BARWA Team extend GP2 Series lead

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• Vitaly Petrov claims Driver Championship lead after win and 3^rd place finish


• Team mate Romain Grosjean in second place

 
At the end of another thrilling weekend’s motor racing, BARWA Addax Team driver Vitaly Petrov has claimed leadership of the GP2 Series for Qatar after roaring to a win and a third position in two races at the Istanbul Park Circuit, Turkey.
 
Despite mechanical problems, after Friday’s official practice session BARWA Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov qualified in 3^rd and 4^th places respectively for Saturday’s first race got the green light.
 
Vitaly Petrov made a flying start and in the first few laps moved from 4^th on the grid to overtake the leading drivers and grab the lead. Petrov stamped his authority on the race and by lap 9 had built a lead of over 5 seconds, increasing to more than 10 seconds on lap 14. By the time the Safety Car gave his rivals some respite on lap 16, his lead had grown to 17 seconds. As soon as the Safety Car disappeared, Petrov consistently lapped half a second faster than any of his rivals and ran out a comfortable winner, earning an extra bonus point for posting the fastest race lap time.
 
The Qatari-sponsored team – now labeled the “Brawn” of GP2 – sealed victory as Vitaly Petrov set a race rhythm which none of his rivals was able to keep up with and drove a magnificent race.
 
“I wanted to show a big gap, but the safety car killed me a little bit on time! Everything was good, everything was in control, and I tried to push really hard every time. I was expecting someone would get in front of me at the pit-stop but the BARWA Team crew did a good pit-stop and everything was under our control,” confirmed a victorious Vitaly Petrov. 
 
Team mate Romain Grosjean did not have one of his best races. Starting 3^rd on the grid, a first lap collision forced the French-Swiss driver off the circuit and although he rejoined the main group, his damaged car was forced to retire with battery failure.
 
Russian Petrov continued his superb form in Sunday’s second race, driving a faultless race from 8th place on the grid to finish 3rd on the winner’s rostrum. More importantly, Petrov’s 3^rd place finish earned him more points than any of his closest championship rivals.
 
It has not been Romain Grosjean’s weekend.  However he showed signs of his true class, starting from the back of the grid in 26^th position to finish a meritorious 12^th, after a memorable fight back.
 
In the overall GP2 Driver Championship, Romain Grosjean remains on 31 points, two points behind his team mate, new leader and the first Russian ever to head the GP2 Series championship Vitaly Petrov on 33 points, with the third placed driver on 18 points.
 
BARWA Team dominates the race for the Team Championship title on 64 points, a massive 30 points clear of their closest rival.
 
Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Hamad Bin Ali Al-Athba, BARWA PR representative for the GP2 series, said: "As BARWA Team confirmed its GP2 dominance in Turkey, it is becoming clear the team as a whole is setting the pace in this season’s GP2 Series with valuable behind-the-scenes contributions from the team management, engineers, technicians, mechanics and support staff".
 
The next GP2 Series races take place at Silverstone, U.K. during the weekend of 20th-21st June, where the BARWA Addax Team will once more strive to dominate both races and extend their lead at the top of the GP2 Series Driver and Team Championships and claim more glory for the State of Qatar.
 

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