Petrov wins and Di Grassi finishes fourth in Valencia

Barwa International Campos Team have had an excellent result in the first GP2 race to be held at the Valencia Street Circuit with Vitaly Petrov winning the first round and his team mate, Lucas Di Grassi finishing in a magnificent fourth place.

The race started with Vitaly getting off to a flyer, which meant that he moved up to second position from his third place start. He held on to his second place throughout the whole race without having too much preesure from behind, and when he did have a rival pushing him, he was able to deal with it very well. The compulsory tyre change was well executed by the whole team and there was no difficulty in maintaining the race position.

The decisions made with the question of initial fuel loads would have a big part to play in the final result of the race. On the last lap with just one more bend to negotiate, drama struck for Italian driver Pantano as he ran out of petrol with the race well and truly sewn up. Other drivers also suffered the same fate which turned the race upside down. Petrov took advantage of the situation to take the chequered flag. The Russian was the only driver who was able to keep up with the Italian´s pace throughout the race.

Lucas, started from the sixth row on the grid. He overtook two rivals at the start of the race and continued to improve positions throughout the whole race until he consolidated his seventh position with just a few laps to go, but with other rivals not making it to the finish line he was able to finish in fourth.

Di Grassi, was getting used to the circuit as the race went on. He had only managed to get in a few laps in the training sessions and official practice so the circuit was completely new for him. Despite braking problems he was able to maintain the same race rhythm as the leading drivers, so there is hope that he can improve for tomorrow´s second race.

Barwa International Campos Team has moved up to second place in the race for the team title thanks to the fifteen points won in today´s race and also means that Lucas Di Grassi maintains his third position in the driver´s championship and Vitaly Petrov moves up to seventh overall.

Vitaly Petrov: "The first thing I want to do is to thank the whole team, who through their fine work have helped me to this victory. The truth is that we have had great training sessions and an excellent race, where we have managed to hold on to second position until the leader ran out of petrol.

I feel sorry for him and I accept that I have been fortunate this time round but in a lot of other races, we are the ones who have had our share of bad luck"

Lucas Di Grassi: "I´ve got to be pleased after having started from eleventh position. I´ve finished fourth and I´ve managed to get a few points closer to the leaders of the category.

We´ve managed to get to know the circuit for the first time, improving the car and with the help of the team I hope to be racing in the best conditions possible so that I can get a good result and at the same time help the team in the constructor´s championship"

Adrián Campos: "I´m very happy with the result achieved by the team in this my home race. I feel very sorry for Giorgio because he drove a great race but these things sometimes happen in racing. To win a race you have to cross the finishing line and this time round we have the luck on our side.

Although in any case we were there or there abouts. I feel very happy because if at the start of the season I had been given the opportunity to choose the race I would most have liked to win without any doubt I would have chosen this one. In Valencia we have managed the first victory on this fantastic circuit"

- Antonio Moralejo - photo GP2 Series

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