The GP2 Series returns from its late summer break with both the drivers’ and teams’ championship titles still there for the taking as the 26 drivers gear up for the tenth and penultimate double-header of the season.
Although seemingly going just one way before the last couple of races, the competition looks set to be hotter than ever in Istanbul as
Lewis Hamilton and Nelson Piquet
Jr go head-to-head for individual honours, and ART Grand Prix looks to fend off a Timo Glock-inspired iSport International - plus the Piquet Sports operation - to wrap up a second consecutive teams’ championship.
The Istanbul Park circuit made its debut along with the GP2 Series in 2005 - indeed, the series was the first to turn a lap on the new circuit a year ago - and the weekend produced two races that fully lived up to the standard set elsewhere. This year, on Bridgestone’s hard compound slick Potenza tyres, lap-times look set to tumble and the speeds rise - unless, of course, there is another monsoon to rival those seen in Turkey last year and Hungary three weeks ago!
With just two weekends of the season remaining, things couldn’t be better poised for a showdown between the two standout drivers of the campaign. Just eleven points separate Hamilton and Piquet after the Brazilian's record-breaking maximum at the Hungaroring and, with a maximum of 40 still on offer from Turkey and Italy, either man could take the crown.
A perfect weekend in GP2 is a big ask but, last time out, Piquet Jr became the first driver in history to achieve the feat, taking pole position, race win and fastest lap on Saturday, and the race win and fastest lap on Sunday. As he showed to devastating effect, while collecting all 40 points remaining is a tall order, it is by no means an impossibility, and certainly relaunched a title challenge that appeared dead in the water after a miserable Hockenheim meeting.
