05.02.10 TURVEY LANDS MAIDEN GP2 WIN RSF driver Oliver Turvey claimed his first GP2 win in Abu Dhabi tonight finishing just over half a second ahead of team mate Davide Valsecchi in the pitstop race. The win helped to secure a maiden one-two in the series for iSport. The RSF driver seized the lead from poleman Charles Pic at the first corner and, apart from the briefest of interludes on lap 10, led the field all the way to the chequered flag. Valsecchi quickly followed suit with a bold move on Pic on the long back straight to take up station behind Turvey. Turvey was the last of the lead pack to pit on lap 10, rejoining the fray immediately in front of his team mate who stopped a lap earlier. But with Turvey on the colder tyres, Valsecchi tried to capitalise on his advantage with a move for the lead at the Turn 11/12/13 complex. The pair brushed wheels and took briefly to the run-off area, Valsecchi managing to emerge in front. But Turvey was in no mood to concede the chance of a maiden win and overhauled the Italian moments later. From that point he controlled the race perfectly, holding off the equally determined Valsecchi. Even a brief safety car period on lap 23 which allowed the Italian close to within 0.2 of a second did not faze the RSF man. "I got a fantastic getaway which was good," said a delighted Turvey. "After that I had a fairly comfortable first few laps and tried to make a bit of a break. From there on it was a case of trying to control the pace, look after my tyres and make sure no one got too close which paid off. "The team did a brilliant job at the pit stop and we were able to lead the whole way. So all told, it was a fantastic race. "Admittedly, after the pitstop the plan went a little bit off track. Davide, with the benefit of a good slipstream, got on the outside of me. That was in the braking zone and he came across leaving me with nowhere to go. So we touched a bit. But it wasn't a problem. "After that we both had a really good race up to the point when the safety car came out which wasn't great as he got right on my tail. But I got a good restart and managed to keep the lead after which he didn't have any chances. "Now we have to focus on tomorrow's sprint race. We have good pace and on the two long straights here you have a great opportunity to overtake and so I'll be aiming for the podium again." The reverse grid format for tomorrow's sprint race means Turvey starts from eighth position. << back to news