FIA F2
Bahrain: DPR race one report
DPR RACES HARD IN BAHRAIN GP2 SEASON OPENER David Price Racing (DPR) with drivers Andy Soucek and Christian Bakkerud opened their GP2 Series season with two strong finishes in the first race of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Soucek and Bakkerud, ...
Published: Apr 14, 2007, 9:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
DPR RACES HARD IN BAHRAIN GP2 SEASON OPENER
David Price Racing (DPR) with drivers Andy Soucek and Christian Bakkerud opened their GP2 Series season with two strong finishes in the first race of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Soucek and Bakkerud, both competing in their first GP2 race finished 12th and 13th respectively. The 33 lap race produced plenty of drama with fast and furious racing and both DPR drivers in the thick of the field from the opening lap. With both DPR drivers starting low on the grid, overtaking was to be the name of the game for the team. Soucek started from 25th place after gearbox issues in the practice sessions had limited his running in the lead up to the race and had left him with plenty of work to do for his first outing in the GP2 Series. Bakkerud lined up in 26th place beside his team mate for the start and was also keen to show his potential, after a disappointing start to his weekend.
The opening lap of the first of the two Bahrain races produced four retirements, enabling the DPR drivers to quickly make up ground. Soucek made an early mandatory pit stop on lap five and he rejoined the field in 18th place, while the team opted to take a different strategy with Bakkerud, giving him a longer first stint on his first set of tyres. This allowed Bakkerud to run up front by lap 12, with the young Dane leading the field and giving him the opportunity to make up further places. Bakkerud pitted on lap 19 to give up the lead and take on new rubber, returning to the track in 18th position.
Meanwhile Soucek had worked hard, running on a strong race pace to improve to 12th place. He improved a further place later in the race, but dropped back again to 12th, a position he maintained until the chequered flag. Bakkerud also made progress in the closing stages of the race to finish close behind his team mate in 13th. David Price, Principal, DPR, said of the first GP2 race this season,
"Both Andy and Christian did a good job for us in the race today, particularly with less than ideal starting spots. The drivers were on different strategies but both worked well and they were able to finish in the top half of the grid. We redeemed ourselves from the start of the weekend with an excellent strategy, although tyres were a big issue, as they were for everyone today. I think our results for this first race were more than we could have expected and I hope that we can continue to improve on this performance tomorrow."
The opening GP2 Series race of the 2007 season was won by Luca Filippi with Timo Glock in second place and Andi Zuber joining these two on the podium in third position.
-credit: dpr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bahrain: Racing Engineering race one report
Next article Bahrain: Javier Villa race two report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luca Filippi
Friday favourite: The street track gem behind a breakthrough IndyCar result
IndyCar
IndyCar
Friday favourite: The street track gem behind a breakthrough IndyCar result
Ex-GP2 ace Filippi makes touring car switch
TCR
TCR
Ex-GP2 ace Filippi makes touring car switch
NIO drops Filippi from Formula E line-up
Formula E
Formula E
NIO drops Filippi from Formula E line-up
Latest news
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
11 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
12 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 12 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe