BUURMAN 5TH IN SECOND RACE FOR TRUST TEAM ARDEN.

The Dams driver Kobayashi claimed a historical victory today in Sepang: he is the first Japanese driver to have ever won a GP2 race. In the same race Trust powered Dutchman Yelmer Buurman was again in the points in only his second GP2 race. This is the best result ever for a Dutch racedriver in GP2 which is very promising for his future in autosport.

Published: Sunday March 23, 2008

It was very hot on the Malaysian track this morning as the GP2 Asia drivers placed their car on the reversed grid. Trident Racing Harald Schleghelmilch started on pole position, next to BCN Competicion’s Milos Pavlovic. However, as the lights went off, Kamui Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov were the fastest to get into action and they took the lead of the race, the Toyota F1 third driver in front of yesterday’s feature race winner. Behind these two men, Pavlovic and Schleghelmilch were already both under the attacks of Romain Grosjean, back from 9th place. Soon, the ART Grand Prix driver was 3rd and chasing after Petrov. As the two men began a beautiful fight, the rest of the pack stayed closely together with Puglisi, Buurman and Valsecchi in the points. Unfortunately, the Piquet Sports driver who was struggling a little bit eventually let Buurman and Valsecchi pass, and then Fairuz Fauzy and the two iSport International drivers.

At the front of the race, while Kobayashi was still easily leading, Grosjean overtook Petrov, but never could catch up with the Dams driver. With three laps to go, Karun Chandhok appeared in the mirrors of Fauzy. However, the Super Nova Racing man crossed the finish line first. Behind them, Bruno Senna set the fastest lap time in a 1:46.548.

Romain Grosjean is still leading the championship 11 points ahead of now second Vitaly Petrov. Fairuz Fauzy completes the Top 3.

Kamui Kobayashi (Dams): “This is a fantastic result! I made a perfect start and then I led the race until the chequered flag. I knew Romain was fast so I never stopped pushing. I’m really glad to offer this victory to my team: they’ve done a wonderful job this weekend and we leave Malaysia with two podiums. We are back in top form!”

Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix): “I played it really safe at the start and then, the cars in front of me were slower so I could overtake them. All in all, I passed seven cars. The fight with Petrov was tough: he was faster than me when outing the corners. He eventually made a mistake and I went on the outside to overtake him. After that, Kamui was too far away. I wanted to win, but I guess I should focus on the fact that I’m still leading the championship. I made a mistake yesterday that cost us the win…”

Vitaly Petrov (Barwa International Campos Team): “I had a great weekend here in Malaysia if we forget about qualifications… I tried my best to contain Grosjean, but then I made a small mistake and he took this opportunity to pass me. After that, he was faster than me. With one win and another podium this weekend, I’m now second of the championship. Fauzy is very close, Grosjean is not too far… The end of the championship should be very interesting!”

SENTUL - RACE 2
DRIVER / TEAM 
1. Kamui Kobayashi, Dams 
2. Romain Grosjean, ART Grand Prix 
3. Vitaly Petrov, Barwa international Campos Team 
4. Davide Valsecchi, Durango 
5. Yelmer Buurman, Trust Team Arden 
6. Fairuz Fauzy, Super Nova Racing 
7. KarunChandhok, iSport International 
8. Bruno Senna, iSport International 
9. Marcello Puglisi, Piquet Sports 
10 Hiroki Yoshimoto, Qi-Meritus Mahara 
11 Michael Herck, Fisichella Motor Sport International 
12 MilosPavlovic, BCN Competicion 
13 Diego Nunes, DPR 
14 Ben Hanley, Barwa International Campos Team 
15 Marco Bonanomi, Piquet Sports 
16 Ho-Pin Tung, Trident Racing 
17 Alberto Valerio, Durango 
18 Stephen Jelley, ART Grand Prix 
19 Aarman Ebrahim, DPR 
20 AdrianValles, Fisichella Motor Sport International 
 
NOT CLASSIFIED

Driver / Team 
Luca Filippi, Qi-Meritus Mahara 
Sébastien Buemi, Trust Team Arden 
Harald Schleghelmilch, Trident Racing 
Jason Tahinci, BCN Competicion 
Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Dams 
 

Fastest lap time: Bruno Senna (iSport International) – 1:46.548 on lap 20
Christian Bakkerud (Super Nova Racing) was excluded from Race 2 after failing to follow the Marshalls’ instructions in Race 1.

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
DRIVER / POINTS 
1. Romain Grosjean 35 
2. Vitaly Petrov 24 
3. Fairuz Fauzy 23 
4. Bruno Senna 18 
5. AdrianValles 15 
6. Kamui Kobayashi 10
7. Sébastien Buemi 10
8. Davide Valsecchi 9 
9. KarunChandhok 6 
10. Andy Soucek 6 
11. Jérôme d’Ambrosio 6 
12. Ben Hanley 6 
13. Hiroki Yoshimoto 6 
14 Yelmer Buurman 5 
15 MilosPavlovic 5
 

• 11/05 BIZARRE RACE YIELDS ANOTHER PODIUM FOR BUEMI
• 10/05 SIXTH PLACE FOR FIGHTBACK KING BUEMI
• 09/05 CHARACTER-BUILDING DAY FOR TRUST TEAM ARDEN
• 27/04 PODIUM JOY FOR BUEMI IN BARCELONA
• 26/04 BUEMI EARNS TWO POINTS… AND A FRONT-ROW START
• 25/04 TOUGH BAPTISM FOR TRUST TEAM ARDEN
• 12/04 BUEMI 2ND AND CROWNED VICE CHAMPION
• 11/04 DOUBLE PODIUM SUCCESS FOR TRUST TEAM ARDEN
• 11/04 GOOD QUALIFICATION FOR TTA DRIVERS IN DUBAI
• 06/04 BUEMI 2ND IN SPRINTRACE BAHREIN

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