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2013, MARCH 22-24 KUALA LUMPUR ROUND 1

Rapax driver makes titleintentions clear in seasonopener

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FOLLOWI NG YOUNG DRI VERS ON THEI R WAY TO THE PI NNACLE OF MOTORSPORT

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Sainz Jnr and Niederhauser top testing

GP3 SERIES 2013 SEASON

RECORD BREAKING!

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Drum roll please! We are pleased to presentto you, our loyal fans: a brand new video

module on the GP2 Ofcial website.

First video up and running: the highlights ofthe 2012 season. Relive all the heart-stopping

action and drama from last season nowavailable online for your viewing pleasure atgp2series.com.

Who can forget the magical ght between Luiz

Razia and James Calado during the nal lapin Valencia? One of many races which trulycaptured the ferocity and skills of the bestyoung drivers in the world on their path to thepinnacle of motorsport: Formula 1.

This short compilation video shows the bestmoments from another memorable year in theseries. In a season which saw the title go downto the wire, this video is a must-see for any GP2fan. And tell your friends to check it out too

once they have seen what GP2 has to offer,they too will become rm GP2 supporters!

pax 1M 42cing Engineering 1M 35rlin 32T Grand Prix 18

den International 17AMS 12

SSIAN TIME 8mer Motorsport 2nezuela GP Lazarus 1

P Motorsport 0terham Racing 0dent Racing 0rwa Addax Team 0

CLASSIFICATIONS

EAMS STANDINGS

efano Coletti 1M 36bio Leimer 1M 25ipe Nasr 24

mes Calado 18phane Richelmi 12ch Evans Rookie 11n Leal 10

yon Palmer 8m Bird 8

hnny Cecotto Jr. 6mon Trummer 6nor Daly Rookie 2ne Binder 1vin Giovesi Rookie 0m Dillmann 0rcus Ericsson 0niel De Jong 0Varhaug 0

rgio Canamasas 0niel Abt Rookie 0vin Ceccon 0rian Quaife-Hobbs Rookie 0

ke Rosenzweig 0o Haryanto 0

Qin Hua Rookie 0thanal Berthon 0

Whats new? you ask. The true essence ofThe Insider remains: since 2008, it brings youall the fresh news and gossip straight fromthe GP2 and GP3 paddock. The ever-growingnumber of readers however called for more

pages, more features and more fun!

We have tweaked the design shooting fora more vivid, colourful and user-friendlymagazine. We have also added some newschronicles, starting with A day in the life. Ever

wondered what we were all doing on a raceday at the circuit? Its not just about being on

the track, in the pitlane or on the pitwall as thelights go off. The drivers will also reveal theirfavourite track not the one to race on, butthe perfect tune to listen to before jumpinginto their beast. We also added a feature withall the best bits of the race weekend, a social

media centre where you can play a part butwe have kept fan favourites too such as good/bad week.

We dont want to spoil too much. Just see for

yourself. You are no longer a y on the wall.You are now fully part of our world. Welcome!

BRAND NEW ME

READY FOR THE OSCARS

LICK HERE FOR

MPLETE R ESULTS

NEWS

RIVERS STANDINGS

BEST BITS

Is there a tougher place to open a season thanKuala Lumpur? The weather conditions areone of the trickiest of the year for both menand machines. With the high temperatures

and humidity levels off the scale, everythingis put to the test and the number one rule isto drink, drink and drink some more water forthe drivers. However, they came prepared toMalaysia: James Calado for instance trained

for hours in a heat acclimatisation room whilstJake Rosenzweig chose to arrive a week prior tothe event to get his body used to the conditions.But no matter how well-prepared they were, onelook at them in parc-ferme at the end of both

races it was obvious that they had all had gonebeyond their strengths to cross the nish line.

Series leader Stefano Coletti could not evenstand at the end of the podium ceremony the

Monegasque driver sat on the top step, head inhands, trying to collect himself before getting

interviewed. The heat also puts a lot of strainon the mechanical aspects of the car. Managingtyres was of course key to success evenmore than usual: Saturdays race saw driversstruggling with high degradation, with race

leader Coletti having to surrender to both FabioLeimer and James Calado in the nal stages.Rookie Mitch Evans was also a victim of thephenomenon earlier in the race having to pit onlap 6. But lesson learned: on Sunday, both men

adapted their set-up and driving style to grab P1and P3 respectively.

IN THE HEAT OF THE TRACK

GOODWEEK

BADWEEK

STEFANOCOLETTI

Pole, podium, win and bonuspoints for fastest lap. Thats a

total of 36 points scored in onerace weekend and the Series

lead ahead of Round 2 for theRapax driver.

FABIO LEIMER

A well-deserved win in thefeature race thanks to a

mature drive and a greatstrategy. As expected, the

Racing Engineering man addshis name to the list of title

contenders.

JAMES CALADOSecond in qualifying and in the

feature race, the Brit made amistake in Race 2 that led tothree cars retiring prematurelyand the ART man penalised for

Bahrain feature race.

DAMSA difcult rst round for the

reigning champions with onlyStphane Richelmi scoring

points for the French outt. But

as everyone likes to say: Theseason is long and were only

at the beginning!

MP MOTORSPORTProbably not the outcome

the newcomers had expectedfor their rst round. An

unfortunate incident in Race 1

involving both cars ruined theirweekend. Lesson learned.

ROUND 1 RACE REPORTS // CLICK HERE

#Close

Fifteen drivers running within 1 second in

practice and qualifying, with the top threedrivers covered by 0.008s, Thats closeracing!

#ComebackKid

Jolyon Palmer fought his way from P22 to

6th in Race 1. He then stalled on the grid,started from the pitlane and sliced his wayup to P9.

#Finally

Fabio Leimer felt as though he was cursed,hunting down a third win since Barcelona2011. A strong drive in Race 1 led to victoryand relief.

#OhBaby

At eighteen years old and nine months,Mitch Evans has become the youngestGP2 podium nisher ever with a 3rd placein Round 1 Sprint Race.

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Thrift Shop

Macklemore andRyan Lewis

STEFANOCOLETTI

Romain Grosjean arrived in Malaysiadetermined to wrap up the 2008 GP2 Asia

Series early, and claimed a scorchingpole position in qualifying by over 0.5 secsto lay down a marker. The rest of the grid,however, had other plans.

Grosjean made a mess of the feature start,

dropping back to fth as the lights went out,but the rain saw the race red agged forcrashes on the rst lap, and then restartedbehind the safety car. The Frenchmanfought back to challenge Vitaly Petrov

for the lead, but Grosjean was soon backin the pits after a tap from Pavlovic for adamage check. The Russian held on for

the win, with the championship leader limpinghome to nish 9th, albeit with a point for the

fastest lap.

A slow start from the front row saw Kobayashiand Petrov jump to an early lead in the sprintrace, with Grosjean ghting his way forwardto put himself on the Russians tail once

again, resuming the ght which was cut shortthe day before. Petrov put up his usual robustdefence, but the Frenchman nally sliced pastand was soon chasing down the Japanesedriver: the gap was too big, however, and

Kobayashi held on for his rst GP2 victory,with Grosjeans lead in the title down to11 points over his Russian rival.

PETROV SLOWS GROSJEANS

MARCH TO TITLE

Romain Grosjean on

pole position with

ART Grand Prix.

Vitaly Petrov

takes the lead at

the start of the

race.

Shushsleeping

Wake up call (one eye open)

Breakfast

Leave the hotel with my Bentley NOT!!!!We have a crappy PROTON

Arrive at the circuit and have a realespresso (second eye open)

Meeting with Allsport about Paddock

Club for the seasonVisit Caterham Racing in order toorganize grid access for some of theirVIP guests (home race for Caterham)

Tell the teams to move the ir equipmentto the pit lane. Racing cars will follow

Put Safety Car overalls on for Race1.Its SUPER HOT TODAY

GP2 pit lane opens

Safety car leaves the grid

GP2 Race 1 formation lap And lightsare off for the first race of the season.I watch from the Safety car

GP2 Race 1 is over. No safety cardeployed. NOT A BUSY RACE FOR USTODAY

Lunch and debrief with Bruno Micheland Didier Perrin at Pirelli.Finally some good food :-)

Debrief with GP2 race director andstewards

Post race administration, postingresults and stewards decisions

Try a short cut to enter into thestewards room Almost made it beforerunning into PASQUALE! I had to goback and find another way around thebuilding

Meeting with Race director andstewards

GP2 administration

check-in online (we go home tomorrow!)

We take the Bentley (PROTON) backto the hotel

We (AQ/DP/RS/MC) leave the hotelfor dinner with our boss!

Dinner at the Japanese restaurant(NOTHING SPECIAL)

Back to our hotel

zzzzzz GOOD NIGHT

Malaysia saw an upturn in the fates ofthe former GP2 drivers, with champions

Hamilton and Rosberg nishing nose totail behind the lead pairing of Red Bull.

Grosjean improved too, handilyoutperforming his world championteammate (who nally held offHlkenberg in a race long ght for P7)with a solid drive to P6, while Perez

brought home his rst McLaren pointswith a long run to P9.

Gutirrez solidied his growingreputation in the top paddock with astrong run to P12, while Maldonado wasleft on the side of the road once again

after retiring on lap 45.

The Marussia vs Caterham warcontinued apace, but this time the

Caterham pair were both able to stayahead of Chilton: the trio nished P14to 16.

HAMILTON ON THE PODIUM

IN KUALA LUMPUR

23SATURDAY

(03) MARCH

MacCl,GP2SrieHdOpations

A DAY IN THE LIFE

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Tyre wear was the key to success in

the rst F1 race of the 2013 season

in Melbourne: an aggressive choice of

compounds by Pirelli gave the teams a

challenge to solve.

Nico Hlkenberg looked to be the best

placed driver to take advantage of

the Q3 runners, starting from P11 in a

handy looking Sauber, but a fuel system

problem relegated the former GP2

champion to a disappointed spectator.

Up ahead Lewis Hamilton made a

storming start to third, with teammate

Nico Rosberg sliding into P5, but their

races were now reliant on how well

their Mercedes dealt with the abrasive

surface of the Albert Park circuit: theBriton struggled on to nish fth, but the

German was forced into retirement with

an electrical issue.

Further back Romain Grosjean was

struggling with a poorly handling car

throughout the race, switching strategy

but never nding clear air: he limped

home 10th. One place behind himSergio Prez could be forgiven for

expecting more: his McLaren was a

handful all weekend, and P11 wasprobably the best he could do given the

conditions.

It was still better than what Pastor

Maldonado managed to bring home:after complaining that his Williams

was undriveable, the Venezuelandemonstrated his point by beaching

himself in the gravel midway throughthe race.

The new drivers had a torrid baptismin torrential conditions in qualifying,

with Esteban Gutirrez, Giedo van derGarde and even Charles Pic all nding

the wall in Q1, but the Mexican made astrong race debut by calmly slicing upthe order to a P13 nish. The Caterham

pair were stuck in a race long battlewith Marussia rivals, with Pic eventually

splitting Jules Bianchi and Max Chiltonfor P16, while his Dutch teammate had

to make do with a P18 nish.

RAIN AND RUBBER RESTRICT

GP2 RUNNERS IN MELBOURNE

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@felipenasr

@jamescalado

@trident_team

@gp2_ofcial

@jjwebster954

@conordaly22

@nickcassidy_

@gp3_ofcial

#yoursay

LICK HERE TO ACCESS

GP2 PADDOCK

Prime HardOption Soft

This year, Pirelli is entering its thirdseason as ofcial tyre supplier to the

GP2 Series, the premier feedercategory to Formula One. The 2013GP2 tyres are all new when it comes tocompound and construction, designedto mirror the characteristics of the latest

Formula One tyres.

The changes brought by Pirelli tothe GP2 tyres this year are the mostcomprehensive since Pirelli entered thecategory. Only the hard compound was

changed last year, but for this seasonall the compounds and constructionshave been revised. The aim is to makesure that the emphasis is always on

high performance. The new tyres asuccessful hallmark of Pirellis philosophyin Formula One will also prepare thedrivers for the demands they face at thevery pinnacle of the sport, where tyremanagement is an essential skill.

In another change for 2013, the GP2tyres are now produced at Pirelliscutting-edge competition tyre factory inSlatina, Romania. Tyre research anddevelopment is carried out by specialists

based at Pirellis headquarters in Milan,while the companys motorsport logisticsfacility is located in Didcot, UnitedKingdom.

But while the tyres themselves are brandnew, the basic tyre rules in GP2 are thesame as those of last year.

Every car has ve sets of dry tyres andthree sets of wet weather tyres available

for the race weekend. The ve sets of drytyres comprise three sets of the hardercompound and two sets of the softercompound. Each car has to return oneset of the harder compound after free

practice, meaning that the drivers areleft with two sets of each nominatedcompound for qualifying and the race.

Judging by all the action in the rst tworaces of the season at Malaysia, the

new tyres are already set to help provideanother championship thriller this year.Tyre management had a key inuenceon how the action unfolded in both races,

with the drivers rapidly beginning tounderstand what is needed to unlock thebest performance from them.

Pirellis racing manager Mario Isolacommented: Were all very excited

about the new GP2 tyres for this year,which are designed to offer moreperformance than ever before. In fact, thelap times in free practice were actuallyquicker than we saw in qualifying atSepang last year. However, the difcult

track conditions of Malaysia showed thatthere is an impressive degree of durabilityas well. Knowing how to get the best outof the tyres is designed to form an integralpart of the overall race strategy, together

with driving style and car set-up. So allthe ingredients are in place for anotherexciting season!

SAKHIRBAHRAIN

APRIL, 19-20-21

TYRES CHOICE

Bahrain International Circuit5.543 km

2012 STAND ALONERace 1 Valsecchi (DAMS)

Race 2 Dillmann (Rapax)

2012Race 1 Valsecchi (DAMS)

Race 2 Valsecchi (DAMS)

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CLICK HERE FOR MORE

GP2 SERIES PHOTOS

When March, 23 _ 11:56WhereSepang International Circuit, Kuala LumpurWho Stefano Coletti . Rapax,

Fabio Leimer . Racing Engineering

What Canon EOS 1-D XEF50mm f/1.4 USM

50ISO50mm

1/10 @ F14.0

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

GP3 SERIES PHOTOS

When March, 12 _ 16:58WhereCircuit de Catalunya, BarcelonaWho Emanuele Zonzini . Trident

What Canon EOS 1-D XEF200mm f/2L IS USM

160 ISO 200mm

1/500 @ F6.0

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We are back! All eyes (and ears) wereon the GP3/13 car at the rst ofcialpre-season test in Estoril as the full gridof 27 drivers fed onto the circuit. Not

only did the cars look even better withtheir revised nose, sidepods and enginecover, the roar of the 400hp engine wasimmense.

MW Arden rookie Carlos Sainz Jnr toppedthe timesheets for two successive days inPortugal, recording a best lap of 1:26.81,three seconds quicker than its previous

generation on the same track. The secondtest at Barcelona saw Jenzer MotorsportsPatric Niederhauser wow everyone: hislaptime of 1:33.750 was a mammoth4.2 seconds quicker than the former GP3

lap record.

Nick Yelloly (Carlin) has driven bothgenerations of the GP3 car and explained

the differences:

The GP3/13 car is more challenging to drive

and great fun with so much power. Fast cornersare much trickier to manage in the new car,

meaning driver skill is even more important.Therefore I think you need to be braver driving

this machine. In higher temperatures I believethe car can go even quicker. This season willbe vital learning about tyre degradation inorder to progress up the ranks to GP2 andFormula 1.

Mika Hkkinen

k there is something very

ue about him and hisonality. Hes got a greate of humour too!

ATRICKUJALA

EVINORJUS

Ari Vatanen

a Finnish rally driver and I

he fact he is always goingways and gives maximumk. He is very fun to watchalways want to give my

mum too.

AROAINIO

Ari Gold

Hes a characterfrom the TV showEntourageplayedby Jeremy Piven.

I dont really haveheroes but I like Aris TVona, hes a very cool guy.

New GP3 car 4.2sfaster in Barcelona

HEAR ME

Mighty Mitch on podium in MalaysiaValtteri Bottas made a great start

to his F1 campaign becoming theonly rookie to progress to Q2 inMelbourne in treacherous andchallenging conditions. The Finn alsoout-qualied his teammate Pastor

Maldonado. Race day saw the 2011GP3 Series Champion nish 14thjust one place behind our inauguralGP3 title winner Esteban Gutirrez in13th also making a strong debut.

Hot and sticky Sepang hostedRound 1 of the GP2 Seriesseason which featured 11 driversgraduated from GP3. Former GP3victors Stefano Coletti and JamesCalado qualied on the front row for

the Feature Race, the Brit nishedsecond with the Monegasque driverthird. Reigning GP3 ChampionMitch Evans pocketed a point inhis maiden race despite a bout of

food poisoning. Coletti took a lights-to-ag victory in the Sprint racewith Kiwi Evans in a fantastic thirdplace. Rookie Conor Daly nished abrilliant seventh.

Bottas missed out on scoring hisrst point in F1 by a mere 1.486s tocome home in 11th, with Gutirrez12th in their second race of theseason.

PRE-SEASON TEST REPORTS CLICK HERE

#EARPLUGSThe thunderous roarof the new400hp GP3/13carwowed everyone and signaled the start of 2013pre-seasontesting.

#FOURPatric Niederhauser

broke the previousGP3

lap record in Barcelonatesting by a ma

ssive

4.2secondsinthenewGP3/13machine.

#CARLIN

Rookie Luis Sa Silva and hisBritish squad

Carlin won the war of whowouldfeed onto the

trackrst in thesecondgeneration car.

#WELCOMEFinnish outft KoiranenGPjointheGP3Seriesalong with Bamboo Engineering who replacedAtechCRSGP.

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RobertVisoiu

While Esteban Gutirrezs GP3 title lookeda fait accompli in hindsight, at the time the

championship battle was a knockdownght all season: with so many drivers in aposition to win races, it was clear that the

smartest, most consistent driver was goingto have an advantage over his rivals.

The Hockenheim weekend was a case in

point: with 22 drivers handed penalties bythe race stewards after practice it would

have been easy to lose focus and allowevents to dictate results, but the Mexican

is not a driver known to give in so easily.He suffered another blow in the feature race

when title rival Robert Wickens claimed adominant win, but Gutirrez had made the

most of a poor hand by moving up from tenthon the grid to P4 when the ag dropped.

And then Sunday happened. The Mexican

made a storming start and was soon allover leader Daniel Juncadella, but a lengthy

safety car period meant he had to bide histime. The Spaniard set a string of fastest

laps when they were released, but it was

to no avail: a small mistake in the stadiumhanded Gutirrez his fourth win of the

season, and set him up for championshipglory.

As a proud Spaniard, I of

course wanted the Spanishag to be displayed on my

helmet for my fans. Red

Bull features strongly in thedesign thanks to the backing

I receive from them. For2013, I wanted to revamp

my lid so I have added some

silver sparkle to make it lookspecial, I hope everyone

likes it!

I wanted a unique design

and stand out amongst theeld this season so I have

chosen a very glittery design

with lots of circles which Ithink looks really funky. It

was important to representmy country Venezuela withthe ag and of course my

principal sponsors.

I have kept a similar helmet

design from my kartingdays but I always play with

colours/lines to see how I

can enhance it. I really likematt colours so thats what

I have used along with theRed Bull Sponsor logos. Ilike a traditional but erce

look with the design.

CARLOSSAINZ JR.

SAMINGOMEZ

DaniilKvyat

Dont You Worry Child

Swedish House Mafia

Gutierrez glides

towards title glory