Petrov wins in the rain!
The rain started to fall hard on the grid before the formation lap and the race was delayed for thirty minutes. The start was eventually given behind the safety car on a soaked track and it wasn’t until four laps later that the field was released.
Poleman of the day, Davide Valsecchi, immediately had a tough time defending his lead from a daring Pastor Maldonado who passed the Italian at Turn 2 on Lap 5. Behind, Vitaly Petrov took this opportunity to slip past Valsecchi simultaneously.
Five laps later, the Barwa racer started to put huge pressure on the leader until he finally passed him in a strong move at the last turn. On a gradually drying track, Vitaly Petrov was never to be caught again until the checkered flag. Behind him, although under great pressure from Valsecchi, Pastor Maldonado did not falter all the while trying to preserve his tires from degradation.
The ART driver finished second ahead of the Durango man while yesterday’s race winner Diego Nunes scored another three points from fourth place ahead of Hamad Al Fardan.
The rookie from GFH Team iSport kept his momentum from yesterday’s race and transformed it today into his first GP2 points. Championship leader Kamui Kobayashi started from seventh on the grid and a poor start saw him drop to eleventh.
The Japanese ace then put his head down and was sixth on the last lap thanks to great overtaking maneuvers. But, there was one man who was decided not to let his race weekend go without him scoring at least one point: Sergio Perez recovered from 22nd and fought his way back up the field.
At the very last corner of the very last lap, the youngest man of the Series passed Kobayashi and stole the last point available. Kobayashi still remains thirteen points ahead of Davide Valsecchi. Today’s winner Petrov now stands third.
Results
Pos |
Driver | Team |
1. | Vitaly Petrov | Barwa Int. Campos Team |
2. | Pastor Maldonado | ART Grand Prix |
3. | Davide Valsecchi | Durango |
4. | Diego Nunes | Piquet GP |
5. | Hamad Al Fardan | GFH Team iSport |
6. | Sergio Perez | Barwa Int. Campos Team |
7 | Kamui Kobayashi | Dams |
8. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Fisichella Motor Sport Int. |
9. | Alvaro Parente | My Qi-Meritus.Mahara |
10. | Giedo van der Garde | GFH Team iSport |
11. | Yelmer Buurman | Ocean Racing Technology |
12. | Roldan Rodriguez | Piquet GP |
13. | Davide Rigon | Trident Racing |
14. | Marco Bonanomi | My Qi-Meritus.Mahara |
15. | Giacomo Ricci | DPR |
16. | Fabrizio Crestani | Ocean Racing Technology |
17. | Edoardo Mortara | ArdenInternational Team |
18. | Javier Villa | Super Nova Racing |
19. | Ricardo Teixeira | Trident Racing |
20. | Michael Dalle Stelle | Durango |