenchman's best lap time of 1:22.676 was set just after...

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1 M. Conway Trident - 30 01'22"001 00'21"700 00'40"643 00'19"658 0 01'21"926 00'21"700 00'40"620 00'19"606 0 - - - 2 H. Tung Trident 00'18"446 30 01'23"360 00'21"996 00'41"349 00'20"015 0 01'23"018 00'21"940 00'41"121 00'19"957 0 - - - 3 A....

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1 P. Maldonado Piquet Sports - 19 01'21"057 00'21"404 00'40"184 00'19"469 0 01'21"013 00'21"360 00'40"184 00'19"469 3 1 12 16 - - 2 B. Senna iSport 00'00"178 15 01'21"235 00'21"520 00'40"184 00'19"531 0 01'20"896 00'21"301 00'40"065 00'19"531 3...

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