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.

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 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 PosNoNameTeamTimeGrid11 Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix1:27.727124 Sergio Pérez Barwa Addax Team1:28.011232 Sam Bird ART Grand Prix1:28.241348 Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering1:28.254459 Oliver Turvey iSport International1:28.2985616 Charles Pic Arden International Motorsport1:28.300677 Dani Clos Racing Engineering1:28.372786 Marcus Ericsson Super Nova Racing1:28.3768915 Pastor Maldonado Rapax1:28.67091010 Davide Valsecchi iSport International1:28.714101119 Fabio Leimer Ocean Racing Technology1:28.723111227 Giacomo Ricci DPR1:28.96912133 Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team1:29.000161414 Luiz Razia Rapax1:29.065131524 Johnny Cecotto Jr. Trident Racing1:29.129141611 Jérôme d'Ambrosio DAMS1:29.238151720 Alberto Valerio Scuderia Coloni1:29.27117185 Josef Král Super Nova Racing1:29.382181918 Max Chilton Ocean Racing Technology1:29.437192026 Michael Herck DPR1:29.500202125 Adrian Zaugg Trident Racing1:29.518212212 Ho-Pin Tung DAMS1:29.519222321 Vladimir Arabadzhiev Scuderia Coloni1:29.912232417 Rodolfo González Arden International Motorsport1:30.20924 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 RicciDPR 43 +1.489 12 8 3 7 Dani ClosRacing Engineering 43 +4.209 7 6 4 4 Sergio PérezBarwa Addax Team 43 +5.111 2 5 5 9 Oliver TurveyiSport International 43 +18.339 5 4 6 15 Pastor MaldonadoRapax 43 +30.211 9 3 7 14 Luiz RaziaRapax 43 +30.568 14 2 8 19 Fabio LeimerOcean 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 LeimerOcean Racing Technology 25 38:31.849 1 6 + 1 2 14 Luiz RaziaRapax 25 +0.755 2 5 3 15 Pastor MaldonadoRapax 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

References