06.02.10 LATE CHARGE NETS POINTS FOR TURVEY RSF driver Oliver Turvey missed the chance to claim a second GP2 podium in Abu Dhabi today after getting stuck behind slower traffic in the sprint race. But a late charge to secure fifth place ensured he finished in the points to retain second place in the championship behind iSport team mate Davide Valsecchi. Turvey, who won yesterday's feature race, started from eighth place on the reverse grid alongside Valsecchi from where he made a strong start to emerge ahead of the Italian at the first corner. But Valsecchi quickly regained the place at the hairpin as Turvey attempted to pass fellow rookie and poleman Max Chilton who had bogged down at the start and lost ground. A brief safety car period shortly after the start then cost the RSF man two further places leaving him stuck in seventh place behind his compatriot. When on lap 16 he eventually found a way past and into clean air he wasted no time in demonstrating his true pace. But with only five laps left the best he could manage was to slash the gap to Sergio Perez from 6.2 seconds to 0.6 of a second. Valsecchi, who had fought through to second, also showed off the pace of the iSport cars reeling in and passing Michael Herck on the penultimate lap to take the chequered flag 1.9 seconds ahead of the Romanian. Valsecchi and Turvey now lead the championship at the half way point in the eight-race series while iSport tops the Team Championship. "I got a good start again and got ahead of Valsecchi off the line," said Turvey. "But unfortunately he managed to get back past me when I was trying to overtake Chilton on the first lap at the hairpin. "Then after that and the early safety car I was basically stuck behind Max Chilton for much of the race which cost me a lot of time. "The problem was that the main passing areas were at the end of the two long straights and each time round I was hitting the limiter. So it was very difficult to get close enough to pass. "But when eventually I did manage to get by him at the hairpin and find clear air my pace was really good. I mean over the last few laps we were really quick which meant I could close in on Perez who was a long way ahead. "At that point, as well as trying to get fourth place I was going for fastest lap as well. But unfortunately Davide beat me to it by nine-hundredths of a second. "Still, it's been a really positive weekend with yesterday's win in the feature race and finishing in the points again today. Hopefully I can improve again in Bahrain in three weeks time." << back to news