I was really looking forward to racing in Valencia: it's a new track which is always interesting, and I had been there already to race in GTs where we did well and I really enjoyed it, so I thought it will be a lot of fun to race there in GP2. And I was right in a way, but of course in another way it was maybe a little bit disappointing...
I arrived early and when we finally found the paddock, which was a long way from the pitlane and
F1, I went straight over to see my team and talk about the weekend with my engineer before we went out to see the track. Even in the short time since I came to race before there has been a lot of work done, and the track looked a lot better already.
I thought it would be an easy circuit to overtake on, and so did the other guys who had come to the earlier race, but when we went out on track it was really clear that this was not the case: I guess the guys in GT are a lot easier to overtake than the guys at this level! But I think the team did a really nice job with the car and I had a good feeling with it straight away. In free practice and qualifying I was in the top ten, although I had some bad luck with traffic, but if you look at the times it was super close between all of the guys I was fighting with and any mistake was going to be really expensive, as you saw with some of the guys who are normally closer to the front.
I was really happy with the car and myself: okay, I know that it has been a disappointing season for me with results, but I felt really good and really confident in Valencia, and I think everyone could see that the improvement was there and I was more like my real self again.
In race one I had a sight that I've never seen before: they gave me a grid boy instead of a girl, which was a bit strange! I think the sponsors decided to do something a bit different, and it certainly seemed to upset a few of the other drivers! For me I was more concerned about the sky: when we started the warm up lap it started to rain, and I couldn't tell if it was going to stay or if it was just a quick burst of rain, but my engineer told me just to be careful because it shouldn't last too long.
He was right and I made a very easy start, not really pushing too hard, and when the safety car came for some other drivers who crashed I knew that was the right decision. Unfortunately the car didn't feel as fast as in qualifying, but my engineer was really worried about running out of benzine so we had to change the car a lot for that.
During the race I wasn't so happy about that really, because I couldn't push as much as I wanted which was really disappointing, but I have to say that he was right when we came to the last lap and you could see how many drivers had a problem with their fuel! When I saw Giorgio on the side of the road I couldn't believe it, but the team were telling me to push because there was a reward to come, and when I came around the corner I saw Bruno going really slow, and when I passed him before the line I just laughed: it felt like I had won the race!
For sure I felt a little sorry for them, but in racing you have to make everything perfect to get the result, and making sure there is fuel left is definitely one of the things to get right! We made sure of that, and it definitely was the right decision.
I really couldn't wait for the sprint race: starting from pole on that track I felt really confident that I could fight for a win. When we went on the warm up lap it was quite hard to get away well, but it was worse for my teammate who was in third place right behind me: he didn't start at all and had to be pushed into the pitlane. It was a big shame because he had a problem with the clutch, and even though he would have given a good fight to me at the start he also could have helped to keep the other drivers behind.
But at the start I made a good start and was easily leading, and I just pushed as hard as possible to make a gap back to Grosjean, but unfortunately that hurt my rear tyres and I was losing a lot under braking, so he could catch me too easily. We had a big fight for a while but then he came right up at the last corner and forced me wide, but I still had a good line so I stayed with him all the way along the straight.
If you watch the crash you can see that he cut that corner a lot, and I was already there and I can't just make myself invisible! Before he was going wide through the corner but this time not, and for sure if he did that he would be inside at the next corner and there would be nothing I could do. But instead we touched, and it was a real shame: I like Romain and I think we are still friends even though we are no longer teammates, but really I think we didn't have to make that crash.
My suspension was bent after that so there was nothing I could do about di Grassi, but the car still felt good after a few laps so it was pretty easy to hold on for second place. I was really happy to be back on the podium again, where I haven't been since France, and it was fantastic to look down and see my team there looking happy.
Okay, of course I am not happy with the result when they gave me the penalty: I think for sure it was just one of those things in racing when you have a big fight with someone on the track, but in the end that is what happened and there is nothing I can do. I am just happy to get back on the podium for me and for my team, and now my two favourite tracks are coming next, Spa and Monza, so I am sure that we can show even more what we can do there.
Until next time,
Luca
For more information on Luca Filippi, visit http://www.lucafilippi.com.
![Luca Filippi - Arden International [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/482267.jpg)
