Davide Valsecchi

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Valsecchi in the GP2 series in 2008

Davide Valsecchi (born January 24, 1987 in Erba , Lombardy ) is an Italian racing driver . He drove in the GP2 series from 2008 to 2012 . Valsecchi won the GP2 Asia series championship title in 2010 and the GP2 series championship title in 2012.

Career

Valsecchi began his monoposto career in Formula Renault racing series , in which he drove from 2003 to 2005. He started in the Italian Formula Renault, in which he finished 15th overall in his debut season. In 2004 he stayed in this series and improved to 14th place overall. In 2005, Valsecchi finished seventh in his third season in the Italian Formula Renault with two podium finishes. He started in the Italian Formula Renault, followed by the Formula Renault Eurocup. During the same period he also competed in individual races in the Italian Formula 3 championship , the German Formula 3 Cup , the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the 3000 Pro Series . In 2005 he finished seventh with a podium finish in the Italian Formula 3 championship.

Valsecchi in the car of the Epsilon Euskadi team during the Formula Renault 3.5 2007 at Donington Park.

In 2006 Valsecchi switched to Formula Renault 3.5 for the Spanish racing team Epsilon Euskadi and became a teammate of Steven Kane . He finished third twice and was mostly better than Kane. At the end of the season he finished tenth in the overall standings. In 2006 , he also took part in three sports car races in the Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class, each of which he finished with a place on the podium. In 2007 Valsecchi contested his second season in Formula Renault 3.5 for Epsilon Euskadi and received a new team-mate in Filipe Albuquerque . Although he managed a race win, he finished only 16th overall at the end of the season and was beaten by Albuquerque, who was fourth in the championship.

In 2008 Valsecchi switched to the GP2 series , which was held as part of the Formula 1 supporting program , and competed in both the newly established GP2 Asia series and the regular series for the Italian team Durango . Without having achieved a podium place, he finished eighth overall at the end of the GP2 Asia season . During qualifying for the second race weekend of the European 2008 season in Istanbul , Valsecchi raced unbraked through the run-off zone at a speed of 280 km / h due to a brake defect and hit the track barrier. In this accident, he suffered a minor back injury and a concussion. At the next race in Monaco , Marcello Puglisi was replaced by his Italian driver colleague ; at the race in Magny-Cours the Briton Ben Hanley started for him. In Silverstone Valsecchi then returned to the cockpit. In the main race at Spa-Francorchamps , Valsecchi had another serious accident and had to be hospitalized. His injuries weren't that bad this time and he scored sixth in the sprint race the next day. His home race in Monza was even more successful: after finishing the main race in eighth place, he started the sprint race from pole position and won the sprint race. It was his first win in the GP2 series. At the end of the season Valsecchi finished 15th in the overall ranking with eleven points.

In September 2008 it was announced that Valsecchi should drive both the GP2 Asia series season 2008/2009 and the 2009 season of the GP2 series for Durango. On the first race weekend of the GP2 Asia series in Shanghai , he won the sprint race. In the further course of the season he finished second twice and was second in the overall standings for a long time. On the last race weekend in as-Sachir , Valsecchi did not manage to defend his second place and finally finished fourth overall. In the regular GP2 series, Valsecchi moved after twelve races in which he was once third on the podium, from Durango to Barwa Addax , where he replaced Romain Grosjean , who had been promoted to Formula 1 . With his new team, Valsecchi had no chance against his teammate Vitaly Petrov and only scored once. Thus he finished 17th overall at the end of the season.

Valsecchi (right) in a duel with Adrian Zaugg (left) at the GP2 race in Spa-Francorchamps 2010

For the 2009/2010 season of the GP2 Asia series, Valsecchi was initially only signed by iSport International for the first race weekend and showed a good performance: After winning the main race, he started second in the sprint race from eighth place. These results convinced his team, which then signed him for the remaining races of the GP2 Asia series and the 2010 season of the GP2 series. At the second race weekend, which, like the first, took place on the Yas Marina Circuit , Valsecchi continued his previous performances: after finishing second in the main race behind his teammate Oliver Turvey , he won the sprint race. With a victory in the main race of the third race weekend in as-Sachir, Valsecchi won the championship title of the GP2 Asia Series three races before the end of the season. In the last six laps he overtook second-placed Luca Filippi and then Javier Villa, who had been in the lead up until then . In the regular GP2 series he lost the team-internal duel against Turvey and had to wait for a win until the last race of the season. With a total of three podium finishes, he finished the season in eighth place overall. He also started the Auto GP on a race weekend . He also got his first experience in a Formula 1 car on a test day for HRT .

Valsecchi took part in the first free practice session at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix in the Lotus T128

In 2011 Valsecchi was a Formula 1 test driver for Team Lotus . In this role he made his debut at a Grand Prix weekend in the first free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix. He also competed for Team AirAsia , the GP2 team from Lotus, in the GP2 Asia and GP2 series. In the GP2 Asia series he finished seventh overall with a third place as the best result. A disqualification in the main race of the season finale because the underbody was too low prevented a better overall ranking. In the GP2 series , Valsecchi won the main race at the Circuit de Monaco. In the second half of the season, however, he remained without points. He finished the season in ninth place.

In 2012 Valsecchi switched to DAMS within the GP2 series . At the second and third race weekend, both of which took place in as-Sachir, Valsecchi won three out of four races, achieved a pole position, set the fastest lap twice and finished third once. After leading the championship from the third race, he lost it to Luiz Razia in the middle of the season . At the penultimate race weekend in Monza, where he won the sprint race, he took the lead again and then secured the championship title of the GP2 series one race before the end of the season. Valsecchi prevailed against Razia with 247 to 222 points. Overall, Valsecchi achieved four wins and ten podium finishes in the 2012 season. Valsecchi also took part in Formula 1 test drives for the Lotus F1 Team .

In 2013 , Valsecchi received a contract with Lotus as a Formula 1 test driver.

Career stations

Status: end of season 2012

season series team run Poles Victories Points Driver ranking
2003 Italian Formula Renault RP Motorsport 12 0 0 24 15th
Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup RP Motorsport 1 0 0 0 -
Italian Formula 3 Championship RP Motorsport 1 0 0 0 -
2004 Italian Formula Renault Cram Competition 15th 0 0 31 14th
Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Cram Competition 11 0 0 2 31.
Italian Formula 3 Championship Corbetta 2 0 0 0 -
2005 Italian Formula Renault RP Motorsport 17th 1 0 104 7th
Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup RP Motorsport 2 0 0 0 -
Italian Formula 3 Championship Corbetta 3 0 0 35 7th
German Formula 3 Cup Corbetta 2 0 0 0 -
3000 Pro Series ADM Motorsport 1 0 0 3 14th
2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Epsilon Euskadi 15th 1 0 43 10.
Le Mans Series , LMP2 Barazi Epsilon 3 0 0 6th 6th
2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Epsilon Euskadi 17th 0 1 37 16.
2008 GP2 Asia series Durango 10 0 0 17th 8th.
GP2 series Durango 14th 0 1 11 15th
2009 GP2 Asia series Durango 11 2 1 34 4th
GP2 series Durango 12 0 0 10 17th
Barwa Addax 8th 0 0 2
2010 GP2 Asia series iSport International 8th 1 3 56 1.
GP2 series iSport International 20th 0 1 31 8th.
Auto GP RP Motorsport 2 0 0 0 23.
2011 GP2 Asia series Team AirAsia 4th 0 0 9 7th
GP2 series Team AirAsia 18th 0 1 30th 9.
2012 GP2 series DAMS 24 2 4th 247 1.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Lucky: Valsecchi has no serious injuries" (Motorsport-Total.com on May 9, 2008)
  2. ↑ "Monaco: Puglisi replaces Valsecchi" (Motorsport-Total.com on May 15, 2008)
  3. ↑ "Hanley may continue to drive in the GP2 series" (Motorsport-Total.com on June 20, 2008)
  4. ↑ "Durango: Valsecchi ready for action again" (Motorsport-Total.com on July 1, 2008)
  5. ↑ "Valsecchi stays with Durango" (Motorsport-Total.com on September 23, 2008)
  6. ↑ "GP2 Asia: The field of drivers is forming" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 19, 2009)
  7. ^ "Valsecchi, iSport confirm 2010 deal" (crash.net on December 23, 2009)
  8. ↑ "Valsecchi storms to the title" (Motorsport-Total.com on February 26, 2010)
  9. ↑ "Valsecchi after HRT test:" I had a chance "" (Motorsport-Total.com on November 18, 2010)
  10. ↑ "Lotus: Three new test drivers?" (Motorsport-Total.com on February 2, 2011)
  11. ↑ “AirAsia secures Valsecchi and Razia” (autosport.com on February 4, 2011)
  12. ↑ "GP2 Asia - Bianchi sees no more opportunities" (Motorsport-Magazin.com on March 19, 2011)
  13. ↑ “Davide Valsecchi joins DAMS for 2012 GP2 season” (autosport.com on January 19, 2012)
  14. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Lotus presents: E21 presented online". Motorsport-Total.com, January 28, 2013, accessed January 28, 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Davide Valsecchi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Valsecchi, Davide
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian racing car driver
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH Erba , Italy