GP2 Series Review&Pictures

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The 2009 GP2 Series got underway this weekend, with teams in action at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, for the first two races of the season. Andreas Zuber and Luiz Razia made their race debuts for the Fisichella Motor Sport International team.

Drivers hit the track for the first session of the 2009 campaign on Friday morning in a 30-minute free practice session ahead of the afternoon's qualifying. Heading into his fourth season of GP2, Zuber completed 14 laps of testing, setting a fastest time of 1:30.264 and finishing 18th fastest. Razia was one position behind on the timesheets after 11 laps, with a fastest time of 1:30.555.

The team made some positive changes ahead of qualifying to see Zuber shooting up the order in the all-important session, and setting himself up on the third row of the grid for Saturday's feature race. He set a fastest lap of 1:28.090 to record the fifth fastest time of the session. Razia set a best lap of 1:29.185 to line up 21st on the grid for Saturday's race.

In Saturday's 39-lap feature race, which took place on the Barcelona track after Formula 1 qualifying, Zuber made a very strong start, moving up from fifth into third position, and looking set for a great start to his FMSI career. Unfortunately a burst water pipe put an end to his hopes of a podium finish, forcing him into retirement on lap six. Razia had a strong and consistent race, crossing the line in 16th position, a five place improvement on his grid spot.

Razia began Sunday's 26-lap sprint race from 16th, with Zuber starting in 25th position. Razia had a strong race, moving up four positions from his starting spot to cross the line in 12th. Zuber moved up to 24th in the shorter race but his race unfortunately ended on lap eight after being hit by Roldan Rodriguez, suffering a puncture and damage that caused him to retire.

Paolo Coloni, Team Principal, FMSI: "We haven't been very lucky but we have shown good prospects this weekend. I'm very happy with the hard work we have done over the winter, the team performance this weekend and the combination of drivers. We have shown already how competitive we can be and I'm excited about the rest of the season. We'll go to Monaco in two weeks looking to score some strong points."