2008 GP2 Asia Series
# 2008 GP2 Asia Series

The 2008 GP2 Asia Series season was the first GP2 Asia Series season. It started on 25 January and ended on 12 April.

## Season summary

Romain Grosjean became the champion despite his teammate Stephen Jelley scoring no points, with their team, ART Grand Prix, winning the teams' title.

In this season, only two drivers scored pole positions. Grosjean took pole in all but one race in Sentul, where Vitaly Petrov secured the first position on the grid. The Frenchman also won four races, including a clean sweep in Dubai and the feature race in Sakhir.

Kamui Kobayashi won two sprint races in Sepang and Sakhir, while Sébastien Buemi won the feature race in Sentul. Marco Bonanomi and Fairuz Fauzy won a sprint race each.

## Entry list

All of the teams used the Dallara GP2/05 chassis with Renault-badged 4.0 litre (244 cu in) naturally-aspirated Mecachrome V8 engines order and with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.

| Team | No. | Driver name | Rounds |
| - | - | - | - |
| iSport International | 1 | Karun Chandhok | All |
| iSport International | 2 | Bruno Senna | All |
| ART Grand Prix | 3 | Stephen Jelley | All |
| ART Grand Prix | 4 | Romain Grosjean | All |
| Barwa International Campos Team | 5 | Vitaly Petrov | All |
| Barwa International Campos Team | 6 | Diego Nunes | 1 |
| Barwa International Campos Team | 6 | Ben Hanley | 2–5 |
| Super Nova Racing | 7 | Christian Bakkerud | All |
| Super Nova Racing | 8 | Fairuz Fauzy | All |
| DAMS | 9 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | All |
| DAMS | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | All |
| Trust Team Arden | 11 | Adam Khan | 1–2 |
| Trust Team Arden | 11 | Yelmer Buurman | 3–5 |
| Trust Team Arden | 12 | Sébastien Buemi | All |
| Durango | 14 | Alberto Valerio | All |
| Durango | 15 | Davide Valsecchi | All |
| Fisichella Motor Sport International | 16 | Adrián Vallés | All |
| Fisichella Motor Sport International | 17 | Michael Herck | 1–4 |
| Fisichella Motor Sport International | 17 | Roldán Rodríguez | 5 |
| Trident Racing | 18 | Harald Schlegelmilch | All |
| Trident Racing | 19 | Ho-Pin Tung | All |
| Piquet Sports | 20 | Marcello Puglisi | All |
| Piquet Sports | 21 | Marco Bonanomi | All |
| DPR | 22 | Armaan Ebrahim | All |
| DPR | 23 | Andy Soucek | 1 |
| DPR | 23 | Diego Nunes | 2–5 |
| BCN Competicion | 24 | Miloš Pavlović | All |
| BCN Competicion | 25 | Jason Tahincioglu | All |
| Qi-Meritus Mahara | 26 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | All |
| Qi-Meritus Mahara | 27 | Luca Filippi | All |

## Race calendar and results

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Team | Report |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | R1 | Dubai Autodrome (International Circuit) | 25 January | Romain Grosjean | Bruno Senna | Romain Grosjean | ART Grand Prix | Report |
| 1 | R2 | Dubai Autodrome (International Circuit) | 26 January | | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | ART Grand Prix | Report |
| 2 | R1 | Sentul International Circuit | 16 February | Vitaly Petrov | Bruno Senna | Sébastien Buemi | Trust Team Arden | Report |
| 2 | R2 | Sentul International Circuit | 17 February | | Fairuz Fauzy | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | Report |
| 3 | R1 | Sepang International Circuit | 22 March | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | Vitaly Petrov | Barwa International Campos Team | Report |
| 3 | R2 | Sepang International Circuit | 23 March | | Bruno Senna | Kamui Kobayashi | DAMS | Report |
| 4 | R1 | Bahrain International Circuit | 5 April | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | ART Grand Prix | Report |
| 4 | R2 | Bahrain International Circuit | 6 April | | Sébastien Buemi | Kamui Kobayashi | DAMS | Report |
| 5 | R1 | Dubai Autodrome (Grand Prix Circuit) | 11 April | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | Romain Grosjean | ART Grand Prix | Report |
| 5 | R2 | Dubai Autodrome (Grand Prix Circuit) | 12 April | | Kamui Kobayashi | Marco Bonanomi | Piquet Sports | Report |

## Championship standings

### Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 6 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race will also receive two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.

### Feature race points

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | Pole | FL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |

### Sprint race points

Points are awarded to the top 6 classified finishers.

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | FL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |

### Drivers' Championship

| Pos | Driver | DUB1 | DUB1 | SEN | SEN | SEP | SEP | BHR | BHR | DUB2 | DUB2 | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 1 | Ret | 61 |
| 2 | Sébastien Buemi | DSQ | Ret | 1 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 37 |
| 3 | Vitaly Petrov | Ret | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 33 |
| 4 | Fairuz Fauzy | 8 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 6 | 24 |
| 5 | Bruno Senna | 2 | 19 | 7 | 2 | Ret | 8 | 4 | Ret | DSQ | 11 | 23 |
| 6 | Kamui Kobayashi | 13 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 14 | 22 |
| 7 | Adrián Vallés | 4 | Ret | 2 | 5 | Ret | 20 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 19 |
| 8 | Davide Valsecchi | 17 | 6 | Ret | 19 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 17 |
| 9 | Yelmer Buurman | | | | | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 10 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | 6 | 4 | Ret | 20 | Ret | 10 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 13 |
| 11 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | 11 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 12 |
| 12 | Marco Bonanomi | 20 | 13 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 15 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 | Karun Chandhok | 7 | 3 | Ret | 13 | Ret | 7 | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 |
| 14 | Andy Soucek | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | | | 6 |
| 15 | Ben Hanley | | | 3 | 16 | Ret | 14 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | 6 |
| 16 | Miloš Pavlović | 10 | 14 | 6 | Ret | 7 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 8 | Ret | 6 |
| 17 | Luca Filippi | 5 | Ret | DSQ | 21 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 12 | Ret | 4 |
| 18 | Harald Schlegelmilch | 14 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 14 | 5 | 16 | 7 | 3 |
| 19 | Alberto Valerio | 9 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 17 | Ret | 17 | 13 | 15 | 2 |
| 20 | Diego Nunes | 12 | DNS | Ret | 10 | 10 | 13 | 7 | Ret | 17 | 12 | 2 |
| 21 | Ho-Pin Tung | 22 | 10 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 16 | Ret | 7 | 10 | DSQ | 1 |
| 22 | Jason Tahincioglu | 19 | 16 | Ret | 17 | 12 | Ret | 17 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
| 23 | Michael Herck | Ret | 17 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 14 | | | 0 |
| 24 | Stephen Jelley | 15 | 12 | DSQ | Ret | Ret | 18 | 16 | 9 | 18 | DNS | 0 |
| 25 | Marcello Puglisi | 16 | Ret | Ret | 18 | 13 | 9 | 18 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 26 | Armaan Ebrahim | 21 | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 19 | 13 | 16 | 19 | Ret | 0 |
| 27 | Christian Bakkerud | Ret | 11 | Ret | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 0 |
| 28 | Adam Khan | 18 | 15 | Ret | 11 | | | | | | | 0 |
| 29 | Roldán Rodríguez | | | | | | | | | 15 | Ret | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | DUB1 | DUB1 | SEN | SEN | SEP | SEP | BHR | BHR | DUB2 | DUB2 | Points |

Key :

| Colour | Result |
| - | - |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Other points position |
| Blue | Other classified position |
| Blue | Not classified, finished (NC) |
| Purple | Not classified, retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Withdrawn (WD) |
| Text formatting | Meaning |
| Bold | Pole position point(s) |
| Italics | Fastest lap point(s) |

Notes:

* † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

### Teams' Championship

| Pos | Team | Car No. | DUB1 | DUB1 | SEN | SEN | SEP | SEP | BHR | BHR | DUB2 | DUB2 | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ART Grand Prix | 3 | 15 | 12 | DSQ | Ret | Ret | 18 | 16 | 9 | 18 | DNS | 61 |
| 1 | ART Grand Prix | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 1 | Ret | 61 |
| 2 | Trust Team Arden | 11 | 18 | 15 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 50 |
| 2 | Trust Team Arden | 12 | DSQ | Ret | 1 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 50 |
| 3 | Barwa International Campos Team | 5 | Ret | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 39 |
| 3 | Barwa International Campos Team | 6 | 12 | DNS | 3 | 16 | Ret | 14 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | 39 |
| 4 | DAMS | 9 | 11 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 34 |
| 4 | DAMS | 10 | 13 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 34 |
| 5 | iSport International | 1 | 7 | 3 | Ret | 13 | Ret | 7 | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 30 |
| 5 | iSport International | 2 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 2 | Ret | 8 | 4 | Ret | DSQ | 11 | 30 |
| 6 | Super Nova Racing | 7 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 24 |
| 6 | Super Nova Racing | 8 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 6 | 24 |
| 7 | Fisichella Motor Sport International | 16 | 4 | Ret | 2 | 5 | Ret | 20 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 19 |
| 7 | Fisichella Motor Sport International | 17 | Ret | 17 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 15 | Ret | 19 |
| 8 | Durango | 14 | 9 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 17 | Ret | 17 | 13 | 15 | 19 |
| 8 | Durango | 15 | 17 | 6 | Ret | 19 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 19 |
| 9 | Qi-Meritus Mahara | 26 | 6 | 4 | Ret | 20 | Ret | 10 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 17 |
| 9 | Qi-Meritus Mahara | 27 | 5 | Ret | DSQ | 21 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 12 | Ret | 17 |
| 10 | Piquet Sports | 20 | 16 | Ret | Ret | 18 | 13 | 9 | 18 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 |
| 10 | Piquet Sports | 21 | 20 | 13 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 15 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 11 | DPR | 22 | 21 | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 19 | 13 | 16 | 19 | Ret | 8 |
| 11 | DPR | 23 | 3 | 7 | Ret | 10 | 10 | 13 | 7 | Ret | 17 | 12 | 8 |
| 12 | BCN Competicion | 24 | 10 | 14 | 6 | Ret | 7 | 12 | 19 | 12 | 8 | Ret | 6 |
| 12 | BCN Competicion | 25 | 19 | 16 | Ret | 17 | 12 | Ret | 17 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| 13 | Trident Racing | 18 | 14 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 14 | 5 | 16 | 7 | 4 |
| 13 | Trident Racing | 19 | 22 | 10 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 16 | Ret | 7 | 10 | DSQ | 4 |
| Pos | Team | Car No. | DUB1 | DUB1 | SEN | SEN | SEP | SEP | BHR | BHR | DUB2 | DUB2 | Points |

Key :

| Colour | Result |
| - | - |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Other points position |
| Blue | Other classified position |
| Blue | Not classified, finished (NC) |
| Purple | Not classified, retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Withdrawn (WD) |
| Text formatting | Meaning |
| Bold | Pole position point(s) |
| Italics | Fastest lap point(s) |

Notes:

* † — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
