GP2 Asia Series

The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 Series.

The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco GP2 Series round. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It is of great importance that the GP2 Asia Series maintains a strong and viable link to Formula One. Our inclusion as the support races on the programme of Asian Grands Prix in 2008 is an essential key in this new venture".

The first season ran during the main GP2 series off season, January–April, with five two-race meetings. It ran alongside the new Speedcar Series, and the events in Malaysia and Bahrain acted as support races for the Formula One championship.

In effort to promote motor racing in Asia, each team is encouraged to have at least one driver whose passport does not come from Western Europe or the Americas (North and South). For the avoidance of doubt, Turkey and Russia are not included in the list of "European" countries.

However, in the 2008 season, four of the thirteen teams opted to field two non-Asian drivers with the agreement that one of their two drivers would be a "ghost driver" and receive no prize money for competing in the series.

July 2011, GP2 CEO Bruno Michel announced that the GP2 Asia Series would be merged with the European series after the 2011 season.

On Friday, drivers had a 30-minute free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying session. The qualifying session decided the grid order for Saturday's race which had a length of 180 kilometres. During Saturday's race, each driver had to make a pit stop in which at least two tyres have to be changed. On Sunday there was a sprint race of 80 kilometres. The grid was decided by the Saturday result with top 8 being reversed, so the driver who finished 8th on Saturday started from pole position and the winner started from 8th place.

The one who drove the pole position to Saturday's races got two points.