2009 Algarve GP2 Series round

The 2009 Portuguese GP2 round was the final round of the 2009 GP2 Series season. It was held on September 19 and 20, 2009 at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve at Portimão, Portugal. This race was the only race in the 2009 GP2 Series season that was not acting as a support race for Formula One, instead supporting an 2009 FIA GT Algarve 2 Hours event.

Portugal    2009 Portuguese GP2 round
Round details
Round 10 of 10 rounds in the
2009 GP2 Series
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
LocationAutódromo Internacional do Algarve
Portimão, Portugal
CoursePermanent racing facility
4.692 km (2.915 mi)
Feature race
Date19 September 2009
Laps37
Pole position
DriverRussia Vitaly PetrovBarwa Addax Team
Time1:30.819
Podium
FirstGermany Nico HülkenbergART Grand Prix
SecondItaly Luca FilippiSuper Nova Racing
ThirdBrazil Lucas di GrassiF. B. Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
DriverBrazil Diego NunesiSport International
Time1:32.113 (on lap 14)
Sprint race
Date20 September 2009
Laps24
Podium
FirstItaly Luca FilippiSuper Nova Racing
SecondSpain Javier VillaSuper Nova Racing
ThirdSpain Dani ClosF. B. Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
DriverGermany Nico HülkenbergART Grand Prix
Time1:32.388 (on lap 10)

Report

Background

As Nico Hülkenberg claimed the drivers title at the previous round in Monza, only the battle for the Teams championship could be fought in the Algarve. This was the final GP2 race for Hülkenberg, as he will step up to Formula One in 2010. Durango team was forced to also lose this round of not being able to hire any pilot to compete.

Feature race

Vitaly Petrov started on pole for the feature race, with Dani Clos qualifying a career best second. GP2 Champion Hülkenberg started from third on the grid, but got a good start down into turn 1, where he slotted in behind Petrov. After a few laps behind the Russian, Hülkenberg made the decision to pit first. His gamble eventually paid off as after Petrov stopped, Hülkenberg gained the lead and never looked back, winning by 10 seconds. Petrov faded afterwards, by finishing in fourth, with Luca Filippi battling his way through the field to finish second ahead of a surging Lucas di Grassi. Roldán Rodríguez was fifth behind Petrov, with Michael Herck earning his first points in GP2 in sixth, before stewards disqualified him. Kamui Kobayashi finished seventh, while Davide Valsecchi finished eighth, both moved up one place after Herck's disqualification, with Valsecchi scoring his first points for Barwa Addax Team. Andreas Zuber finished ninth but was promoted to the reverse-grid pole. With Hülkenberg winning, both championship battles finished, as he earned enough points for ART Grand Prix to win the teams championship.

Sprint race

The Sprint Race was equally thrilling, with a large collision at the start. Vitaly Petrov struggled to get away in his Barwa Addax car, with the car's anti-stall system kicking in race was red flagged. Most drivers passed him, but Michael Herck was not so lucky and crashed into the back of him, hitting the pit wall afterwards. It ended a miserable weekend for the Romanian, who lost what would have been his first GP2 points finish in Race 1 due to a technical infringement. The crash left the main straight covered with debris and prompted a suspension while the mess was cleaned up. After nearly half an hour the field was led back out behind the safety car, with Coloni's Andreas Zuber leading from Davide Valsecchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi, Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado. Zuber backed the field up at the final corner in preparation for the green flag on lap six, but timed his charge too early and shot past the safety car as it was still entering the pit lane. The top seven, with the exception of Filippi, passed the safety car and were all duly given drive-through penalties. After the penalties were issued, Filippi was in the lead. He never looked back and won by over 4 seconds to claim his first win since 2007, and his team's first win of the season. Sergio Pérez was second on the road ahead of Filippi's team-mate Javier Villa. Dani Clos scored his first points of the season in fourth, with Álvaro Parente and Diego Nunes completing the top six. Pérez lost his second place due to a post-race time penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He slipped to eleventh, giving Super Nova a 1-2 and third place in the teams championship on countback.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverTeamTimeGrid
11 Vitaly PetrovAddax Team1:30.8191
28 Dani ClosRacing Engineering1:30.8592
310 Nico HülkenbergART Grand Prix1:30.8843
47 Lucas di GrassiRacing Engineering1:31.0674
52 Davide ValsecchiAddax Team1:31.1295
65 Roldán RodríguezPiquet GP1:31.3896
76 Alberto ValerioPiquet GP1:31.4187
89 Pastor MaldonadoART Grand Prix1:31.4498
93 Giedo van der GardeiSport International1:31.5329
104 Diego NunesiSport International1:31.56910
1116 Jérôme d'AmbrosioDAMS1:31.60111
1220 Andreas ZuberScuderia Coloni1:31.56912
1314 Luca FilippiSuper Nova Racing1:31.76413
1415 Javier VillaSuper Nova Racing1:31.81214
1511 Sergio PérezArden International1:31.88615
1621 Luiz RaziaScuderia Coloni1:32.14016
1719 Davide RigonTrident Racing1:32.16517
1817 Kamui KobayashiDAMS1:32.18318
1926 Michael HerckDavid Price Racing1:32.37619
2012 Edoardo MortaraArden International1:32.55220
2124 Karun ChandhokOcean Racing Technology1:32.76521
2227 Johnny Cecotto Jr.David Price Racing1:32.80722[1]
2318 Ricardo TeixeiraTrident Racing1:34.08323
2425 Álvaro ParenteOcean Racing Technologyno time24
  • ^1 Johnny Cecotto Jr. did not make the grid due to a crash after leaving the pits.

Race 1

Race 2

Standings after the round

Teams' Championship standings
PosTeamPoints
1 ART Grand Prix136
2 Addax Team122
3 Super Nova Racing67
4 Racing Engineering67
5 iSport International42

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


Previous round:
2009 Italian GP2 round
GP2 Series
2009 season
Next round:
2010 Spanish GP2 round
Previous round:
none
Portuguese GP2 roundNext round:
TBA