Grosjean wins Race 1
25/01/2008 Romain Grosjean has won the maiden event in the GP2 Asia Series, taking victory in the first race, held at Dubai this afternoon. The Frenchman now leads the championship from Bruno Senna and Andy Soucek. Grosjean, who will be test driver for the Renault F1 Team this year, made a stellar debut in the GP2 Asia Series: after he snatched pole position this morning, the Frenchman managed to lead the race right to the flag. Behind the Art Grand Prix driver, Bruno Senna and Andy Soucek offered the crowd a great show. The Spaniard overtook the Brazilian on the first lap. However, the iSport driver constantly put pressure on the DPR driver. By mid-race, when Soucek was struggling with his tyres, Senna never gave up and finally overtook the Spaniard with four laps remaining. The Brazilian then set the fastest lap time, but Grosjean was already too far ahead. Behind the leaders, Adrian Valles and the two Qi-Meritus boys, Luca Filippi and Hiroki Yoshimoto, made their way to the top 6, while Karun Chandhok and Fairuz Fauzy took 7th and 8th places, thereby assuring us of a 100% Asian driver first row for tomorrow's race. T Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix): "This is amazing: pole position and win on my first GP2 race ever. If I had set the fastest lap time it would have been perfect, but to be completely honest, I'm more than happy. I made a good start and then I tried to keep a good pace. We managed to do a clean pit stop - also my very first. I'm really thankful to the team. Tomorrow, Starting from the 8th position will be completely different. I am learning and I take it step by step." Bruno Senna (iSport International): "As I was on the dirty part of the track, I didn't make a good start, and then I was too slow in the first lap. Andy took this opportunity to overtake me. Tomorrow, I'll have to warm up my tyres better… Then, Soucek and I had a great fight. It's too bad I overtook him so late: even though I had the pace, Grosjean was to far away by then." Andy Soucek (DPR): "Ever since this morning, we have a really good pace and I knew I could fight for the win. I could pass Senna in the first lap and then I tried to catch up with Grosjean, but Bruno pressured me and I spent a lot of time checking my mirrors and fighting back. Towards the end, I was struggling with my tyres… I'm still very happy and I'll keep on pushing tomorrow." |
