Paddock Postcard from Istanbul 26 Aug 2007
For the first time since Melbourne 2006, film actress Bo Derek raised pulse rates with a visit to the paddock in Turkey. In GP2’s first race of the weekend, however, iSport’s Andreas Zuber raised his own by throwing away victory with a high-speed departure from the lead after misjudging a passing move on a backmarker.
Earlier, team mate Timo Glock’s slip wide in the first corner handed the advantage to Zuber and, ultimately, cost him the series lead. By falling behind Zuber, Glock thus had to stay out of the pits when a first-lap spin by Luca Filippi set a stalled car in a dangerous position, and a collision between Briton Mike Conway and South African Adrian Zaugg further littered the track, triggering safety car deployment.
With Zuber the first iSport driver to pit Glock thus had to keep going behind the safety car to avoid getting stacked in the pits, while those who pitted at the end of that opening lap negated their disadvantage behind it as they rejoined.
Once Zuber had made his spectacular departure, ART Grand Prix’s Lucas di Grassi had it all his way. Giorgio Pantano of Campos Grand Prix snuck by Petrol Ofisi FMS International’s Adam Carroll for second, as Glock recovered to fourth, right on Carroll’s tail.
Di Grassi thus leads the series with 64 points to Glock’s 60, and the second race on Sunday morning places Karun Chandhok on pole with Xandi Negrao for company on the front row.
