The seventh round of the Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series will take place at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, on 21-23 August. Valencia’s modern street circuit makes its second ever appearance on the GP2 calendar, and offers drivers the chance to work with the soft tyre for the third time this season. Bridgestone  has  made  a  change  from 2008 when the medium specification tyre was brought to Valencia, the soft compound being allocated for this year’s event. With  warm  weather  and  high  track  temperatures  expected  during  the  race  weekend,  drivers  will  need  to anticipate how their car set-up can be adjusted to ensure effective management of tyre degradation.   In 2008, Campos stole the limelight in GP2 at Valencia’s street circuit during its Formula One debut event, as team-mates Vitaly Petrov and Lucas di Grassi both won races here. Quote from Hirohide Hamashima – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development “Valencia is a very high speed street course, with drivers experiencing the highest speeds after the bridge in the  second  sector.  It  is  much  faster  than  Monaco  and  due  to  the  hard  braking  required  in  Valencia  the drivers  need  to  be  careful  not  to  flat  spot  the  tyres.  In  addition,  being  a  street  circuit,  high  levels  of concentration and car control are essential as there is not much room for driver error. It can also be difficult to overtake, with the best chance being at turn twelve. Degradation is expected to be fairly high due to the hot weather and high track temperatures anticipated.”

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