James Calado claimed victory in the season-ending GP2 Sprint Race at the Yas Marina Circuit. The ART driver, who bolted into the lead from his second row grid slot, fended off the attentions of Dani Clos, while title winner Fabio Leimer completed the podium.
As the final race of the 2013 ended, Johnny Cecotto Jr. and Felipe Nasr endured poor getaways from the front of the grid, with the pair struggling for traction and allowing Calado to slip past on the short run down the first corner.
Nasr attempted to regain some lost ground, the Carlin man clipping Arden’s Cecotto Jr. out of the race. After pitting for a front wing change, he was then dealt another blow when the stewards give a drive-through penalty.
Despite two Safety Car periods, the first caused by Alexander Rossi’s opening lap crash and the second for Jon Lancaster’s terminal spin, ART driver Calado remained calm at the front of the order and held a lead of around three seconds over Clos.
Clos turned up the pace in the closing stages in a bid to unsettle Calado, but the Briton held on to achieve his second win of the season and secure third position, behind Sam Bird and newly-crowned Champion Leimer, in the Drivers’ standings.
Bird bounced back from the disappointment of Saturday to finish fourth, crucially taking the points required to give Russian Time the Teams’ crown during its debut campaign. Daniel Abt and Marcus Ericsson followed in fifth and sixth.
GP2 will be back go for a 10th season in 2014.
See you soon!!
Complete results of GP2 Race 2:
| POS | NO | DRIVERS | TEAMS | LAPS | TIME | GAP | INT. | KPH | BEST | LAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | J. Calado | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 44:04.124 | 166.203 | 1:53.396 | 15 | ||
| 2 | 26 | D. Clos | MP Motorsport | 22 | 44:04.911 | 0.787 | 166.154 | 1:53.360 | 22 | |
| 3 | 8 | F. Leimer | Racing Engineering | 22 | 44:09.089 | 4.965 | 4.178 | 165.892 | 1:53.615 | 22 |
| 4 | 11 | S. Bird | RUSSIAN TIME | 22 | 44:13.564 | 9.440 | 4.475 | 165.612 | 1:54.353 | 15 |
| 5 | 4 | D. Abt | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 44:14.081 | 9.957 | 0.517 | 165.580 | 1:54.306 | 19 |
| 6 | 1 | M. Ericsson | DAMS | 22 | 44:16.105 | 11.981 | 2.024 | 165.453 | 1:54.502 | 18 |
| 7 | 19 | S. Trummer | Rapax | 22 | 44:17.312 | 13.188 | 1.207 | 165.378 | 1:54.494 | 18 |
| 8 | 14 | S. Canamasas | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 22 | 44:20.556 | 16.432 | 3.244 | 165.177 | 1:54.554 | 15 |
| 9 | 18 | S. Coletti | Rapax | 22 | 44:22.241 | 18.117 | 1.685 | 165.072 | 1:54.634 | 15 |
| 10 | 7 | J. Leal | Racing Engineering | 22 | 44:22.611 | 18.487 | 0.370 | 165.049 | 1:53.937 | 18 |
| 11 | 16 | J. Rosenzweig | Barwa Addax Team | 22 | 44:28.877 | 24.753 | 6.266 | 164.662 | 1:54.823 | 7 |
| 12 | 17 | R. Haryanto | Barwa Addax Team | 22 | 44:37.813 | 33.689 | 8.936 | 164.112 | 1:55.773 | 19 |
| 13 | 20 | N. Berthon | Trident Racing | 22 | 44:38.277 | 34.153 | 0.464 | 164.084 | 1:55.366 | 9 |
| 14 | 6 | M. Evans | Arden International | 22 | 44:38.609 | 34.485 | 0.332 | 164.063 | 1:55.487 | 19 |
| 15 | 21 | G. Raimondo | Trident Racing | 22 | 44:40.247 | 36.123 | 1.638 | 163.963 | 1:55.871 | 19 |
| 16 | 24 | R. Binder | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 22 | 44:41.008 | 36.884 | 0.761 | 163.916 | 1:54.370 | 5 |
| 17 | 27 | D. De Jong | MP Motorsport | 22 | 44:41.595 | 37.471 | 0.587 | 163.881 | 1:55.735 | 21 |
| 18 | 9 | F. Nasr | Carlin | 22 | 44:44.395 | 40.271 | 2.800 | 163.710 | 1:55.237 | 9 |
| 19 | 25 | V. Ghirelli | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 22 | 44:45.993 | 41.869 | 1.598 | 163.612 | 1:56.049 | 19 |
| 20 | 2 | S. Richelmi | DAMS | 22 | 45:23.246 | 79.122 | 37.253 | 161.374 | 1:51.817 | 21 |
| 21 | 22 | A. Quaife-Hobbs | Hilmer Motorsport | 19 | 38:38.762 | DNF | 163.656 | 1:54.040 | 19 | |
| 10 | J. Palmer | Carlin | 17 | 35:14.893 | DNF | 160.523 | 1:54.353 | 15 | ||
| 23 | J. Lancaster | Hilmer Motorsport | 9 | 18:30.928 | DNF | 161.608 | 1:55.826 | 9 | ||
| 5 | J. Cecotto | Arden International | 0 | DNF | ||||||
| 15 | A. Rossi | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 0 | DNF |
