FIA F2
Portimao: Bridgestone weekend summary
Bridgestone Motorsport's GP2 Series Report Nico Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix) was officially crowned the 2009 GP2 Series Drivers' Champion in Portimao earning himself the Bridgestone Prize of US$100,000. Although he clinched the ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Bridgestone Motorsport's GP2 Series Report
Nico Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix) was officially crowned the 2009 GP2 Series Drivers' Champion in Portimao earning himself the Bridgestone Prize of US$100,000. Although he clinched the drivers' title at the previous round in Monza, Hulkenberg strengthened his position at the top of the championship standings by winning the GP2 feature race in Portugal, with Luca Filippi (Super Nova Racing) taking victory on Sunday.
In Saturday's shortened 37 lap race, Hulkenberg stole the limelight, with Filippi finishing second and Lucas di Grassi (Fat Burner Racing Engineering) taking third. Pole sitter Vitaly Petrov (Barwa Addax Team) finished fourth, with Filippi claiming the point for the quickest time. Sunday's re-started 24 lap sprint race gave Filippi his first win of the season and his teammate Javier Villa second place, with Dani Clos (Fat Burner Racing Engineering) in third. Filippi claimed another point for fastest lap.
Hulkenberg is now the fifth champion of the Bridgestone-backed GP2 Series. Since the beginning of the 2009 season there have been eleven different race winners, Hulkenberg taking the most victories with a total of five race wins. Bridgestone's medium, soft and super soft GP2 dry slicks have provided entertaining racing as a result of softer compounds being allocated at the majority of circuits for 2009.
Hulkenberg finished the season on 100 points, ahead of Petrov on 75. In third was di Grassi with 63 points. This year the Teams' Championship went to ART Grand Prix on 136, with Barwa Addax Team taking second with 122 and Super Nova Racing third on 67.
Quote from Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport "Once again, this season's GP2 Series has been fantastically exciting! Race after race we have seen thrilling and close battles demonstrating what an ideal training ground for young drivers this series is. Indeed, we have already seen one driver step up from GP2 to Formula One this year. Bridgestone is proud to have played a role in supporting GP2. In choosing softer compounds at several of the rounds in 2009 we have further challenged the drivers and teams but hope this will stand them in good stead for the future. Finally, I am delighted to congratulate Nico Hulkenberg on becoming the 2009 GP2 Drivers' Champion and, in so doing, claiming the Bridgestone Prize for US$100,000. Congratulations also to ART Grand Prix on taking the Teams' Championship."
Quote from Chris Tandy - Bridgestone Motorsport Senior Engineer
"The selection of the soft compound was correct for Portugal and the tyre offered the performance and challenge requested by the GP2 organisers, without compromising safety parameters. Wear rate was influential on the car balance particularly for those drivers who chose to pit early in race one, those who did not were rewarded with consistency. Under the temperatures in Sunday's race the tyre performed within its operating window, creating an exciting finale to the season."
-credit: gp2
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 2009 Final standings
Next article Spa: Belgian Court withdraws the seizure of Scuderia Coloni GP2 cars
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nico Hulkenberg
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
“Am I confident? Probably not” – The unprecedented challenge Singapore is throwing at F1 drivers
“They build the best engines” – Audi F1 drivers reveal biggest limitation and how to address it
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
“They build the best engines” – Audi F1 drivers reveal biggest limitation and how to address it
More from
Racing Engineering
Paul Ricard ELMS: Racing Engineering wins on series debut
European Le Mans
European Le Mans
Paul Ricard
Paul Ricard ELMS: Racing Engineering wins on series debut
Racing Engineering drops out as F2 names 2018 teams
FIA F2
FIA F2
Racing Engineering drops out as F2 names 2018 teams
F2 preview: Who will begin the new era on top?
FIA F2
FIA F2
F2 preview: Who will begin the new era on top?
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
10 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
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