KEY POINTS:
New Zealand teenager Earl Bamber made a bold start to his GP2 Asia Series motor racing campaign by finishing second in the feature race in China yesterday.
Bamber, 18, and fresh from his podium finish on debut for the New Zealand A1 grand prix team in the Netherlands a fortnight ago, proved just as competitive in his GP2 class debut at Shanghai.
He qualified his My Team Qi-Meritus.Mahara ninth and started yesterday's 120km feature race from the second row of the grid after finishing sixth in his debut race in the category on Saturday. The race was won by Italian Davide Valsecchi.
The other New Zealand driver in the race, recently crowned European Formula Master champion Chris van der Drift, qualified 16th, finished the first race seventh and the second race fourth.
Bamber quickly dispatched van der Drift, who started the race in second, on the first lap, and spent the rest of the time chasing poleman Valsecchi.
- NZPA
