The 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 1st GP2 Asia round was the first round of the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season. It was held on October 31 and November 1, 2009 at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was used as a support race to the day/night 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was the first of two rounds to be held at the circuit, the other will be the 2009–10 Abu Dhabi 2nd GP2 Asia round. The round was the only one held in 2009, the rest being held in 2010.
Report Feature race The first race looked like it was dominated by Davide Valsecchi, who took pole, won race and got fastest lap, but he lost the lead at the start when Valsecchi was beaten off the line by GP2 debutant Sam Bird, Valsecchi managed to re-pass him going down the long back straight to turn 8. Bird was also passed by GP2 Asia returnee James Jakes and GP2 veteran Luca Filippi. Filippi found enough pace to not only pass Jakes for second, but also jump ahead of Valsecchi after the mandatory pit stops. A crash between Luiz Razia and Christian Vietoris made the safety car appear and this allowed Valsecchi to close the gap between himself and Filippi. Valsecchi put pressure on Filippi later in the race and finally won the lead battle by muscling through after a very close side by side dice through the Turn 11, 12, 13 and 14 complex. He briefly came under threat when Trident driver Plamen Kralev's spin prompted the safety car again, but had the pace to pull away and secure the win. Filippi managed to fend off Jakes to retain second place, with Alexander Rossi the top rookie in fourth place, followed by fellow newcomers Josef Král and Vietoris. Rossi and Král's former International Formula Master rival Fabio Leimer was unable to capitalise on his excellent third on the grid as his Ocean Racing Technology car stalled before the formation lap. Fifth place qualifier Roldán Rodríguez left another gap when he failed to get off the line at the start. Bird had been on course for fourth until he retired on the penultimate lap with brake problems, which meant his countryman and fellow GP2 debutant Oliver Turvey moved up to eighth in the second iSport car and would therefore start from reverse grid pole for the sprint race, alongside Johnny Cecotto Jr. of Trident Racing.
Sprint race For the sprint race, Turvey started on pole, having finished eighth in the feature race. He got off the line slowly and DAMS driver Vietoris burst through from third to the lead at the start, Turvey falling back to fourth behind Král and Rossi into the first corner. Turvey's front row partner Cecotto, Jr. also fell down the order, to seventh behind the feature race top duo Filippi and Valsecchi. Valsecchi was a man determined to get big points, and after a few side by side tussles, managed to pass Filippi. With the momentum, Valsecchi also managed to pass his team-mate Turvey after Filippi had spun trying to avoid Cecotto. The safety car then gave Valsecchi a chance to catch up with the top three, the yellow being required after Will Bratt's Coloni machine had snapped into a high-speed spin at the end of the back straight and collected Leimer on its way to the barrier. Vietoris and Král had pulled comfortably clear of the field before the safety car, with the DAMS driver edging away early on before Král closed back onto his tail at half-distance. But the safety car cost them their cushion, for Valsecchi swiftly muscled past Rossi for third after the restart and then rapidly closed on Vietoris and Král. That gave Vietoris some breathing space, as Valsecchi climbed all over the back of Král before diving ahead into Turn 11 on the last lap. There was no time left to catch Vietoris though, and the German duly ended his first GP2 weekend with victory. Turvey put a late move on Rossi to take fourth, with Cecotto hanging on to sixth ahead of Vietoris' team-mate Edoardo Piscopo and the delayed Filippi. Jakes was forced wide at the first corner and could only finish 10th, the Super Nova driver having spent most of the race trying in vain to pass DPR's Michael Herck.
Classification Qualifying PosNoDriverTeamTimeGapGrid117 Davide ValsecchiiSport International1:51.964128 Sam BirdART Grand Prix1:52.183 +0.2192323 Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology1:52.236 +0.2723420 Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com1:52.240 +0.2764524 Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni1:52.300 +0.3365612 Rodolfo GonzálezArden International1:52.436 +0.4726714 James JakesSuper Nova Racing1:52.529 +0.5657818 Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing1:52.557 +0.5938915 Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing1:52.575 +0.61191027 Giacomo RicciDPR1:52.690 +0.72610112 Edoardo PiscopoDAMS1:52.792 +0.82811124 Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP1:52.816 +0.852121322 Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology1:52.827 +0.86313141 Christian VietorisDAMS1:52.830 +0.86614157 Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix1:52.846 +0.882151626 Michael HerckDPR1:52.869 +0.905161721 Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com1:52.907 +0.943171816 Oliver TurveyiSport International1:52.955 +0.99118196 Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team1:52.996 +1.032192011 Charles PicArden International1:53.112 +1.14820215 Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team1:53.147 +1.18321223 Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP1:53.628 +1.664222325 Will BrattScuderia Coloni1:53.711 +1.747232419 Plamen KralevTrident Racing1:58.149 +6.18524
Feature race PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints117 Davide ValsecchiiSport International331:07:49.810110+2+1220 Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com33 +4.88148314 James JakesSuper Nova Racing33 +6.17476422 Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology33 +7.182135515 Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing33 +8.2209461 Christian VietorisDAMS33 +13.300143718 Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing33 +15.46082816 Oliver TurveyiSport International33 +16.22318192 Edoardo PiscopoDAMS33 +16.715111024 Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni33 +16.8795117 Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix33 +21.686151225 Will BrattScuderia Coloni33 +22.539231326 Michael HerckDPR33 +22.881161412 Rodolfo GonzálezArden International33 +23.4036154 Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP33 +23.78612165 Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team33 +25.131211723 Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology33 +30.0193188 Sam BirdART Grand Prix31 +2 laps2Ret11 Charles PicArden International28DNF20Ret3 Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP25DNF22Ret19 Plamen KralevTrident Racing24DNF24Ret6 Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team12DNF19Ret27 Giacomo RicciDPR8DNF10Ret21 Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com0DNF17
Sprint race PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints11 Christian VietorisDAMS2243:18.81436217 Davide ValsecchiiSport International22 +2.44785+1315 Josef KrálSuper Nova Racing22 +3.19544416 Oliver TurveyiSport International22 +6.61613522 Alexander RossiOcean Racing Technology22 +7.24052618 Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident Racing22 +7.7112172 Edoardo PiscopoDAMS22 +8.2379820 Luca FilippiMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com22 +10.1367926 Michael HerckDPR22 +10.730131014 James JakesSuper Nova Racing22 +11.6436116 Luiz RaziaBarwa Addax Team22 +11.88122127 Marcus EricssonART Grand Prix22 +12.315111321 Diego NunesMalaysiaQi-Meritus.com22 +12.893251424 Roldán RodríguezScuderia Coloni22 +13.303101511 Charles PicArden International22 +13.777191612 Rodolfo GonzálezArden International22 +14.43114175 Max ChiltonBarwa Addax Team22 +19.48516188 Sam BirdART Grand Prix22 +21.42118Ret3 Vladimir ArabadzhievPiquet GP17DNF20Ret23 Fabio LeimerOcean Racing Technology14DNF17Ret25 Will BrattScuderia Coloni14DNF12Ret4 Daniel ZampieriPiquet GP5DNF15Ret27 Giacomo RicciDPR1DNF24Ret19 Plamen KralevTrident Racing0DNF21
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Davide Valsecchi 19 2 Christian Vietoris 9 3 Luca Filippi 8 4 Josef Král 8 5 Alexander Rossi 7
Teams' Championship standings PosTeamPoints 1 iSport International 23 2 Super Nova Racing 14 3 DAMS 9 4 MalaysiaQi-Meritus.com 8 5 Ocean Racing Technology 7
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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