26
LEIMER’S SEAL
T
HE
S
WISS DRIVER TOOK HOME THE
2013 GP2
TITLE
,
TOGETHER WITH
HIS
R
ACING
E
NGINEERING TEAM
,
IN THE LAST RACE OF A LONG AND GRUELLING
SEASON THAT ONLY SAW HIM EMERGE AS A CONTENDER IN THE LATTER STAGES
2013 Winners
A
lot of ground to make up, a series of good
finishes, three wins, and finally a dream
come true. What appeared to be a mission
impossible was transformed into reality for Fabio
Leimer, the 2013 GP2 champion. In his fourth year
in the category, the 24 year old Swiss driver from
Rothirst helped Racing Engineering to repeat its
success of 2008 with Giorgio Pantano. After a
decent start to the year, Leimer’s turn around came
during the second half of a season that saw him
overhaul Stefano Coletti and Felipe Nasr, the early
leaders in the summer. Leimer had to wait until
the last race of the year, in Abu Dhabi, to secure
the title, when he overcame another star of the
championship, Sam Bird of team Russian Time.
“I still can’t believe that I’ve won GP2, the second
best championship in the world after F.1”
, decla-
red Fabio Leimer, after being crowned champion
of series promoted by Bruno Michel.
“There aren’t
many people who can say that they’ve won this
competition. After the qualification session in Abu
Dhabi I wasn’t very happy because there was a
problem with the car, we weren’t as fast as we
hoped, and Bird was in second place… But as
soon as the race started I saw that Sam had stalled
and managed to get past him, although I have to
say I felt a bit sorry for him. Bird’s a great guy, one
of the nicest I’ve met on the track, he’s totally
honest and drives hard but fair. I think he deser-
ved the win as much as me”
.
