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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}

Revision as of 19:12, 11 September 2024

United Kingdom iSport International
Founded2004
Folded2014
Team principal(s)Paul Jackson
Former seriesGP2 Series[a]
GP2 Asia Series
Noted driversUnited Kingdom Sam Bird
India Karun Chandhok
Sweden Marcus Ericsson
Germany Timo Glock
Brazil Bruno Senna
United States Scott Speed
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey
Italy Davide Valsecchi
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Venezuela Ernesto Viso
United Arab Emirates Andreas Zuber
Teams'
Championships
GP2 Series:
2007
GP2 Asia Series:
2009-10
Drivers'
Championships
GP2 Series:
2007: Timo Glock
GP2 Asia Series:
2009-10: Davide Valsecchi

iSport International was a British motor racing team that competed in the GP2 Series. The team was founded by Paul Jackson, Gavin Bickerton-Jones and Richard Selwin, former members of the Petrobras Junior Team in 2004, ahead of the inaugural GP2 season. Their factory is based in Carleton Rode near Norwich in the United Kingdom.

iSport's most successful season in GP2 came in 2007, when they won the teams' title, with Timo Glock winning the drivers' championship. The team finished second in 2008, and won the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series drivers' and teams' championship. They pulled out of the GP2 series before the 2013 season, after encountering financial difficulties. iSport returned to motorsport in 2014, running a GP2 team for Russian Time.

Racing history

GP2 Series

The inaugural season of the GP2 series saw iSport take the fastest time in the shoot-out for race numbers, giving drivers Scott Speed and Can Artam numbers 1 and 2 for the season. While the team was regularly fast at races, neither driver was able to win a race. Nevertheless, Speed finished third in the championship with consistent points-scoring finishes, whilst Artam was 22nd overall with two points. iSport finished the season in fourth place in the teams' championship. For 2006, Speed graduated to Formula One with a drive at Scuderia Toro Rosso and Artam left the series. iSport filled its seats with Ernesto Viso and Tristan Gommendy, the latter of whom was later replaced by Timo Glock at the mid-season point. Viso took the team's first two victories in the category and Glock added two more; the part-season driver overhauling his teammate's points tally to finish the year fourth overall in the drivers' standings, with Viso sixth and Gommendy 20th. iSport improved to third in the teams' championship.

Bruno Senna driving for iSport at the 2008 Silverstone GP2 Series round.

Glock remained with the team for 2007 and was joined by 2006 race winner Andreas Zuber. Glock won five races on his way to the championship title, prevailing in a season-long duel with Lucas di Grassi (ART Grand Prix). Zuber supported him with a single further victory on his way to ninth overall, although the teammates embarrassingly collided whilst accelerating away from the front row of the grid at the feature race of the round held at Magny-Cours. To cap a successful year, iSport also won its first teams' championship. For the 2008 season, iSport joined the GP2 Asia Series in its inaugural year, signing Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok. After a low-key Asia campaign, which saw the team finish fifth in the standings, the Senna-Chandhok combination was retained for the main series season, in which Senna emerged as champion Giorgio Pantano's main rival, accumulating two victories on his way to the runner-up position in the drivers' table. Chandhok also won a race and finished tenth overall; iSport ended the season second in the teams' championship to the Barwa International Campos Team.

Diego Nunes (iSport) leads Álvaro Parente and Romain Grosjean at the 2009 Istanbul Park GP2 Series round.

For the 2008-09 Asia Series season, the departing driver line-up was replaced with reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Giedo van der Garde and a series-encouraged Asian driver, Hamad Al Fardan. Van der Garde and Al Fardan scored 13 points between them, resulting in an eighth-place championship finish for the team. For the 2009 main series, Van der Garde was retained with Diego Nunes replacing Al Fardan; Van der Garde won three races but only managed seventh in the drivers' championship, whilst Nunes was back in 20th. iSport finished fifth overall in the teams' championship. Both drivers then moved on, and were replaced by Davide Valsecchi and Oliver Turvey for both the 2009-10 Asia Series and the 2010 main series. In the Asia Series, Valsecchi won three races and sealed the championship title, with rookie driver Turvey backing him up to take sixth overall, allowing iSport to win the Asia teams' championship for the first time. In the main series, however, the team was unable to maintain this level of form: Valsecchi ended the season strongly with the outfit's sole victory at Yas Marina, but was overshadowed by Turvey, who concluded the year sixth in the drivers' championship to Valsecchi's eighth. iSport maintained its fifth place in the teams' championship.

iSport again signed two new drivers—Sam Bird and Marcus Ericsson—for the abortive 2011 Asia Series and the 2011 main series. On this occasion, neither driver won a race: Bird finished sixth in the final standings with a single position, with Ericsson four places behind him but the team improving to fourth overall. Ericsson was retained for 2012, with Jolyon Palmer signed from the Arden team to replace the Formula Renault 3.5-bound Bird. The drivers' fortunes improved, as they took a race victory apiece, but iSport slipped to sixth in the teams' championship at season's end.

The iSport GP2 contract was acquired by Russian Time for the 2013 season.

Formula One

The iSport team was believed to have been evaluating an entry to Formula One, but team principal Paul Jackson said that he was waiting for the FIA to finalise its plans to cap budgets in the sport before making any solid plans. "For many years I've said if the conditions were right and the numbers made sense, then we'd enter F1," said Jackson. "The budget cap could be the perfect opportunity for us, but until we find out what the magic number is, I don't know if it's do-able or feasible. When it's all in print, we'll look at it, start doing our sums and talking to potential investors." iSport's possible F1 entry was cancelled after they pulled out of GP2.[1]

Results

GP2 Series

Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F.L. Points D.C. T.C.
2005 Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome United States Scott Speed 23 0 1 5 57.5 3rd 4th
Turkey Can Artam 23 0 0 0 2 22nd
2006 Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome Venezuela Ernesto Viso 21 2 0 1 42 6th 3rd
France Tristan Gommendy 9 0 0 0 6 20th
Germany Timo Glock 12 2 0 1 58[b] 4th
2007 Dallara GP2/05-Mecachrome Germany Timo Glock 21 5 4 4 92 1st 1st
United Arab Emirates Andreas Zuber 21 1 1 2 30 9th
2008 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome India Karun Chandhok 20 1 0 0 31 10th 2nd
Brazil Bruno Senna 20 2 3 1 64 2nd
2009 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome Netherlands Giedo van der Garde 20 3 0 0 34 7th 5th
Brazil Diego Nunes 20 0 0 0 8 20th
2010 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 20 0 1 0 47 6th 5th
Italy Davide Valsecchi 20 1 1 0 31 8th
2011 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome United Kingdom Sam Bird 18 0 1 0 45 6th 4th
Sweden Marcus Ericsson 18 0 0 0 25 10th
2012 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Sweden Marcus Ericsson 24 1 0 0 124 8th 6th
United Kingdom Jolyon Palmer 24 1 0 0 78 11th

In detail

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 T.C. Points
2005 GP2/05
Renault
B
SMR
FEA
SMR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
MAG
FEA
MAG
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
4th 69.5
United States Scott Speed 3 Ret 2 3 4 16 12 15 18 4 2 4 3 Ret 19 5 4 Ret 15 4 4 Ret 19
Turkey Can Artam 16† Ret Ret Ret 7 17 Ret 17 16 18 14 Ret 20 14 12 11 16 9 9 Ret 22† 17 16
2006 GP2/05
Renault
B
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SMR
FEA
SMR
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
MAG
FEA
MAG
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
3rd 101
Venezuela Ernesto Viso 8 2 6 1 6 11 8 1 Ret Ret 8 10 Ret 5 4 4 4 Ret 13 Ret 10
France Tristan Gommendy Ret 11 Ret 17 13 12 5 5 Ret
Germany Timo Glock 2 6 1 4 3 1 2 5 4 4 Ret DNS
2007 GP2/05
Renault
B
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MAG
FEA
MAG
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
1st 118
Germany Timo Glock 2 2 2 1 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 5 10 Ret 4 1 3 1 17 DNS 7 1
United Arab Emirates Andreas Zuber 3 Ret DNS 9 Ret Ret 15 1 6 Ret 21 3 6 Ret 14 Ret 5 18 12 12 12
2008 GP2/08
Renault
B
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
FEA
MAG
FEA
MAG
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
2nd 95
India Karun Chandhok 9 Ret 4 12 3 Ret 7 Ret 3 Ret 8 1 4 DNS 15† Ret 10 7 11 Ret
Brazil Bruno Senna 2 4 15 Ret 1 5 Ret 5 6 1 4 3 3 3 9 Ret 11 Ret 5 9
2009 GP2/08
Renault
B
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
FEA
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
ALG
FEA
ALG
SPR
5th 42
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde 7 4 NC 11 15 13 Ret 13 12 Ret 7 1 14 Ret 6 1 1 6 Ret 6
Brazil Diego Nunes 11 8 Ret 14 11 11 11 Ret Ret 11 Ret 15 11 5 9 3 10 Ret 12 5
2010 GP2/08
Renault
B
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
5th 78
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 5 5 15 15 14 18 Ret 12 8 2 8 2 4 5 6 5 3 6 2 17
Italy Davide Valsecchi 10 11 Ret 16 2 4 10 6 7 6 17 18 9 3 18 8 9 16 5 1
2011 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
4th 70
United Kingdom Sam Bird 2 3 3 5 Ret 13 5 12 5 6 8 7 17 5 12 5 4 4
Sweden Marcus Ericsson 9 8 5 3 Ret Ret Ret 11 3 4 5 16† 5 16 Ret 12 14 8
2012 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
BHR1
FEA
BHR1
SPR
BHR2
FEA
BHR2
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
MRN
FEA
MRN
SPR
6th 202
Sweden Marcus Ericsson 13 Ret 13 16 7 7 13 22 2 4 2 Ret 21 7 11 15 18 Ret 1 4 3 7 7 2
United Kingdom Jolyon Palmer 17 12 DNS 7 24† 22 9 DNS 6 1 Ret Ret 3 5 18 18 6 5 Ret 10 7 3 Ret Ret

GP2 Final

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers 1 2 T.C. Points
2011 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
1st 17
France Tom Dillmann 6 3
Sweden Marcus Ericsson 4 2

GP2 Asia Series

Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles Fast laps Points D.C. T.C.
2008 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome India Karun Chandhok 10 0 0 0 7 13th 5th
Brazil Bruno Senna 10 0 0 3 23 5th
2008–09 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome Netherlands Giedo van der Garde 11 0 0 0 11 12th 8th
Bahrain Hamad Al Fardan 11 0 0 0 2 20th
2009–10 Dallara GP2/08-Mecachrome United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 8 1 0 0 17 6th 1st
Italy Davide Valsecchi 8 3 1 4 56 1st
2011 Dallara GP2/11-Mecachrome Sweden Marcus Ericsson 4 0 0 0 9 6th 5th
United Kingdom Sam Bird 4 0 0 0 2 12th

In detail

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Chassis
Engine
Tyres
Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 T.C. Points
2008 GP2/05
Renault
B
DUB1
FEA
DUB1
SPR
SEN
FEA
SEN
SPR
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
DUB2
FEA
DUB2
SPR
5th 30
India Karun Chandhok 7 3 Ret 13 Ret 7 8 Ret Ret Ret
Brazil Bruno Senna 2 19 7 2 Ret 8 4 Ret DSQ 11
2008–09 GP2/05
Renault
B
SHI
FEA
SHI
SPR
DUB3
FEA
DUB3
SPR
BHR1
FEA
BHR1
SPR
LSL
FEA
LSL
SPR
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
BHR2
FEA
BHR2
SPR
8th 13
Netherlands Giedo van der Garde 10 DNS 4 C 7 14 12 8 14 10 5 7
Bahrain Hamad Al Fardan 15 Ret Ret C 12 Ret Ret Ret 9 5 Ret 17
2009–10 GP2/05
Renault
B
YMC1
FEA
YMC1
SPR
YMC2
FEA
YMC2
SPR
BHR1
FEA
BHR1
SPR
BHR2
FEA
BHR2
SPR
1st 73
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 8 4 1 5 9 6 9 11
Italy Davide Valsecchi 1 2 2 1 1 20 2 4
2011 GP2/11
Mecachrome
P
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
IMO
FEA
IMO
SPR
5th 11
Sweden Marcus Ericsson 4 3 10 16
United Kingdom Sam Bird 7 Ret Ret Ret

Notes

  1. ^ Operation Team at Russian Time team in 2014
  2. ^ Glock had scored 5 points for BCN Competición during the first 9 races of the season.

References

  1. ^ "ISport waiting for finalised budget cap".
Achievements
Preceded by GP2 Series Teams' Champion
2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by GP2 Asia Series Teams' Champion
2009–10
Succeeded by