GP2

GP2 news

Glock wins home Grand Prix

Glock wins home Grand Prix

21 July 2007 / Results

Timo Glock is finally back where you'd expect him to be. The German was unable to score finish at Silverstone and Magny-Cours but managed to win his home grand prix on Saturday afternoon. He won right ahead of Lucas di Grassi and Kazuki Nakajima.

But Glock didn't have everything his own way: a slow getaway at the start by the poleman allowed fellow front row starter di Grassi to take an early lead at the first corner, with the German just holding onto second ahead of a charging Giorgio Pantano, Pastor Maldonado and Nakajima.

Di Grassi took the opportunity of some clear air to put in some fast laps, while behind the lead pair Maldonado stole third from Pantano at the first turn the next time around: the Italian didn't take too kindly to the move and was soon hounding his rival all around the circuit.

Nakajima clearly fancied some fresh air too: he was into the pits as soon as he could, easily the first of the front markers, and as soon as he came out he was setting his customary fastest laps as he tried to outdo the leaders on sheer pace, albeit from back in sixteenth position.

With Nakajima now setting the pace it was only a matter of time before the message to come in would be broadcast from the pitwalls, and on lap nine race leader di Grassi was in for his stop. He came out a second to the good of Nakajima, but it showed the pace advantage the Japanese driver had enjoyed.

The view from the iSport pitwall was clear: Glock had to run the best lap of his life to try and take a one lap advantage of the clear air before coming in to cover the moves of his two rivals, and that was exactly what happened. The German put in his fastest lap of the race before sliding into the pits (and almost into the wall at the entry, so hard was he pushing), and one incredibly fast stop later he was out and into the maelstrom once more.

Glock re-entered the track just ahead of di Grassi, and the hard work was done: all he had to do now was pile on the pressure by pulling away, and make no mistakes at all. No problem then, unless you have the cream of the GP2 paddock hot on your tail...

For 2 tense laps Glock took at look at every corner, with di Grassi, Nakajima and Pantano all over his tail, before the German forced his way through at turn one, with di Grassi muscling his way by at the next corner, but Nakajima and Pantano had to wait for Tahinci to pit before they could push back towards the front pair.

Further back and there was more nonsense to come: Adam Carroll, Bruno Senna, Javier Villa and Nicolas Lapierre were having a fierce scrap for eighth until Senna braked way too late into turn one, tapping the Ulsterman into a series of spins and inevitable retirement and picking up a drive through penalty for his error while Villa and Lapierre pushed on past them.

On lap 20 Hirate finally pitted, handing the actual lead over to Glock before coming out alongside teammate Maldonado and pushing him wide, but the Venezuelan pushed back hard and held on, just, to fifth place. This was a battle that was going to run and run, and it was seven laps later when Hirate finally outfoxed his teammate in the complex.

And when the chequered flag came out it was shown first to Timo Glock, who smoked his tyres in delight as he held on from Lucas di Grassi and a charging Kazuki Nakajima. Giorgio Pantano slowed dramatically in the closing stages but just held on from Kohei Hirate, with Pastor Maldonado well back in sixth.


more news


Homepage



F1 shop articles

Diecast models 1:18
The new 2006 diecast models are now available in our store starting at € 64.50!
More Formula 1 merchandising