Paddock Postcard from Hockenheim 25 Jul 2010
Danny ‘Spin to Win’ Sullivan, the former Tyrrell Grand Prix driver and famed 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner is the stewards’ advisor this weekend in Hockenheim, and was joined in the paddock by fellow ChampCar racer Adrian Fernandes who was there along with fellow Mexican drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.
Former Andrea Moda F1 driver Perry McCarthy also made a brief appearance, while other familiar racing faces included Andrew Kirkcaldy, Kris Nissen (now the head of Volkswagen Motorsport), Australian Grand Prix steward and former Brabham/Surtees racer Tim Schenken, double world champion Mika Hakkinen, Carlos Sainz Snr, former Bridgestone engineer Kees van der Grint, former Sauber team manager and A1GP series-winning team owner Max Welti, TAG Porsche turbo V6 engine designer Hans Metzger, and former BMW Sauber F1 luminaries Mario Theissen, Jorg Kottmeier and Guido Stalmann.
A relatively low-key 50-year celebration of Hockenheim’s 40-year involvement in F1, held at the circuit’s museum on Thursday evening, also showed highlights of an excellent new 90-minute documentary film by Eberhard Reus on posthumous world champion Jochen Rindt, who won the first Grand Prix here in 1970 shortly before his death at Monza on September 5.
On track, Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado claimed his third GP2 win of the season on Saturday and extended his championship lead for Rapax, as he led home Mexico’s Sergio Perez (Barwa Addax) and France’s Charles Pic (Arden International).
Former F1 racer Romain Grosjean’s return to racing was stymied from the start when his DAMS car was hit from behind by Christian Vietoris (Racing Engineering). Britain’s Oliver Turvey was eighth for iSport and thus starts Sunday’s sprint race from pole.
Jack Harvey for once didn’t win in Formula BMW. The British teenager was third in Saturday’s race for Fortec behind Sweden’s Timmy Hansen (Mucke Motorsport) and Holland’s Robin Frijns (Josef Kaufman Racing), racing on a damp but drying track.
Canada’s Rob Wickens took the GP3 honours for the first time for Status Grand Prix after a dramatic Saturday race which required two starts. He passed poleman Josef Newgarden (Carlin) and Britain’s James Jakes (Manor Racing) on the opening lap and stayed in front despite a safety-car deployment. Newgarden was later passed by RSC Mucke Motorsport’s Renger van der Zande and ART Grand Prix’s Esteban Gutierrez. The restart was short-lived, however, after Wickens’ team mate Daniel Morad, ART’s Alexander Rossi and MW Arden’s Michael Christensen clashed, causing the race to be red flagged again. Wickens controlled things after the second restart, and set fastest lap too.
Sunday morning’s GP2 sprint race saw Perez win with relative ease from polesitter Turvey and Trident’s Adrian Zaugg. Grosjean had a much better outing, climbing his was confidently through the field, only to then clash with series leader Maldonado late on in an incident that saw both men retire.
Victory in the GP3 sprint went to Esteban Gutierrez, his third of the season, in a race that finished under the safety car after a late accident involving Jakes and Newgarden. Second place went to early leader Daniel Juncadella, with Stefano Coletti winning a scrap with Felipe Guimaraes for third.
