Nelson Piquet Jr took victory in Saturday’s opening race of the 2006 GP2 series.
The Brazilian Piquet Sports driver led from pole position and was never headed other than during the mandatory pistops.
He was joined on the podium by two rookies, with ART Grand Prix’s Lewis Hamilton in second and local hero Adrián Vallés taking third place and with it the first GP2 series podium for his Campos Racing team.
Piquet’s win came on the back of a stunning qualifying lap earlier in the day which had netted him the first two points of the season for pole position. Leading from the front row of the grid, Piquet pulled away from his rivals from the first lap to establish a gap of over 16 seconds by the conclusion of the 45-lap race. It is often said that the narrow and twisting nature of Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo does not make overtaking easy, but as was so often the case in the inaugural season of the GP2 series the action was in plentiful supply with overtaking manoeuvres, both successful and otherwise, taking place all through the race.
Even on this most tricky of circuits, the fans in the grandstands and at home were treated to a stunning racing spectacle. Nicolas Lapierre had an incredible afternoon. Starting the race from 21st position in his Arden International car, as the chequered flag fell he was fourth, having set the fastest lap of the race. Fifth position went to Super Nova International’s Jose Maria Lopez, with Gimmi Bruni an unexpected but highly promising sixth for Trident Racing on the Italian team’s GP2 series debut. Seventh place went to Michael Ammermüller of Arden International.
The race was not without incident however. Trident Racing’s Andreas Zuber finished his race in the gravel after a robust challenge from the flying Lapierre, and Adam Carroll drove a highly entertaining but ultimately fruitless race to 14th for Racing Engineering. Alex Prémat also had a tough race. The Frenchman was in line for a podium finish at the half-way point, leading Hamilton after the pit-stops, but a number of off-track excursions saw him slip all the way back to ninth.
1st Nelson Piquet Jr – Piquet Sports. 1:03:15.360
“This is what we’ve been dreaming of since Spa last year. It is the start to the championship we’ve been dreaming of, and it’s started perfectly so I’m really, really happy. The team did an excellent job, we’re at the top now, and we’re going to be fighting as one of the top guys.”
2nd Lewis Hamilton – ART Grand Prix. +16.665 “I think it’s a nice strong start for myself and the team, and the team has done a great job here. To come to the first race and finish second is great, and it’s a great starting point for me.” 3rd Adrián Vallés – Campos Racing. +19.490 “I think it was a good race, and I hope to keep this rhythm and get some more good points – there are still many races, and I hope to be there all the time and fighting for the top five.”
