Portugal    2009 Portuguese GP2 round
Round details
Round 10 of 10 rounds in the
2009 GP2 Series
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Location Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
Portimão, Portugal
Course Permanent racing facility
4.692 km (2.915 mi)
Feature race
Date 19 September 2009
Laps 37
Pole position
Driver Russia Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team
Time 1:30.819
Podium
First Germany Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix
Second Italy Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing
Third Brazil Lucas di Grassi F. B. Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Diego Nunes iSport International
Time 1:32.113 (on lap 14)
Sprint race
Date 20 September 2009
Laps 24
Podium
First Italy Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing
Second Spain Javier Villa Super Nova Racing
Third Spain Dani Clos F. B. Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix
Time 1:32.388 (on lap 10)

The 2009 Portuguese GP2 round was the final round of the 2009 GP2 Series season. It was held on September 19 and 20, 2009 at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve at Portimão, Portugal. This race was the only race in the 2009 GP2 Series season that was not acting as a support race for Formula One, instead supporting an 2009 FIA GT Algarve 2 Hours event.

Report

Background

As Nico Hülkenberg claimed the drivers title at the previous round in Monza, only the battle for the Teams championship could be fought in the Algarve. This was the final GP2 race for Hülkenberg, as he will step up to Formula One in 2010. Durango team was forced to also lose this round of not being able to hire any pilot to compete.

Feature race

Vitaly Petrov started on pole for the feature race, with Dani Clos qualifying a career best second. GP2 Champion Hülkenberg started from third on the grid, but got a good start down into turn 1, where he slotted in behind Petrov. After a few laps behind the Russian, Hülkenberg made the decision to pit first. His gamble eventually paid off as after Petrov stopped, Hülkenberg gained the lead and never looked back, winning by 10 seconds. Petrov faded afterwards, by finishing in fourth, with Luca Filippi battling his way through the field to finish second ahead of a surging Lucas di Grassi. Roldán Rodríguez was fifth behind Petrov, with Michael Herck earning his first points in GP2 in sixth, before stewards disqualified him. Kamui Kobayashi finished seventh, while Davide Valsecchi finished eighth, both moved up one place after Herck's disqualification, with Valsecchi scoring his first points for Barwa Addax Team. Andreas Zuber finished ninth but was promoted to the reverse-grid pole. With Hülkenberg winning, both championship battles finished, as he earned enough points for ART Grand Prix to win the teams championship.

Sprint race

The Sprint Race was equally thrilling, with a large collision at the start. Vitaly Petrov struggled to get away in his Barwa Addax car, with the car's anti-stall system kicking in race was red flagged. Most drivers passed him, but Michael Herck was not so lucky and crashed into the back of him, hitting the pit wall afterwards. It ended a miserable weekend for the Romanian, who lost what would have been his first GP2 points finish in Race 1 due to a technical infringement. The crash left the main straight covered with debris and prompted a suspension while the mess was cleaned up. After nearly half an hour the field was led back out behind the safety car, with Coloni's Andreas Zuber leading from Davide Valsecchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi, Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado. Zuber backed the field up at the final corner in preparation for the green flag on lap six, but timed his charge too early and shot past the safety car as it was still entering the pit lane. The top seven, with the exception of Filippi, passed the safety car and were all duly given drive-through penalties. After the penalties were issued, Filippi was in the lead. He never looked back and won by over 4 seconds to claim his first win since 2007, and his team's first win of the season. Sergio Pérez was second on the road ahead of Filippi's team-mate Javier Villa. Dani Clos scored his first points of the season in fourth, with Álvaro Parente and Diego Nunes completing the top six. Pérez lost his second place due to a post-race time penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He slipped to eleventh, giving Super Nova a 1-2 and third place in the teams championship on countback.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Team Time Grid
1 1 Russia Vitaly Petrov Addax Team 1:30.819 1
2 8 Spain Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:30.859 2
3 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:30.884 3
4 7 Brazil Lucas di Grassi Racing Engineering 1:31.067 4
5 2 Italy Davide Valsecchi Addax Team 1:31.129 5
6 5 Spain Roldán Rodríguez Piquet GP 1:31.389 6
7 6 Brazil Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:31.418 7
8 9 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:31.449 8
9 3 Netherlands Giedo van der Garde iSport International 1:31.532 9
10 4 Brazil Diego Nunes iSport International 1:31.569 10
11 16 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio DAMS 1:31.601 11
12 20 United Arab Emirates Andreas Zuber Scuderia Coloni 1:31.569 12
13 14 Italy Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:31.764 13
14 15 Spain Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:31.812 14
15 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Arden International 1:31.886 15
16 21 Brazil Luiz Razia Scuderia Coloni 1:32.140 16
17 19 Italy Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:32.165 17
18 17 Japan Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:32.183 18
19 26 Romania Michael Herck David Price Racing 1:32.376 19
20 12 Italy Edoardo Mortara Arden International 1:32.552 20
21 24 India Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:32.765 21
22 27 Venezuela Johnny Cecotto Jr. David Price Racing 1:32.807 22
23 18 Portugal Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:34.083 23
24 25 Portugal Álvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology no time 24
  • ^1 Johnny Cecotto Jr. did not make the grid due to a crash after leaving the pits.

Race 1

Race 2

Standings after the round

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
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