April 6th 2006

Piquet looks ahead to GP2 opener with fastest lap at Valencia

GP2 Series, Round 1 - Valencia

source: piquetsports.com.br

The highly-anticipated 2006 GP2 series gets underway this weekend at the Valencia circuit in Spain. Nelson Piquet Jr, along with the other 25 drivers, spent Wednesday and Thursday this week completing the final pre-season test at the Spanish track, in preparation for the season opener. Nelson was consistently fast over the two days, and finished up quickest this afternoon, despite the car being confined to the garage for much of the session due to gearbox problems.

The test was a vital time for Nelson, who unlike many of his rivals, does not have racing experience at Valencia. He quickly got to grips with the track, finishing third quickest in the morning session on the first day, completing 33 laps and setting a fastest time of 1:19.947. It was a disappointing afternoon with technical problems meaning Nelson could complete just 4 laps.

He was, however, back on the pace on day two, topping the tables early on in the morning, but eventually finishing the morning session second fastest, with a time of 1:19.012.
Another exasperating afternoon followed, with Nelson only able to get on track for the final thirty minutes of the session due to further technical problems, although the performance was good once again when the car finally got out on track. He made the most of his time, finishing the afternoon fastest.

This weekend will comprise a slightly different timetable to the usual GP2 set-up. There will be no official practice, due to the two-day test that has already taken place. Instead, drivers will begin their weekend straight off with qualifying at 9am on Saturday morning.

This will be quickly followed by the first of the weekend's two races, which will begin at 12.30pm. Sunday is made up of a twenty-minute warm-up at 10am and the second race at 12.30pm.

Nelson Piquet Jr
"It's been a mixed couple of days. The car has broken a lot, which is so frustrating, but there is not a lot I can do about it. But once we were on track, we were really quick all the time, and the car felt pretty perfect. A lot of the drivers in GP2 have experience at Valencia, which I don't, but I feel like I've got to grips with it quickly and it's a track that I really like. There is absolutely nowhere to overtake so we need to qualify really well on Saturday morning."

Valencia Race Weekend Schedule
Saturday 8 April
0900-09.30 Qualifying
1230-13.45 Race 1 (45 laps / 75 mins)

Sunday 9 April
1000-1020 Warm Up
1230-1315 Race 2 (30 laps / 45 mins)