The 2008 GP2 Series kicked off in Barcelona this weekend, with Alvaro Parente taking his first GP2 victory in the feature race from Bruno Senna and Andi Zuber. Kamui Kobayashi took the sprint race win, after dominant leader Romain Grosjean threw away an almost-certain victory with an ill-considered defensive move on Kobayashi that led to a drive-through penalty.

Christian Bakkerud, who suffered problems with his back last year, failed to start the sprint race after retiring from the feature race in severe pain following a clash with Ben Hanley.