News that the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi is to host a new event for the GP2 series has been given a further twist with the development that there will be prize money on offer for the GP3 driver who does the best in the two races.
A GP2 final is taking place during the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend in November 12-13 to celebrate the merger of GP2, which is the main support series for F1, with the GP2 Asia series for the 2012 season.
With the main GP2 series finishing in September, the idea of the event is to give GP3 drivers, a junior formula below GP2, a chance to experience the machinery ahead of taking part in the 2012 season.
Pirelli, which supplies the tyres for the series, will give the highest-placed finisher from GP3 €15,000 (Dh77,810), and the second-best placed driver €10,000. "The 2011 GP2 final is the perfect opportunity for young drivers and among them GP3 racers to have their first taste of a GP2 race weekend, and prove their worth in front of the F1 paddock and the rest of the GP2 field," Bruno Michel, the GP2 series chief executive, said.
"The fact that our official partner, Pirelli, offers prize money to the two best points-finishing GP3 graduates will most definitely spice things up even more." The GP2 series had traditionally raced in Europe, supporting the F1 calendar, but will now cover international circuits, as well.
Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, Nico Rosberg, Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado and Vitaly Petrov are among the current drivers in F1 who graduated from GP2.
