Sakhir, Bahrain: Italian Luca Filippi of the Super Nova International team powered his way to the top of the drivers' standings at the end of the two opening rounds of the GP2 series held alongside the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Filippi took the top position in the first round, late on Saturday, and came up third best during the second round yesterday to lead the drivers' standings with 16 points.
Filippi looked headed to repeating the same result in the second round yesterday morning, but found Timo Glock of the iSport International team and Nicolas Lapierre of the DAMS Racing team too hot to handle to settle for third.
Great week
Though not too pleased with the podium finish, Filippi was still buoyant about the overall results for the team.
"This was a great weekend, and I don't think anyone in the paddock expected this type of finish for me," Filippi told Gulf News.
"But this result is important as our pace was consistent with the first two times this weekend," he added.
However, a drop in the rear tyres caused him to lose speed and fall behind race winner Lapierre and Glock.
"I wasn't able to fight for the win, but I am still very happy and pleased with what we have achieved this week," Filippi said.
In second place on the drivers' standings is Glock with 14 points, while Lapierre is in third place with eight points to his credit after two races.
"At the end this has been a good result for the championship and for the team as it shows how strong we are," Glock said.
The GP2 series was launched by the Formula One Management in an attempt to create a competitive championship for drivers as a final stepping stone to prepare them in the best way possible for Formula One.
Of the 26 drivers in the series, at least 13 have already benefited from Formula One experience - either in testing or through races during the past two years.
