It was a case of so near but yet so far for Attleborough's GP2 racer Rodolfo Gonzalez at the Nurburgring.

The Venezuealan driver turned a disappointing qualifying session at the latest GP2 round into a ninth-place finish in Saturday's feature race in Germany – just one place from his first points of the season – before contact with compatriot Johnny Cecotto put him out of contention in Sunday's sprint outing.

'I'm satisfied with the how we ran on Saturday and I'm sure that with a better starting spot I could have ended up the race into the points zone,' said the Trident racer. 'I raced as focused as I possibly could because this time I didn't suffer from irregular tyre wear, and I was really at one with the car. I improved my position, and my pace proved fast and consistent.

'On Sunday, my start was good and I stayed for some time among the leading pack with a great pace. Then I touched with Cecotto and race control punished me with a drive-through.

'It's a pity because with a drying track the car's handling kept improving and a points finish was already in our pockets.'

There was not much success for Norfolk's Formula One feeder series contingent elsewhere either.

Jules Bianchi took fourth on the Saturday for Group Lotus-backed ART, while Carleton Rode's Isport saw Marcus Ericsson in the points again one place further back.

His team-mate Sam Bird took the last point on offer, while Griston's Super Nova and Hingham's Team Air Asia – sporting their new yellow and green livery – were both well out of contention.

Adam Carroll did at least pick up some points for Super Nova with fifth in Sunday's race, with Bianchi second. This time Bird was just out of the points in seventh.

Rounds 14 and 15 of the GP2 Main Series take place in Hungary, at Budapest's Hungaroring circuit this weekend.