Bridgestone Motorsport's GP2 Asia Series Report

Giacomo Ricci scored DPR's first race win since 2005 and Luca Filippi gave MalaysiaQi- Meritus.com their first GP2 Asia win at round four of the Bridgestone supported GP2 Asia Series at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit.

Michael Herck DPR, Barwa Addax Team : Luiz Razia Credit: Bridgestone Motorsport

The medium compound Bridgestone GP2 tyre helped provide close action over the race weekend in Bahrain, with pole position taken by Filippi by 0.91secs from Arden International driver Charles Pic, with the top ten drivers separated by less than a second.

Friday's race was won by Filippi from pole, although he was under constant pressure from newly crowned champion, Davide Valsecchi (iSport International), who finished just two seconds behind. Most drivers changed their rear tyres in the compulsory pit stops in this race.

Saturday's race with a reverse top eight grid from the first race saw Ricci make a superb start from fourth on the grid to lead after the first corner. With no pit stop in this race, Ricci was able to lead all the way to the chequered flag. ART Grand Prix driver Sam Bird finished second, over five seconds behind.

This weekend's round ran alongside the first race of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, for which Bridgestone is Official Tyre Supplier.

"I really enjoyed this weekend's racing and it was a good way to end this season's championship. Once again, tyre degradation was a factor in the race, and this is the target of the GP2 Series to make the racing exciting, and reward the drivers who learn the best tyre management. In both races the top three drivers at the end of the first lap finished in the top three positions, showing that a good start is vital when tyre degradation is a factor. This round was interesting as we used the longer layout circuit at Sakhir, whereas for the previous round we used the shorter configuration. In yesterday's race most drivers opted to change their rear tyres. This was a difficult decision as many drivers reported understeer at the end of the race."

Temperatures Ambient Track Weather
Saturday race - PM 32C-31C 41C-37C Sunny
Sunday race   - AM 29C-31C 40C-44C Sunny

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