Isport earn double GP2 podium in Barcelona
Norfolk's GP2 finest made a big impression on the second round of the Main Series in Barcelona.
Isport's Sam Bird took third during Saturday's 34-lap feature race, before his Carleton Rode team-mate Marcus Ericsson took the same place from the following day's 26-lap sprint race to mark a good weekend's work for the Norfolk outfit.
'It was good to finally get on the podium, good for the confidence and to give that to the team,' said Ericsson. 'We have been really strong in pre-season and in Turkey we were fast but came away with zero points, so it's nice to come away with points in both races here and of course it's nice to be on the podium.'
Ericsson and Bird also swapped fifth place in the two races – both times sandwiching the Hingham car of Team Air Asia's Davide Valsecchi.
'I am very happy with how things went,' said Valsecchi. ' The team did a great job – we were consistent, the tyres lasted, we were able to overtake and in the end we were incredibly close to a podium finish. Now we can go to Monte Carlo with confidence.'
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Team Air Asia team-mate Luiz Razia endured two retirements in Spain, but things were a little better for Griston's Super Nova Racing, who saw Fairuz Fauzy rise from 13th to sixth in Sunday's sprint race.
Attleborough racer Rodolfo Gonzalez did a similarly good job to take his Trident from 20th on the grid to 10th come the second race's chequered flag.
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• Overall standings – Drivers' championship: 1 G van der Garde (Barwa) 21 points, 2 S Bird (Isport) 21, 3 C Pic (Barwa) 15, 4 R Grosjean (Dams) 13, 5 S Coletti (Trident) 10; 8 M Ericsson (Isport) 8; 9 J Bianchi (Lotus ART) 8; 10 D Valsecchi (Team Air Asia) 8; 11 F Fauzy (Super Nova) 3; 12 L Razia (Team Air Asia) 3; Teams' championship: 1 Barwa 36, 2 Isport 29, 3 Dams 13, 4 Team Air Asia 11, 5 Trident 10; 8 Lotus ART 8; 9 Super Nova 3.