Autoblog

Click for a hi-res gallery from the 2008 GP2 finale at Monza

If you're not familiar with the GP2 Series by now, think of it as the formula racing equivalent to college football. It can sometimes make for an even more engaging spectacle and gives a chance to preview who will make it into the big leagues of Formula One next. Since the series inception in 2005, each year's champion has earned a race seat in F1. And more than that, every year the runner-up has secured a testing role with the Renault F1 team. Considering that the drivers who have graduated from GP2 in the past few years have turned out to be some of the most talented young rookies in F1, any formula racing fan worth his lug-nuts keeps a keen eye trained on GP2.

This year's championship just wrapped up this weekend in Monza where the F1 circus came to race the Italian Grand Prix, providing a secondary spectacle for racing fans who braved the rain to get a glimpse of the action. Each stop on the GP2 calendar includes two races: the feature race on Saturday, and the reverse-grid sprint race on Sunday. To find out who took the honors and who you should watch in the big leagues for next year, follow the jump.

[Source: Autosport | Images: GP2 Series]

While Formula One has been a relative constant for the past several decades, the various feeder series running up the ladder to the pinnacle of international motorsport seems to always be in flux. The FIA recently announced plans to revive the old Formula 2 series with a new low-cost format to compete with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's contemporary GP2 championship, but Bernie isn't about to let himself be dominated by Max Mosley without putting up a good fight.

To that end, Ecclestone is now reported to be working on launching a new GP3 series. The new feeder series would sit one step below GP2, which itself has supplied a crop of new talent – including Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Timo Glock – to the F1 grid every year since its inception in 2005. GP3 would compete directly with the fractioned Formula 3 – under which separate series operate around the world without a single united championship – and swallow the International Formula Master's series established last year. While Mosley's discredited vision of a low-cost Formula 2 would cap annual budgets at 200,000 euros per car (compared to the 800,000 euro cost of the F3 Euroseries), GP3 could keep things down to the more realistic 450,000 euro budget required in the aforementioned IFM.

Bottom line: there's a war of racing series going on between Mosley and Ecclestone, and racing fans could stand to benefit from the competition.

[Source: F1-Live]

The international motor racing community was shocked when the FIA announced it is accepting tenders to revive the long-departed Formula 2 series. Trouble is, Formula 2 isn't dead... it's just changed names over the years. In 1985 it was relabeled Formula 3000 before being taken over by F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone and Renault team principal Flavio Briatore, who turned it into the current GP2 series in 2005.

The FIA's plan calls for an additional feeder-series to be formed to run in competition to the aforementioned GP2 and other junior formulae like A1GP and F3. However the revived F2 series, as envisioned by the FIA proposal, calls for a much lower operating cost of €200,000 per car, per season – far lower than GP2 (which costs approximately €1.5m per season) or even the lower-rung Formula BMW, which demands nearly €300k to race. Insiders view this as a clear provocation from the FIA against Ecclestone. We'll just have to see how it all plays out.

[Source: autosport.com]

Reports emerging over the weekend indicate that GP2 has been purchased by CVC Capital Partners for a reported $300 million. Dang.

What's GP2, you ask? It's a second-tier "feeder" racing series started in 2005 to give up-and-coming drivers a place to display their skills on a worldwide scale and a place for F1 teams to find new talent. The series was intended to replace the ageing Formula 3000 series, and has so far proven fairly successful. Nico Rosberg won the title in the series' inaugural season, and he's racing in F1. Lewis Hamilton won the championship last year and went head-first into title contention the next season in F1. Timo Glock won the crown this year, and will be heading to Toyota F1 next season. (Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet Jr. also made the jump to F1 through GP2.) Sounds like the idea has met its potential so far.

So who, then, is CVC Capital Partners? It's the private equity firm with a history of turning international racing series around into successful ventures. Contrary to popular perception, it's actually CVC that manages Formula One, having purchased the rights from Bernie Ecclestone and his associates in 2005 (although Bernie then bought an undisclosed portion of the CVC subsidiary running the show). Prior to effectively buying F1, CVC turned MotoGP into the successful two-wheel racing series it is today.

While it remains to be seen what tangible effects the deal with bring to bear on the series – it was Bernie who co-founded GP2, after all, and CVC already held the TV rights – it's bound to bring GP2 even closer to F1 in the coming seasons. The bottom line is that if you want to know who is next year's F1 rookie, watch GP2.

[Source: Motor Authority]

GP2 driver Ernesto Viso had quite a scare during last Saturday's first GP2 race at Magny Cours. After hitting the car infront of him, which had gotten on the brakes, Viso's car became airborne, hit the safety barrier, came apart, and landed on the other side. According to his official website, it took 15 minutes to extract him from the car, but the only injuries suffered were a concussion some minor contusions. One of the track marshalls who escaped injury from Viso's flying car was reportedly (and understandably) treated for shock as well. Following an overnight hospital stay, the Venezuelan driver was back at Magny Cours on Sunday watching the GP2 action, which is a pretty good considering how dire the situation looked just a day earlier.

Follow the jump for a trio of wince-inducing videos depicting the crash.

[Source: DailyCarVideos.com, multiple news outlets]

Basil Shaaban aims to be the first Arab driver in F1, and with a little support from F1 head-honcho Bernie Ecclestone, he just might make it.

Shaaban was born in Lebanon, raised in the Emirates and studied astrophysics at Berkeley in California. Having raced in the A1 GP series for the Lebanese team, he is struggling to find the financial support to continue racing in the British F3 series. From Formula 3, Shaaban hopes to move up to GP2, the second-tier stepping-stone race series run by Renault chief Flavio Briatore, before eventually making it into Formula One.

Ecclestone has expressed his support, and no wonder as he endeavors to increase F1's presence in the oil-rich Arab world. The grands prix in Dubai Bahrain and in nearby Istanbul bring F1 to the Middle East, and Basil Shaaban could be the first to bring the Middle East to F1. Shabaan says his aim, beyond racing and winning, of course, is to promote something positive from the Arab world. Good luck, Basil.

[Source: F1i]