2009/10 GP2 Asia Off Season & 2010 GP2 Series off season discussions

[sauber11]

http://gp2.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009...-for-gp2-asia/

Bulgarian driver Plamen Kralev has confirmed that he will be driving for the Trident Racing team for the next GP2 Asia Series campaign. The confirmation of the 2009-2010 season drive is the first step for Kralev, who hopes a November test will earn him a full GP2 Main Series seat for next year.


With the GP2 Asia Series running over the course of the main series' winter break, Kralev will join Trident for the duration of the championship which starts alongside Formula One's final race meeting of the year in the United Arab Emirates on the weekend of 31 October-1 November.

With the test later in November being somewhat a decider as to the driver's chances of retaining a full-time GP2 drive in Europe in 2010, Kralev takes with him to Trident two years of GT racing experience; 5 wins were registered in the Ferrari Challenge between 2007 and 2008 before switching to the FIA GT3 class last year and competing in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2009, Plamen has competed in the International GT Open series.

And Meritus racing also set to continue + move to gp2 main series by 2011 and formula1 by 2016. So gp2 asia still alive , good.

[chunterer]

WHO?????????????????????????

And in other news, Rich Payman has signed a lucrative waste of a drive with another team, and in the process further reduced the significance of this series and its title!!!

[Go_For_Pole]

oh god...

[Robbe]

He was losing always around 3 seconds to the top guys in GT Open. On a qualifying lap. Except for Spa, where he was losing 17(!) seconds in qualifying to Pedro Couceiro in the same car. Maybe different conditions, but these performances are no good signs... And then, he hasn't been racing single-seaters before.
Let's see if Trident also keeps Ricardo Teixeira, now that would be a great team...

He seems to have support from the Bulgarian tourism board, why don't they support Arabadzhiev? He seems to be a decent driver, well not a future F1 driver but at least better.

PS: The internet can't tell me how old he is. Looks as if he was not the youngest...

[the sniper]

Originally Posted by Robbe

Let's see if Trident also keeps Ricardo Teixeira, now that would be a great team...

Wow, that line up would join the list of greats! I can see it now:

Senna & Prost
G. Hill & Stewart
Alonso & Hamilton
Teixeira & Kralev

[ivanalesi]

Now more fun! This news was covered by absolutely every single TV/paper/website, in fact it gathered more coverage than any other success of Bulgarian driver. It has it's explanation, Mr. Kralev is the most famous Bulgarian driver in the country! The journalists(and I incl. the whole motor sport guild) are big fans of him. Obviously the guy well and truly believes he can reach, wait a moment, F1! Yes, F1 is for Formula One! Though F1 like the Help button is more realistic The guy has said on national TV, that he doesn't pay anything to Trident and apparently(oh you can't expect this!), all the drivers in GP2 aren't paying anything, their expenses are met by the team sponsors and they actually receive salary! Robbe, this guy is well over 35 y.o. and has some construction company. But he's really a celebrity, I mean there was a big interview with him in Playboy and he made it sound like his wealth was coming from racing! When he signed up for Le Mans, his car was the cover of Top Gear magazine!!! The biggest national TV network are sending crews to cover his racing and they haven't done it for any other driver. In fact, when I contacted this same network about broadcasting the races of another very young driver, they weren't interested at all. This National Board of Tourism is just fantastically stupid. Arabadzhiev, everybody is convinced he's not a good driver, but they all wish good luck to Kralev... It's a weird country

[Robbe]

Thanks for the info, ivanalesi!

Seems to be a bit weird indeed, where is his celebrity status coming from? Surely, driving Le Mans as the first driver from one country is an achievement, but this was this year and he seems to be sponsored for a longer time.

Let's see what happens to his celebrity status when he drives GP2 Asia. For sure, the field will be even weaker than last year, but still fast enough for him.

Are there any other rumours already? I think Herck/Nunes/Razia might be back, and I really hope drivers like Bianchi, Perez, and some good Asian drivers enter the series so it won't turn out to be a complete farce.

[ivanalesi]

If Teixeira retires, then there would be news - Kralev trounced his much more experienced teammate! So I don't expect change, knowledge is zero here.

[Go_For_Pole]

The real tradegy is that Bulgaria has some very talented young kids that can not progress from karting due to lack of funding. This guy could help on of them but apparently his ego is is way too big for that.

[sauber11]

Kralev is 36 years old Will be funny to watch him.

Talking about Simona de Silvestro , she told italiaracing magazine that she want to drive in gp2 next year. In 2007 she tested with campos and was immediately just 1.5 second behind Vitaly Petrov in second car.
In 2008 she was only 8 in star mazda championship , but now she is leading atlantic championship ahead of Borja Garcia, Marcus Niemela,Harald Schlegelmilch - quite good former gp2 riders. Also ahead future f1 driver Summerton by the way.
Baring in mind she is only 21 years old and will have budget ( 1 million prize if winning championship) must be the most promising female driver, far better than Gachnang, Kimiläinen and Patrick?! Hope to see her in gp2 - i believe she will be able to score some points ,need to win 2009 champ anyway.

[ivanalesi]

Simona and John Edwards are very impressive, she may have a very successful career in the US, while in Europe it's risky. Go_For_Pole, it's also very, very damaging to Arabadzhiev. Until now, he was the Bulgarian hopeful for F1 and such, he was hoping to develop to GP2, works very, very hard since he started at 20 in karting. Now comes this guy, stoles all the limelight and becomes the 1st to reach GP2 and the press dubbed him as "THE Bulgarian hope for F1". Btw, Kralev in interviews thinks F3 and F3000 is the same

[chunterer]

Jeez, judging by all your snippets, this just gets better and better!!

Bring back Chanoch Nissany!

[the sniper]

Bring on the Kralev media frenzy! GP2 won't know what's hit it!

I bet he'll blame his poor performance on Trident.

[WSR Fan]

I remember Arabadzhiev tested for Super Nova last winter and, IIRC, he was solid rather than spectacular. This season he's currently sixth in the Formula Master standings with two podiums to his name, so while he may not be F1 material, he is a decent driver in his chosen field.

If Kralev get's the Trident seat, it really does make a farce of the whole concept of GP2/GP2 Asia, which is ultimately to develop and train young drivers and prepare them as much as possible for the top step of the motorsport ladder - F1. There's no way a 36 year-old journeyman with no real single-seater experience should get that seat IMO.

Of course it depends on the economic situation, availability of budgets etc. but I'd like to see some proper talent in GP2 Asia this year, such as Jules Bianchi, Marcus Ericsson, Fabio Leimer, Oliver Turvey etc.

[ivanalesi]

Just watched for the 3rd time the interview with him, it's funny, but I think he made an informative lapse. He said "After testing in November, I hope to continue in the Main series next year."
May be he's got just testing contract, then fails in testing and blames the lack of sponsors for GP2 Asia Of course the media will plead companies to help him :P

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by WSR Fan

Of course it depends on the economic situation, availability of budgets etc. but I'd like to see some proper talent in GP2 Asia this year, such as Jules Bianchi, Marcus Ericsson, Fabio Leimer, Oliver Turvey etc.

You will see that, certainly in the top teams.

The two series so far has given us plenty of decent drivers both experienced in GP2 and not. I don't see this changing.

[sauber11]

I think its 100% Jules Bianchi will be driving ART (i am talking about main series, but i think he will do some asian rounds as well after macau gp).
And Oliver Turvey , i give 80-90% he will drive for isport. Not because he already tested for isport , but he has been testing a lot on isport simulator( thats how he won monaco in WSR) and looks like he has a very good relationship with Paul Jackson.

Talking about Marcus Ericsson i dont know if his sponsorship will be enought for gp2, i think yes and he will rush in gp2 next year. But as i already said i hope he will do f-nippon or WSR next year before going to gp2 in 2011. No need to hurry.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by sauber11

Kralev is 36 years old Will be funny to watch him.

Talking about Simona de Silvestro , she told italiaracing magazine that she want to drive in gp2 next year. In 2007 she tested with campos and was immediately just 1.5 second behind Vitaly Petrov in second car.
In 2008 she was only 8 in star mazda championship , but now she is leading atlantic championship ahead of Borja Garcia, Marcus Niemela,Harald Schlegelmilch - quite good former gp2 riders. Also ahead future f1 driver Summerton by the way.
Baring in mind she is only 21 years old and will have budget ( 1 million prize if winning championship) must be the most promising female driver, far better than Gachnang, Kimiläinen and Patrick?! Hope to see her in gp2 - i believe she will be able to score some points ,need to win 2009 champ anyway.

This is Simona's third year in Atlantics, is it not? But she is doing well, and I think the field is a lot stronger than people give it credit for. But she's not beating Harald, because he only did Sebring and finished ahead of her

[Jimmy Magnusson]

In other news, the GP2 Asia calendar is almost confirmed:

Test - Abu Dhabi October 23-24
1. Abu Dhabi (Nov. 1) - F1 Support
2. Quatar (Date TBA)
3. Abu Dhabi (Feb. 6)
4. Bahrain (Feb. 26)
5. Bahrain (Date TBA) - F1 Support

The Quatar round isn't set in stone yet, though. Looks terribly exciting doesn't it! GP2 Asia? GP2 Middle East rather.

[sauber11]

ESPN Racing-Live saying Bahrain event will be 14 march (opening round of F1 season).

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

In other news, the GP2 Asia calendar is almost confirmed:

Test - Abu Dhabi October 23-24
1. Abu Dhabi (Nov. 1) - F1 Support
2. Quatar (Date TBA)
3. Abu Dhabi (Feb. 6)
4. Bahrain (Feb. 26)
5. Bahrain (Date TBA) - F1 Support

The Quatar round isn't set in stone yet, though. Looks terribly exciting doesn't it! GP2 Asia? GP2 Middle East rather.

Yes, that's poor although the drivers may argue that they get 4 races each at 2 (with Doha, possibly 3 in future) GP circuits?

The calendar really ought to have a proper 'Asian' round, ideally at Sepang, supporting the GP there too.

The real story would be a an Indian race, it won't happen, but imagine the crowds that would flock to that parcticularly if Karun decided to enter!!

Wonder if the Doha rounds will be floodlit again this time, was quite good last year?

[p-matt]

The Asia Series calendar is so uninspiring . I understand that money is tight and that is why they are staying in the Middle East, but why aren't they going to Dubai Autodrome?

It seems such a let down that GP2 Asia doesn't follow F1 at all of the Asian races as the Main Series follows the European races. It would have been much better if GP2 Asia raced at Singapore, Japan and Abu Dhabi this year and Bahrain and Malaysia next year, with Qatar, Dubai and maybe China as stand-alones on the off season

[Lam Pak]

no mercy. no china! that is integral to nature's self-organising dynamic.
why do they call it asian series? do it by middle east? gp2 middle east! dont offend asians. hateful signs! shame on briatore!

kevin nai chia chen onto a new team in 2009 gp2 asia. hafiz koh is emerging for a team.

[the sniper]

An interesting, GP2 related snippet from Dieter Rencken's 'Filling up the calendar' Weekly Grapevine article on Autosport.com (Subscribers only, I think).

Etienne Davignon, chairman of the race-promoting company Spa Grand Prix, has said that, if Spa did timeshare F1 with another venue, in the off year they'd have a GP2 meeting instead. Then...

Originally Posted by Dieter Rencken

When pressed, he told reporters that Ecclestone intended setting GP2 up as a sort of First Division to F1's Premier League, with its own worldwide calendars.

He then summarises...

Originally Posted by Dieter Rencken

One can see the logic, for the FD is not a curtain raiser to the PL, but one wonders about the side effects, for young drivers need to perform in front of F1 team bosses if they are to find seats in the premier formula. Still, it may raise funds for F1 commercial rights holder and GP2 owner CVC Capital Partners

Personally, I'd love to see GP2 have more standalone events, but if it's to happen, TV coverage of the series needs to become more widely available. Forcing the F1 broadcasters to (at least) show highlights on their free to air channels would be a start.

Dieter also say's though, "Could this spinning off of GP2, though, be a reaction to the success of the FIA's own F2 championship". I wasn't aware Super Palmer Audi was a success! The FIA must be pumping a lot of Palmer's propaganda into the F1 paddock...

[Dan Friel]

Originally Posted by p-matt

I understand that money is tight and that is why they are staying in the Middle East, but why aren't they going to Dubai Autodrome?

They lost a round half way through last season, so there must have been a falling out..

The calendar simpley reflects a total lack of cash, the cars can be easily and cheaply transferred from circuit to circuit.