2011 GP2 Asia Series

The 2011 GP2 Asia Series was the fourth and final season of the GP2 Asia Series, and the second to be held entirely in a single calendar year.

Season summary Rather than starting at the end of 2010 and running through the winter as with the previous two seasons of GP2 Asia, the 2011 season did not start until the beginning of February, to allow for the delivery of the brand new GP2/11 car to the teams and allow for testing before using it in the Asia Series. Previously the Asia Series had used the first generation GP2 car. The season also saw the début of three teams in the Series: two new teams, Carlin and Team Air Asia, as well as Racing Engineering, who had not competed in the Asia Series since its establishment. The race in Abu Dhabi was the first time the GP2/11 chassis was used.

The season was originally scheduled for six races to be held at three meetings, beginning on 11 February at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates, and finishing on 13 March at the Bahrain International Circuit. However, both meetings due to be held in Bahrain, scheduled for 17–19 February and 11–13 March, were cancelled due to anti-government protests in the country's capital, Manama. On 1 March 2011, series organisers added a replacement final round of the Asia Series, to be held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy on 19–20 March.

Inaugural Asia Series champion Romain Grosjean of the DAMS team won the championship for the second time after title rival Jules Bianchi of Lotus ART was taken out of the final race by Super Nova Racing's Fairuz Fauzy. Giedo van der Garde finished third for the Barwa Addax Team, taking podiums in both races at Imola. As well as feature race victories apiece for Grosjean and Bianchi, sprint race victories were taken by Stefano Coletti of Trident Racing and Dani Clos of Racing Engineering. As well as Grosjean's drivers' championship win, DAMS also claimed the teams' championship by three points from Lotus ART.

Teams and drivers All of the teams used the Dallara GP2/11 chassis with Mecachrome 4.0 litre (244 cu in) V8 engines order and with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Team Driver Rounds iSport International 1 Marcus Ericsson All 2 Sam Bird All Arden International 3 Josef Král All 4 Jolyon Palmer All Lotus ART 5 Jules Bianchi All 6 Esteban Gutiérrez All Super Nova Racing 7 Fairuz Fauzy All 8 Johnny Cecotto Jr. All DAMS 9 Romain Grosjean All 10 Pål Varhaug All Scuderia Coloni 11 Michael Herck All 12 James Jakes 1 Luca Filippi 2 Ocean Racing Technology 14 Andrea Caldarelli All 15 Oliver Turvey All Barwa Addax Team 16 Charles Pic All 17 Giedo van der Garde All Trident Racing 18 Stefano Coletti All 19 Rodolfo González All Rapax 20 Fabio Leimer All 21 Julián Leal All Racing Engineering 22 Nathanaël Berthon All 23 Dani Clos All Carlin 24 Mikhail Aleshin All 25 Max Chilton All Team AirAsia 26 Luiz Razia All 27 Davide Valsecchi All

Calendar The calendar was announced on 7 October 2010, with three rounds to be held in February and March, down from four in 2009–2010. Organisers explained the reduction of the calendar as being necessary because of the need to deliver the brand-new Dallara GP2/11 chassis to all teams. Yas Marina hosted the season-opening event, before two scheduled meetings in Bahrain. The Bahrain events were subsequently cancelled due to civil unrest in the country, and was later replaced by a special event to be held at Imola. A single venue in Europe and the Losail International Circuit in Qatar were proposed as possible replacements. A yellow background indicates a non-Asian event.

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team Report Ref 1 Yas Marina Circuit(Corkscrew Circuit) 11 February Romain Grosjean Jules Bianchi Jules Bianchi Lotus ART Report 12 February Stefano Coletti Trident Racing – F Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 18 February Not held due to civil unrest S 19 February – F Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 12 March S 13 March 2 F Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola 19 March Romain Grosjean Romain Grosjean Romain Grosjean DAMS Report S 20 March Romain Grosjean Dani Clos Racing Engineering

Championship standings Scoring system Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 6 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race will also receive two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.

Point system for Feature Race Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   Pole   FL  Points 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 1

Point system for Sprint Race Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   FL  Points 6 5 4 3 2 1 1

Drivers' Championship Pos Driver YMC IMO Points 1 Romain Grosjean 2 Ret 1 7 24 2 Jules Bianchi 1 8 3 Ret 18 3 Giedo van der Garde 5 23 2 3 16 4 Stefano Coletti 8 1 5 Ret 11 5 Fabio Leimer 10 6 6 2 9 6 Marcus Ericsson 4 3 10 16 9 7 Davide Valsecchi 3 4 DSQ 17 9 8 Michael Herck 13 5 4 5 9 9 Dani Clos Ret 22 7 1 8 10 Josef Král 6 2 12 9 8 11 Esteban Gutiérrez Ret 12 11 4 3 12 Sam Bird 7 Ret Ret Ret 2 13 Pål Varhaug Ret 20 13 6 1 14 Fairuz Fauzy Ret 15 8 Ret 1 15 Johnny Cecotto Jr. 15 7 15 19 0 16 Oliver Turvey 18 19 14 8 0 17 Rodolfo González 11 9 9 Ret 0 18 Charles Pic 9 21 20 11 0 19 Jolyon Palmer 14 10 18 Ret 0 20 Luca Filippi 22 10 0 21 Andrea Caldarelli 16 11 17 12 0 22 Max Chilton 12 18 21 15 0 23 Nathanaël Berthon Ret 14 Ret 13 0 24 James Jakes 17† 13 0 25 Luiz Razia Ret 16 Ret 14 0 26 Julián Leal Ret 17 16 18 0 27 Mikhail Aleshin Ret 24† 19 20† 0 Pos Driver YMC IMO PointsSources: Notes: † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Teams' Championship Pos Team CarNo. YMC IMO Points 1 DAMS 9 2 Ret 1 7 25 10 Ret 20 13 6 2 Lotus ART 5 1 8 3 Ret 22 6 Ret 12 11 4 3 Barwa Addax Team 16 9 21 20 11 16 17 5 23 2 3 4 Trident Racing 18 8 1 5 Ret 11 19 11 9 9 Ret 5 iSport International 1 4 3 10 16 11 2 7 Ret Ret Ret 6 Rapax 20 10 6 6 2 9 21 Ret 17 16 18 7 Team AirAsia 26 Ret 16 Ret 14 9 27 3 4 DSQ 17 8 Scuderia Coloni 11 13 5 4 5 9 12 17† 13 22 10 9 Racing Engineering 22 Ret 14 Ret 13 8 23 Ret 22 7 1 10 Arden International 3 6 2 12 9 8 4 14 10 18 Ret 11 Super Nova Racing 7 Ret 15 8 Ret 1 8 15 7 15 19† 12 Ocean Racing Technology 14 16 11 17 12 0 15 18 19 14 8 13 Carlin 24 Ret 24† 19 20† 0 25 12 18 21 15 Pos Team CarNo. YMC IMO PointsSources: Notes: † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Notes

References

External links GP2 Series official website