<I>Crash.net</I> preview - GP2 season 2007.

The GP2 Series enters its third year as Formula One's primary feeder category by partnering the top flight in the desert surroundings of the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend. That is one of the few sure things that can be said about the championship, however.

After two seasons of close racing among some of the brightest talents on the planet, GP2 2007 has a lot to live up to. A dozen series graduates now occupy Formula One seats of varying importance, with champions Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton already running towards the front of the field with Williams and McLaren respectively, giving this year's field something to aim for.

While the same 13 teams remain on the grid, half the seats this season will be filled by series rookies, with ten drivers returning for a second season and just three coming back for a third crack at the title. The spread of experience ranges from Minardi Piquet Sports' Xandi Negrao, who has taken part in every test and race in series history, to BCN Competicion's Ho-Pin Tung, who has yet to set foot in a GP2 car, having only been signed last week.

With quality drivers among the rookies, the effect is to make the championship more open than in either of its previous two incarnations, with no-one team exerting dominance in testing, and a range of names taking turns to feature among the leading times. Of course, double champion ART Grand Prix featured strongly, despite pulling together an all-new line-up, and one of the focal points of the year will be whether the French team can be toppled from its lofty perch.

The champions have pinned their hopes on a line-up of second year drivers Lucas di Grassi and Michael Ammermuller, both of whom have shown well in testing, but have patchy race records from 2006. Although the German won a race on his first appearance, at last season's Valencia opener, he rarely threatened Hamilton or Nelson Piquet Jr as previous employer Arden International suffered a rare off year. di Grassi made his entrance to GP2 with the unfancied Durango squad, and struggled to make an impact on the points in a campaign littered with problems and prangs.

Negrao returns for a third season to spearhead the renamed Minardi Piquet Sports squad now that Piquet Jr has secured himself an F1 testing berth. The Brazilian has shown flashes of ability, but needs to get over the jitters when starting from pole if he is to make a name for himself. Testing performances have been solid, as have those for rookie team-mate Roldan Rodriguez, who could cause the odd surprise if the Piquet team continues at its previous level.

Last season's surprise package, iSport International, has shared the testing limelight more often than not with ART, and fields the strong line-up of returnees Timo Glock and Andreas Zuber as it bids to end the French team's title monopoly. Glock remains with the team that transformed his season in 2006, while Zuber transfers from Trident for a shot at glory following his unexpected win in Turkey last season. Both have taken turns at the top of the times, and will expect more of the same from Bahrain onwards.

The other team to have both its cars appearing regularly at the sharp end of the times in pre-season was former F3000 king Super Nova International, which appears to have struck gold in the shape of second year pilot Luca Filippi and reigning British F3 champion Mike Conway. Filippi showed a wayward streak while running with two different teams in 2006, but appears to have got his act together under the watchful eye of David Sears, while Conway comes to GP2 having added a consummate Macau GP triumph to his domestic F3 success. Both may start the season as dark horses, but that status could change if early results go their way.

Another star of F3000, Arden appeared to be on the wane in 200-6, despite fielding the talented combination of Ammermuller and Nicolas Lapierre. With both departed, Christian Horner's team has boldly opted for the untried partnership of Adrian Zaugg and Bruno Senna. While the Brazilian carries one of the most famous names in motorsport, he has also shown at least a degree of the talent enjoyed by uncle Ayrton, winning races in British F3, while Zaugg has made a rapid rise from Formula Renault, having started on pole for his first World Series by Renault event and won his maiden outing in A1 Grand Prix. Arden may have struck gold, but whether it shines this year depends on how long both take to get to grips with GP2 in race weekend conditions.

As Glock showed in 2006, stepping back from F1 to GP2 may not necessarily be a bad thing, and that point was underlined by a driver in his second year in the series. Giorgio Pantano endured a miserable time at Jordan before stepping back and running at the front of GP2's inaugural campaign with Super Nova. Thought to be heading for the US, he then resurfaced at FMS International in 2006, taking wins throughout the year. That, it was thought would take him to bigger and better things, but the Italian spent the winter testing - and setting the pace - for minnow Campos Racing and, having signed with the Spanish operation, should take it from the back of the grid to the very front. Pantano is joined by Russian Vitaly Petrov, who tested the waters late last year with DPR, but has yet to set the timesheets alight.

Joining Glock and Pantano in the 'former F1 driver' folder is Antonio Pizzonia, who has followed the German's path from Champ Cars to GP2 after a moderate part-season with Rocketsports in 2006. Immediately on the pace in GP2, the Brazilian has to be grouped with his grand prix peers as a potential race winner and, given FMS' rise to the front with Pantano in 2006, a possible title winner. Like Pantano, Pizzonia is partnered by a driver unlikely to feature in the title race, as Jason Tahinci continues with the heavily Turkish-financed team.

Trident Racing made an immediate impact on GP2 when it debuted in the series in 2006, winning races with both Zuber and veteran Gianmaria Bruni, but has opted for rookie talent this season after signing impressive F3 graduate Kohei Hirate and World Series by Renault title contender Pastor Maldonado. Again, both have shown promise in testing, but will need to repeat it more often to be regulars on the podium. Maldonado also needs to curb a slightly wild streak.

Racing Engineering has honoured its commitment to young talent by giving teenager Javier Villa a second year, but has partnered him with untried Brazilian Sergio Jimenez. Expected to shine in 2006, having signed racewinner Adam Carroll, Alfonso d'Orleans Borbon's squad struggled to make an impact, and will hope for more success this time around. Jiminez remains an unknown talent, but Villa has shown sufficient promise in testing to suggest that he could at least score on a regular basis.

Fellow Spaniards BCN Competicion tested any number of drivers over the winter, including GP2 racewinners Jose Maria Lopez and Ernesto Viso, but eventually plumped for a novice line-up in the shape of Super Aguri F1 refugee Sakon Yamamoto and Tung, who steps straight from winning the Recaro German F3 Cup. The Chinese driver has yet to turn a wheel in GP2, having been signed as a late replacement for Ricardo Risatti after pre-season testing had been completed, so will count on his A1GP outings for a power reference, while Yamamoto has yet to move far from the bottom of the timesheets, suggesting it could be another tough year for Enrique Scalabroni's squad.

David Price's DPR operation suffered a turbulent 2006 with the loss of much-hyped Direxiv backing and having to replace veteran Olivier Pla with the untried Petrov, and, at first sight, appears to have taken on a tough task with an all-rookie line-up for 2007. However, highly-rated Spaniard Andy Soucek comes to the British team with a strong showing in World Series to go with his surprise 2005 Spanish F3 title, and has shown that he may yet develop frontrunning pace in his first GP2 campaign, while Denmark's Christian Bakkerud won in a competitive British F3 series and could surprise.

DAMS possesses one of the strongest feeder series heritages, but has yet to turn it on in GP2. However, with the signing of series veteran Nicolas Lapierre, the French team could turn things around in 2007. Lapierre will also have reason to try harder than most, having yet to win at this level, despite running with Arden for his first two seasons. He is now fully healed after his Monaco shunt in 2006 and will be looking to mix it at the front. The Frenchman is paired with another of Japan's rising stars and, should his recent testing and F1 outings be anything to go by, Kazuki Nakajima will be there or thereabouts too.

Former GP2 race winner Durango may prop up the entry list, but fields an intriguing line-up for its third year in the class. After a disappointing 2006, Ivone Pinton has signed GP2 returnee Borja Garcia, who comes encouraged by a strong showing in last year's World Series by Renault, and Renault V6 Asia champion Karun Chandhok, who adds India to GP2's multi-national line-up. Both drivers can be quick on their day, but the jury remains out on whether they will be candidates for success.

GP2 has once again evolved its car for the new season, with Dallara producing a totally new aerodynamic package. This has led to improved downforce potential and
variability, whilst also creating stunning aesthetics on the car. The continual improvements to the four-litre Renault V8 and the constant strength and reliability of Bridgestone's Potenza slicks should remove any technical worries for the teams.

This weekend's season-opener in Bahrain will see all teams running the hard compound Bridgestones but, while the teams have had a year's experience of running similar rubber, they will have no data for it in the desert as the series did not visit Sakhir last year and ran on grooved rubber at the championship finale in 2005.

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