Romain Grosjean lead the field in a lights to flag victory today and in the process taking over the points lead, aided by setting fastest lap (gaining 1 extra bonus point). Grosjean made a strong start from pole while fellow front row man Sam Bird made a hash of his and dropped down the order promoting fast starting Giedo van der Garde, from 5th on the grid, and Michael Herck upto 2nd and 3rd.
In the first few laps rookie Jolyon Palmer was putting on a great show by hassling highly rated and experienced Lotus ART driver Jules Bianchi, however in the process Palmer clipped the Frenchman's car and damaged his front wing, which had to be chaanged during his pitstop, dropping the Arden International driver down the order. As Bird had dropped down the order he got embroiled in an almighty scrap with fellow Isport team mate Marcus Ericsson which ended in the 2 making contact resulting in the Brit retiring.
Lap 7 was when drivers started coming in for their mandatory pitstop and tyre change, Josef Kral, Esteban Gutierrez, Oliver Turvey, Max Chilton, Charles Pic and Johnny Checotto were the first to do so.
As the pit stops had cycled fully through it was clear Bianchi and his Lotus ART team had made a better strategy call enabling the Frenchman to emerge ahead of Scuderia Coloni racer Michael Herck.
Rodolfo Gonzalez left it late for his stop and was leading with 18 laps completed before his times really started to drop off forcing the Venezuelan to come in for some fresher tyres.
Dani Clos, after a frustrating qualifying session which left him down in 20th place, showed the Racing Engineering team have found how to get a competitive race set-up since the change to the new Pirelli tyres, despite struggling to make the most of new tyres in qualifying, by storming up the field into 8th place, therefore inheriting pole position for tomorrows sprint race and season finale.
Throughout the race Grosjean was the quickest man on track continuing to extending his lead lap after lap over the rest of the field. Jules Bianchi was the only driver to post a lap quicker when he posted a lap of 1'28"2 which would have earned him a vital extra point but 2 laps later Grosjean responded going a further 2 tenths quicker with just 3 laps remaining.
So with just one race remaining, and less points on offer for the sprint race, it seems Grosjean just has to drive a sensible race and finish within touching distance of Bianchi to be crowned GP2 Asia Series Champion....AGAIN!!
1. Romain Grosjean - DAMS
2. Giedo Van Der Garde - Barwa Addax +14.34
3. Jules Bianchi - Lotus ART +17.52
4. Michael Herck - Scuderia Coloni +21.50
5. Stefano Coletti - Trident Racing +41.22
6. Davide Valsecchi - Team Air Asia +44.56
7. Fabio Leimer - Rapax +51.86
8. Dani Clos - Racing Engineering +52.81
9. Fairuz Fauzy - Super Nova Racing +53.96
10. Rodolfo Gonzalez - Trident Racing +54.22
11. Marcus Ericsson - Isport International +54.66
12. Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus ART +55.39
13. Josef Kral - Arden International +55.84
14. Pal Varhaug - Dams +1'07.70
15. Oliver Turvey - Ocean Racing Technology +1'19.72
16. Johnny Cecotto - Super Nova Racing +1'20.56
17. Julian Leal - Rapax +1'22.06
18. Andrea Caldarelli - Ocean Racing Technology +1'24.22
29. Jolyon Palmer - Arden International +1'24.50
20. Mikhail Aleshin - Carlin +1'26.67
21. Charles Pic - Barwa Addax Team +1'29.21
22. Max Chilton - Carlin +1'31.02
23. Luca Filippi - Scuderia Coloni +1'31.05
24. Nathanael Berthon - Racing Engineering 19 Laps
25. Sam Bird - Isport International 27 Laps
26. Luiz Razia - Team Air Asia
Drivers Standings:
1. Romain Grosjean 23
2. Jules Bianchi 18
3. Giedo Van der Garde 12
4. Davide Valsecchi 12
5. Stefano Coletti 11
6. Marcus Ericsson 9
7. Josef Kral 8
8. Michael Herck 7
9. Fabio Leimer 3
10. Sam Bird 2
11. Dani Clos 1
Team Standings:
1. Dams 23
2. Lotus ART 18
3. Barwa Addax Team 12
4. Team AirAsia 12
5. iSport International 11
6. Trident Racing 11
7. Arden International 8
8. Scuderia Coloni 7
9. Rapax 3
10. Racing Engineering 1
No comments:
Post a Comment