2010 Catalunya GP2 Series round

The 2010 Catalunya GP2 Series round was a GP2 Series motor race held on May 8 and May 9, 2010 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. It was the first race of the 2010 GP2 Series. The race was used to support the 2010 Spanish Grand Prix.

   2010 Spanish GP2 round

Round details
Round 1 of 10 rounds in the 2010 GP2 Series
Circuit de Catalunya
Location	Circuit de Catalunya Montmeló, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.655 km (2.892 mi)
GP2 Series
Feature race
Date	8 May 2010
Laps	37
Pole position
Driver	Jules Bianchi	ART Grand Prix
Time	1:27.727
Podium
First	Charles Pic	Arden International Motorsport
Second	Giacomo Ricci	DPR
Third	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
Driver	Sam Bird	ART Grand Prix
Time	1:31.754 (on lap 4)
Sprint race
Date	9 May 2010
Laps	25
Podium
First	Fabio Leimer	Ocean Racing Technology
Second	Luiz Razia	Rapax Team
Third	Pastor Maldonado	Rapax Team
Fastest lap
Driver	Fabio Leimer	Ocean Racing Technology
Time	1:31.229 (on lap 7)

Report

Qualifying

Jules Bianchi gained pole position for the feature race on his first outing for ART.

Feature race

In Race 1, Charles Pic won an eventful first race of the 2010 GP2 season at Barcelona. The rookie Frenchman moved into first place when previous leader Sergio Pérez (Barwa Addax) was delayed by a slow pitstop, and survived a brief challenge from DPR's Giacomo Ricci to take Arden's first win since the same event 12 months ago. Ricci's second place was an equally memorable result for DPR, a team that scored precisely one point between 2007 and 2009, and has not won a race since the inaugural GP2 season in 2005. Completing the podium was local man Dani Clos of Racing Engineering, who staked his claim to the position with a pass on Pastor Maldonado earlier in the race. Pérez finished just off the podium, but compared to other title rivals, fared well. ART pairing of polesitter Jules Bianchi and Sam Bird were just 2 drivers who suffered at the start. Bianchi led into the first corner, only to collide with Racing Engineering's Christian Vietoris. Both cars were out of the race, while Bird was forced wide in the melee behind him and had to return to the pits for a new nose. At that point he seemed out of contention, but the Briton produced a stunning drive from the back of the grid, reminiscent of Lewis Hamilton's drive through the field in Turkey 2006, to haul himself back up to ninth at the finish, falling just 1.6s short of taking the final point and sprint race pole from Ocean Racing's Fabio Leimer. Less fortunate in his progress through the field was Barwa Addax's Giedo van der Garde, who was dealt a 10s penalty for leaving the pit exit after it had closed prior to the race, and then a drive-through for jumping the start.

Sprint race

Fabio Leimer

Fabio Leimer survived a late push from Luiz Razia to win the second GP2 Series Race at Barcelona. The Swiss driver, who was making his series debut, started from pole and opened a gap of as much as 4.3 seconds during the middle part of the race. But Razia came back at him over the closing laps, and crossed the line just 0.7s in arrears. It was the second-ever win for the Ocean Racing Technology squad, while third for Razia's team-mate Pastor Maldonado secured a two-three for Rapax. The race was fairly processional at the front, but there was more competition for the minor points placings. ART's Sam Bird echoed his overtaking masterclass of the day before with another excellent performance, the Briton climbing from ninth to fourth, and he could potentially have challenged for third were it not a late excursion into the gravel that cost him six seconds. Oliver Turvey held on to fifth despite lapping around 1.5s off the pace in an unco-operative iSport car, leading a train of cars behind him headed by a frustrated Dani Clos (Racing Engineering). Once again it was a difficult day for some of the series favourites, with Jules Bianchi finishing 12th after banging wheels with Giedo van der Garde and sliding off the track, while Sergio Pérez was unable to make the start after the engine in his Barwa Addax Dallara blew on the formation lap. There could be more bad news ahead for the Mexican, who is facing a post-race investigation for trailing oil around the racing line on two thirds of the lap before finally pulling over, forcing the start to be delayed by 10 minutes while powder was laid down.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Name	Team	Time	Grid
1	1	Jules Bianchi	ART Grand Prix	1:27.727	1
2	4	Sergio Pérez	Barwa Addax Team	1:28.011	2
3	2	Sam Bird	ART Grand Prix	1:28.241	3
4	8	Christian Vietoris	Racing Engineering	1:28.254	4
5	9	Oliver Turvey	iSport International	1:28.298	5
6	16	Charles Pic	Arden International Motorsport	1:28.300	6
7	7	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering	1:28.372	7
8	6	Marcus Ericsson	Super Nova Racing	1:28.376	8
9	15	Pastor Maldonado	Rapax	1:28.670	9
10	10	Davide Valsecchi	iSport International	1:28.714	10
11	19	Fabio Leimer	Ocean Racing Technology	1:28.723	11
12	27	Giacomo Ricci	DPR	1:28.969	12
13	3	Giedo van der Garde	Barwa Addax Team	1:29.000	161
14	14	Luiz Razia	Rapax	1:29.065	13
15	24	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Trident Racing	1:29.129	14
16	11	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	1:29.238	15
17	20	Alberto Valerio	Scuderia Coloni	1:29.271	17
18	5	Josef Král	Super Nova Racing	1:29.382	18
19	18	Max Chilton	Ocean Racing Technology	1:29.437	19
20	26	Michael Herck	DPR	1:29.500	20
21	25	Adrian Zaugg	Trident Racing	1:29.518	21
22	12	Ho-Pin Tung	DAMS	1:29.519	22
23	21	Vladimir Arabadzhiev	Scuderia Coloni	1:29.912	23
24	17	Rodolfo González	Arden International Motorsport	1:30.209	24

Notes

1.^ – Giedo van der Garde received a three-place grid penalty because of impeding Jérôme d'Ambrosio in qualifying.

Feature Race

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	16	Charles Pic	Arden International Motorsport	43	0:57:54.177	6	10
2	27	Giacomo Ricci	DPR	43	+1.489	12	8
3	7	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering	43	+4.209	7	6
4	4	Sergio Pérez	Barwa Addax Team	43	+5.111	2	5
5	9	Oliver Turvey	iSport International	43	+18.339	5	4
6	15	Pastor Maldonado	Rapax	43	+30.211	9	3
7	14	Luiz Razia	Rapax	43	+30.568	14	2
8	19	Fabio Leimer	Ocean Racing Technology	43	+34.321	11	1
9	2	Sam Bird	ART Grand Prix	43	+35.961	3	1
10	10	Davide Valsecchi	iSport International	43	+44.064	10
11	6	Marcus Ericsson	Super Nova Racing	43	+50.352	8
12	5	Josef Král	Super Nova Racing	43	+51.682	18
13	12	Ho-Pin Tung	DAMS	43	+53.450	22
14	20	Alberto Valerio	Scuderia Coloni	43	+59.837	17
15	17	Rodolfo González	Arden International Motorsport	43	+1:06.180	24
16	25	Adrian Zaugg	Trident Racing	43	+1:06.394	21
17	26	Michael Herck	DPR	43	+1:06.689	20
18	18	Max Chilton	Ocean Racing Technology	43	+1:11.572	19
19	21	Vladimir Arabadzhiev	Scuderia Coloni	43	+1:16.292	23
20	3	Giedo van der Garde	Barwa Addax Team	43	+1:17.173	13
Ret	11	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	12	Retired	16
Ret	1	Jules Bianchi	ART Grand Prix	0	Retired	1	2
Ret	8	Christian Vietoris	Racing Engineering	0	Retired	4
Ret	24	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Trident Racing	0	Retired	15

Sprint Race

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	19	Fabio Leimer	Ocean Racing Technology	25	38:31.849	1	6 + 1
2	14	Luiz Razia	Rapax	25	+0.755	2	5
3	15	Pastor Maldonado	Rapax	25	+4.850	3	4
4	2	Sam Bird	ART Grand Prix	25	+14.274	9	3
5	9	Oliver Turvey	iSport International	25	+26.785	4	2
6	7	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering	25	+27.433	6	1
7	16	Charles Pic	Arden International Motorsport	25	+28.459	8
8	27	Giacomo Ricci	DPR	25	+29.077	7
9	3	Giedo van der Garde	Barwa Addax Team	25	+29.889	20
10	12	Ho-Pin Tung	DAMS	25	+31.323	13
11	10	Davide Valsecchi	iSport International	25	+39.226	10
12	1	Jules Bianchi	ART Grand Prix	25	+39.584	22
13	11	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS	25	+39.661	21
14	17	Rodolfo González	Arden International Motorsport	25	+51.383	15
15	25	Adrian Zaugg	Trident Racing	25	+51.971	16
16	18	Max Chilton	Ocean Racing Technology	25	+52.473	18
17	24	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Trident Racing	25	+53.489	24
18	8	Christian Vietoris	Racing Engineering	25	+54.129	23
19	5	Josef Král	Super Nova Racing	25	+54.772	12
20	21	Vladimir Arabadzhiev	Scuderia Coloni	25	+56.388	19
21	26	Michael Herck	DPR	25	+1:05.541	17
Ret	6	Marcus Ericsson	Super Nova Racing	2	Retired	11
DNS	20	Alberto Valerio	Scuderia Coloni	0	Did not start	14
DNS	4	Sergio Pérez	Barwa Addax Team	0	Did not start	5

Standings after the round

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Charles Pic	10
2	Fabio Leimer	8
3	Giacomo Ricci	8
4	Luiz Razia	7
5	Dani Clos	7

Teams' Championship standings

Pos	Team	Points
1	Rapax	14
2	Arden International Motorsport	10
3	Ocean Racing Technology	8
4	DPR	8
5	Racing Engineering	7

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2010 Spanish Grand Prix
• 2010 Catalunya GP3 Series round

External links

• GP2 Series official web site: Results