GP2 2010 European GP Preview
The European Grand Prix in Valencia will host the fourth round of the Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series on June 25-27. In the heat at this Spanish street circuit, Bridgestone’s soft compound dry tyres will make their first appearance of the year.
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Valencia provides drivers with the challenge of a street circuit, but at the same time, is a high speed track, being much faster than Monaco. This factor combined with likely high temperatures makes it vital for teams to come up with a car set-up that manages tyre degradation well.
Difficult to overtake in Valencia
The similarities with Monaco are that it is hard to overtake in Valencia, heavy braking is required, and car control plus driver concentration play a key role here.
F1 stars Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg, the 2009 GP2 Series champion, both won GP2 races in Valencia last August on the soft specification Bridgestone GP2 tyre.
Bridgestone will bring soft compound to Valencia GP2
“For Valencia, Bridgestone has allocated the soft compound GP2 dry tyre as it is more suited to hotter temperatures due to its higher working range. This race weekend is two months earlier than in 2009, moving from August to June, but we are using the same compound as last year. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in track temperature and if so, how it will affect tyre degradation at this particular track. Valencia’s fastest part of the circuit is after the bridge in the second sector and the best opportunity for overtaking is at turn 12. Due to the heavy braking experienced, drivers need to be careful not to flat spot their tyres.”
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres for Valencia: 704 (soft and wet)
Pole position time 2009: 1m 45.025s – N Hulkenberg, ART Grand Prix
Fastest race lap 2009: 1m 46.487s – N Hulkenberg, ART Grand Prix (R2)
Top three 2009 race 1: V Petrov (Barwa Addax), N Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix), S Perez (Arden)
Top three 2009 race 2: N Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix), S Perez (Arden), V Petrov (Barwa Addax)