Valsecchi wins again
Davide Valsecchi took victory in Sunday's GP2 sprint race to round off a perfect weekend in Bahrain.
By William Esler
Last Updated: 25/04/12 3:09pm
Davide Valsecchi took victory in Sunday's GP2 sprint race to round off a perfect weekend having earned pole position on Friday and top spot in Saturday's feature race.
The DAMS driver passed Esteban Gutierrez on the last lap to take the race win ahead of the Mexican, with Britain's James Calado completing the podium.
After an aborted start caused by Felipe Nasr stopping short of his grid slot, Calado aced the second attempt, storming from fourth on the grid into the lead.
Gutierrez fought his way up to second and the Lotus duo set about an intense battle at the front. That allowed Fabio Leimer to stay in touch and he took advantage to hit the front on lap five.
Struggle
As Calado started to struggle for grip, Gutierrez got through but could not make any inroads on the lead held by the Racing Engineering driver.
But a drive-through penalty for ignoring yellow flags ruined Leimer's race and he eventually finished 12th.
Behind the leading pack, Valsecchi, who had started eighth, was closing the gap and quickly dispatched Luiz Razia and Max Chilton before closing on Calado.
The Italian got past the Briton and set about closing the 2.4 second gap to Gutierrez, passing him on the final lap, to take victory by just three tenths of a second.
After dominating in Bahrain, Valsecchi moves into the lead of the drivers' standings on 70 points with Razia on 57. Gutierrez is in third place six points ahead of his teammate Calado whilst Chilton is fifth on 35 points.
The third round of the 2012 GP2 Series will take place next week on April 27 and 28 at the Bahrain International Circuit.
