Valencia, GP2 : Tough times
Gravity Academy drivers Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Ho-Pin Tung and Christian Vietoris has a difficult day in Valencia today. While both DAMS drivers were taken out of the race on lap 1, Christian was set for a points-finish when he’s been penalised for pitlane speeding.
At the front, Pastor Maldonado overcame a strong start by pole sitter Sergio Perez and a surprise challenge at the restart to easily take his second victory of the year, ahead of ART pair Jules Bianchi and Sam Bird. The Venezuelan was unable to match the storming start from his Mexican rival when the lights went out and slotted in behind for second place, and when two accidents on the opening lap removed nine drivers further down the grid a safety car period was inevitable. There was furtherback news for Maldonado when he was jumped at the restart by Bianchi and Davide Valsecchi, pushing him back down to fourth as the field got back up to speed.
The fightback came almost immediately. With Perez’s car seemingly down on power after a tap on the exhaust by Maldonado at the first turn of the race, Bianchi was easily through and into the lead a few corners into the restart. Valsecchi tried to go with the Frenchman but caught Perez’s rear wheel, tapping him into a spin and delaying the Italian long enough to give Maldonado ansimple run through the pair.
And with the pitstops resolved, so went the race: Maldonado finished 8 seconds to the good on Bianchi, who had an equal gap over his teammate when the chequered flag dropped. Giedo vander Garde did his best to bring home another podium for his team but missed by less than asecond, with Clos a lonely fifth position ahead of the race long battle between Charles Pic, Marcus Ericsson and Michael Herck for the final 3 points positions.
