Buurman 7th in GP2 Asia Series finale

Ocean Racing Technology concluded its first complete season in the GP2 Asia Series as one of the fastest yet unluckiest in the paddock.

Once again Yelmer Buurman had a very fast race pace in the second round here in Bahrain, the championship season’s finale, moving up six places from his thirteenth starting place on the grid to eventually cross the line knocking on the door of points.

The Dutchman gained three places at the start and was fastest of all in the second lap, taking two seconds off the leaders and putting pressure on the drivers ahead of him. But the Sakhir circuit offers very few overtaking opportunities and the intense heat also complicated his mission by increasing the wear of his tires.

Despite the intensity of the race and the high temperatures, Yelmer didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the twenty race laps and chose the last possible moment to pass the winner of race one, Luca Filippi, thanks to a memorable move.

"It was an excellent car for an excellent race!" Buurman said. "We clocked the fastest race lap several times in the opening stages and we’ve always been very competitive. I could quickly match the pace on several cars in front of me but it was difficult to overtake them, especially because the track was in poor condition in some places. I was side by side with Luca Filippi on the straight on the last lap but he resisted, but I took a chance in the last turn and surprised him."

For teammate Fabio Leimer, the race never really started and concluded a weekend to forget. The engine of the Swiss driver’s single-seater had a problem on the starting grid and left him unable to play any role in the finale whatsoever.

"The engine died when I was trying to reach the starting grid and there was nothing to do. It was a consequence of the incident I had in the first race on Saturday when another car hit mine in the first corner. It is frustrating because we made good progress and I wanted to prove it on the track. But that’s a part of motorsport, sometimes a small incident can ruin your entire weekend," declared Leimer.

The Bahrain races put an end to the GP2 Asia Series season and Ocean Racing Technology is now preparing for the GP2 Main Series which will get underway in Barcelona Spain on May 8.