Monegasque driver Stefano Coletti has claimed the lion’s share of the jury votes for the German Grand Prix, winning the GP2 Award today at the Hockenheimring.

 

Coletti, wearing Sparco’s EXTREMA RS-10 race suit and driving for Racing Engineering, took a bold gamble at the start of this morning’s GP2 Series sprint race, opting to start the 27 lap race on slick tyres in spite of a heavy downpour of rain prior to the race start. It was an excellent strategic call and a measured race from Coletti who picked up over half of all nominations for the GP2 Award this weekend.

 

It was a tough call with many others in the running, including a number of other Sparco wearers. ART Grand Prix’s Stoffel Vandoorne took two podiums at the Hockenheimring with a second place finish in Saturday’s 38-lap feature race, which was the 200th Grand Prix for the GP2 Series, and claiming third place this morning. A double podium for the McLaren Mercedes test driver was a great reward for some top driving in a range of conditions this weekend.

 

Sparco-backed Jolyon Palmer, who has twice been named Sparco GP2 Award winner this season, claimed pole position on Friday and also took a podium finish in the feature race.  

 

Sparco’s Superleggera and EXTREMA RS-10 overalls have been a huge help to drivers this weekend as track temperatures reached close to 60°C at times, particularly on Saturday. The conditions made for stifling cockpit conditions in GP2 and in Formula One, with the McLaren Mercedes pair of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen able to derive benefits from the supreme cooling capabilities in the state-of-the-art EXTREMA RS-10 overalls.

 

Magnussen had qualified in a very competitive fourth place on Saturday afternoon, opening up the prospect for a strong German Grand Prix for the Dane. Unfortunately, a first lap coming-together with Felipe Massa meant that his race was heavily impacted as he dropped to the back of the field. He fought his way back into the points once again taking ninth place at the chequered flag, just one behind his team-mate Button in eighth. 

 

Sparco’s Motorsport Manager Daniela Vignale said: “We are thrilled to see so many Sparco drivers performing well around the Hockenheimring this weekend. Congratulations to Stefano Coletti and Racing Engineering for winning this morning’s GP2 Sprint Race, judging the complex weather conditions perfectly. Commendations also to Sparco’s Stoffel Vandoorne for a double podium result this weekend and Jolyon Palmer for taking pole on Friday. In F1, it’s good to see both McLaren Mercedes pick up points with Jenson and Kevin but it was a shame for Kevin not to have been able to chase down a better result after such a strong qualifying on Saturday. The weather conditions have been excruciatingly hot at times this weekend and I am pleased that the drivers have been able to benefit from the cooling capabilities of our EXTREMA RS-10 overalls.”