GP2 Italy Preview

01/09/2016
NEWS STORY

PREMA Racing's pair dominated Round 8 in Spa-Francorchamps last week. Second fastest in Free Practice, Pierre Gasly went on to win his third Feature Race of the year adding enough points to his tally to become a clear leader with 146 points. On Sunday, it was rookie Antonio Giovinazzi who controlled the rest of the pack from third on the grid. With this third victory, the Italian ace moved up to second in the standings and closed the gap to his teammate to only 17 points. With only three rounds left in the 2016 GP2 Series season, the battle for the crown has intensified with the Red Bull protégé on a mission to take his first title.

RUSSIAN TIME's Raffaele Marciello still lies third in the drivers' standings after two flawless drives on the Belgian track. So far, the Italian has scored in every single race bar Baku Sprint race, but he is still missing a first win this season. He will surely be one to watch this weekend on
home soil in Monza. It was a weekend to forget for Sergey Sirotkin: a joint Series leader before summer break, the Renault F1 Tester started Round 8 in fine form with P1 in Free Practice. However, the ART Grand Prix man struggled for pace in Qualifying and then finished ninth in the
Feature Race from P13 on the grid. The following day, Sirotkin received a 10s time penalty after an aggressive move on the final lap which caused a collision. Another time penalty was added to his elapsed time after it was found he had used DRS on lap 1. With only 2 points scored in Spa, the Russian driver has dropped to fourth in the standings, but fortunately, he won't have too long to dwell on his disappointment as
the paddock sets up camp in Monza this weekend for the ninth round of the season.

The Autodromo di Monza is another legendary track known best for its high speed. It will be a special event for rookies Giovinazzi and Luca Ghiotto but also for Marciello of course who will do their best to shine in front of their home crowd. Pirelli has selected Medium and Soft compounds for the high-energy demands on the tyres caused by fast corners, long straights and heavy braking.

Mario Isola, Pirelli Racing Manager: "The Monza weekend is always a special one for us, taking place close to our home in Milan. By nominating the medium and soft tyres for GP2, we have gone one step softer than last year in the Series. This should make tyre management an important factor for the drivers to consider, and create close racing at a circuit where the long straights and heavy braking zones present good opportunities for overtaking. In GP2, the nature of the circuit will open up different possibilities for strategy."

Notes

The Sprint Race on Sunday will be the 250th race of the GP2 Series.

Four rookies have achieved a podium so far (Marvin Kirchhöfer, Antonio Giovinazzi, Luca Ghiotto, Gustav Malja).

Gustav Malja became the 17th driver to have scored a podium this season.

Except for Baku Sprint Race, Raffaele Marciello is the only driver on the grid to have scored points in every single race this season. Hence, although he's not claimed a win yet, the Italian driver is lying third in the standings just 9 points behind Giovinazzi.

Drivers Standings before Italy

Pos Name Nat Team Points
1 Gasly FRA Prema Racing 146
2 Giovinazzi ITA Prema Racing 129
3 Marciello ITA Russian Time 120
4 Sirotkin RUS ART Grand Prix 115
5 Rowland GBR MP Motorsport 101
6 King GBR Racing Engineering 100
7 Lynn GBR DAMS 91
8 Nato FRA Racing Engineering 81
9 Ghiotto ITA Trident 80
10 Evans NZL Pertamina Campos Racing 77
11 Markelov RUS Russian Time 77
12 Matsushita JPN ART Grand Prix 58
13 Pic FRA Rapax 36
14 Malja SWE Rapax 28
15 Gelael INO Pertamina Campos Racing 24
16 Latifi CAN DAMS 21
17 Kirchhofer GER Carlin 20
18 Canamasas GBR Carlin 14
19 Eriksson SWE Arden International 10
20 de Jong NED MP Motorsport 6
21 Jeffri MAS Arden International 2

Team standings before Italy

Pos Team Points
1 Prema Racing 275
2 Russian Time 197
3 Racing Engineering 181
4 ART Grand Prix 173
5 DAMS 112
6 MP Motorsport 107
7 Pertamina Campos Racing 101
8 Trident 80
9 Rapax 64
10 Carlin 34
11 Arden International 12

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Published: 01/09/2016
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