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Teach me about GP2 (13 posts)

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Lucas Wilson said 4 months ago:

I know a bit about F1. But (probably because its not shown on TV), I don’t know anything about GP2. Can some people get me up-to-date with the sport so I can can start following it?

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Ryan Williams said 4 months ago:

@full-throttle-f1 The GP2 Series is the official support series to Formula 1. It began in 2005, after the Formula 3000 series which originally supported F1 was discontinued.

The Car:
The GP2 car has developed over the years to match the style of current F1 machinery, with the current car utilising a Dallara chassis with a 4-litre Renault V8 engine producing 612bhp. All the cars are the same meaning victory is down to the skill of the driver & the team. The tyres are also similar to those used in F1.

The Race Weekend
A GP2 race weekend consists of a 30 minute practice session & 30 minute qualifying session on the Friday to determine the Feature Race grid. 4 points are awarded to the fastest driver in qualifying. There is then a 1 hour “Feature” race on the Saturday, usually following F1 qualifying, which includes a mandatory pitstop where at least 2 tyres must be changed. On Sunday there is a shorter “Sprint” race lasting 45 minutes, with no pitstops. The grid for this race is determined by the result of the Feature Race, with the top 8 finishers being reversed (Winner of the Feature Race starts 8th and so on), with the rest of the grid starting in the position they finished the Feature Race in.

Points System:
Points for the Feature Race are :
1st – 25
2nd – 18
3rd – 15
4th – 12
5th – 10
6th – 8
7th – 6
8th – 4
9th – 2
10th – 1
With an additional 2 points for the fastest lap of the race

Sprint Race:
1st – 15
2nd – 12
3rd – 10
4th – 8
5th – 6
6th – 4
7th – 2
8th – 1
Again, with 2 points available for the fastest lap

Champions:
2005: Nico Rosberg
2006: Lewis Hamilton
2007: Timo Glock
2008: Giorgio Pantano
2009: Nico Hülkenberg
2010: Pastor Maldonado
2011: Romain Grosjean
2012: Davide Valsecchi

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katederby said 4 months ago:

GP2 has been covered on SkyF1 since last year and on Eurosport before that… will Eurosport be covering it this year?

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Ryan Williams said 4 months ago:

@katederby Sky Sports F1 are continuing their GP2 and GP3 coverage this year I think

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katederby said 4 months ago:

Thanks Ryan, yes I believe Sky are carrying on with the feeder series’ coverage… which is great, I shall be watching again this year. I just wondered about those who don’t have the SkyF1 channel.

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Euro Brun said 4 months ago:

If GP2 cars currently use V8 engines, surely they’ve got to be downsizing in 2014 too?

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Prisoner Monkeys said 4 months ago:

Not that I’m aware of, but the series operates on a three-year cycle. Every three seasons, the cars are upgraded to a new model. An engine format change might be included from 2014, but I haven’t heard any word on it.

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Euro Brun said 4 months ago:

Would it not be a little embarrassing for F1 if GP2 end up with larger engines?
Especially while they’re trying to justify the smaller engines. I mean its not like GP2 will suddenly be faster, but on the face of it it sounds a a bit weird.

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matt90 said 4 months ago:

@eurobrun Not if the engines are slower. In the 80′s I believe most BTCC cars had larger engines than F1 cars- so it doesn’t really mean anything.

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Ryan Williams said 4 months ago:

@eurobrun GP2 already has larger engines than F1!

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matt90 said 4 months ago:

Oh yeah, that’s an even more obvious point.

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Euro Brun said 4 months ago:

haha, fair point. I’m confusing V’s with Litres. :)

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Ryan Williams said 4 months ago:

It would make sense for the series to downsize alongside F1 in 2014. GP2 has always aimed to make the cars as similar to F1 machinery as possible, otherwise it’s sort of missing the point of a feeder series

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