GP2 round in Sepang 2013

 GP2 round in Sepang 2013

Racing data
1st of 11 races in the 2013 GP2 series
Date:	22.-24. March 2013
Place:	Sepang
Course:	Sepang International Circuit
Length:	Main race 171.833 km in 31 laps of 5.543 km Sprint race 121.946 km in 22 laps of 5.543 km
Main race
Pole position
Driver:	Stefano Coletti	Rapax
Time:	1: 44.280 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Sam Bird	Russian time
Time:	1: 48.777 min (lap 8)
Podium
First:	Fabio Leimer	Racing engineering
Second:	James Calado	ART Grand Prix
Third:	Stefano Coletti	Rapax
Sprint race
Pole position
Driver:	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS
Fastest lap
Driver:	Stefano Coletti	Rapax
Time:	1: 50.253 min (lap 5)
Podium
First:	Stefano Coletti	Rapax
Second:	Felipe Nasr	Carlin
Third:	Mitch Evans	Arden International

The GP2 run in Sepang 2013 was the first run of the GP2 series in 2013 and took place from March 22nd to 24th at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang .

Reports

background

Six debutants competed for this race weekend: Mitch Evans , Daniel Abt , Ma Qinghua , Conor Daly , Kevin Giovesi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs . Evans, Abt and Daly previously drove in the GP3 series , Quaife-Hobbs in the Auto GP , Ma was previously a test driver in Formula 1 and Giovesi drove in the European F3 Open and Italian Formula 3 championship .

Three teams entered the series. MP Motorsport , Hilmer Motorsport and Russian Time .

With James Calado , a former winner of this race entered.

training

In free practice, Calado set the fastest lap time ahead of Simon Trummer and Tom Dillmann .

Qualifying

In qualifying, Stefano Coletti achieved pole position ahead of last year's winner in the Calado sprint race. Third fastest was Felipe Nasr .

There was an incident between Sam Bird and Johnny Cecotto Jr. during qualifying . First, Bird had hindered Cecotto on his fast lap so that Cecotto could not improve his time. In response, Cecotto soon pushed Bird off the track and Bird had to move onto the grass. As a result, Bird was postponed by the stewards by three starting positions. The stewards rated Cecotto's behavior as an “unacceptable reaction” and excluded him from qualifying. Bird therefore had to start the race from eighth position, Cecotto from 26th on the grid.

Main race

At the start, Coletti defended his lead. Positions shifted behind him. Fabio Leimer started well and improved from fourth to second. Nasr stayed in third place, Calado was a new fourth. Shortly thereafter, Nasr and Calado dueled, from which Evans benefited and overtook both. Calado won the duel against Nasr, who was then in fifth place. For Marcus Ericsson , the race was over after a collision with Palmer on the first lap.

After the first lap, Coletti was leading in front of Leimer, Evans, Calado, Nasr and Trummer.

A short time later, Calado sat down next to Evans on the start-finish straight and drove alongside him on the outer lane of the first corner in order to then have an advantage in the next corner and position himself in front of him.

While braking into the last corner on lap four, Quaife-Hobbs tried to overtake his team-mate Daniël de Jong . The two MP Motorsport drivers collided and both had to end the race with suspension damage.

Meanwhile, Leimer drove faster than Coletti and was able to close the gap to him. Coletti had put more stress on his tires and now had to hold Leimer behind him until the pit stop window opened. He succeeded and pitted at the end of the sixth lap.

Meanwhile, the race for Abt was over after a spin without contact with another vehicle.

After the pit stops, Coletti continued to hold the lead over Leimer. But Coletti also began to have problems on the harder tire compound. A duel for the reserve grid pole began around eighth position . Evans initially defended his seventh position against Stéphane Richelmi . When he dared to overtake, Bird seized the opportunity and overtook both in one maneuver. Richelmi's attempt to overtake initially failed, but Evans was unable to keep him behind.

With six laps to go, Leimer caught up with Coletti again, and Calado also came closer. On the following lap, Leimer overtook on the outside lane and took the lead in the race. Shortly afterwards, Calado was also able to pass Coletti.

Leimer won the race ahead of Calado and Coletti. In the end, Richelmi finished eighth and thus secured pole position for the sprint race. The fastest lap and thus an additional two points was achieved by Bird.

Sprint race

As the drivers started the warm-up lap, Jolyon Palmer stalled his car and was overtaken by the whole field. He was then pushed into the pit lane, where the engine was restarted. Palmer then had to start after the field from the pit lane.

At the start of the race, Kevin Ceccon stopped. He was also pushed into the pit lane and started the race one lap behind. Coletti started well from position five and placed himself on the far left in the braking zone at the first corner. He turned this in parallel with Richelmi and took the lead in the following left turn. Bird, however, had started worse and lost several positions.

In the turmoil of the starting phase, Calado drove the glue in front of him with its front wing on its rear wheel, whereupon the front wing broke off and wedged itself under Calado's vehicle. As a result, Calado no longer had control over his car and slipped into the competitors turning in front of him. He met Julian Leal and Bird, after which the race was over for all three drivers. Following the race, Calado was placed back ten starting positions in the following main race.

After the first lap, Coletti was leading in front of Richelmi, Nasr, Evans, Cecotto and Leimer.

At the beginning of the second lap, Nasr overtook Richelmi at the end of the start-finish straight and took second position. In the meantime Coletti had already gained a head start.

In the back of the field, Palmer and Ericsson began to work their way forward. After 18 laps, Palmer was already in twelfth place. Meanwhile, there were two fights for positions at the top. Nasr had pulled up close to Coletti and Evans was putting pressure on Richelmi. The latter braked into the last corner six laps before the end and had to let Evans pass.

As in the main race, Coletti had problems with the tires. This time, however, he was able to defend his lead and clinched his third win in the GP2 series. Nasr finished second ahead of Evans, Richelmi, Cecotto and Trummer. Palmer, however, had made it to position nine. The fastest lap for Nathanaël Berthon , but since he was not classified in the top ten, the points went to the second fastest, Coletti.

Registration list

All teams and drivers used the Dallara GP2 / 11 chassis , Renault - Mecachrome engines and Pirelli tires .

team	Automobile #	driver
DAMS	01	Marcus Ericsson
	02	Stéphane Richelmi
ART Grand Prix	03	James Calado
	04th	Daniel Dept.
Arden International	05	Johnny cecotto jr.
	06th	Mitch Evans
Racing engineering	07th	Julian Leal
	08th	Fabio Leimer
Carlin	09	Felipe Nasr
	10	Jolyon Palmer
Russian time	11	Sam Bird
	12	Tom Dillmann
Caterham Racing	14th	Sergio Canamasas
	15th	Qing Hua Ma
Barwa Addax team	16	Jake Rosenzweig
	17th	Rio Haryanto
Rapax	18th	Stefano Coletti
	19th	Simon Trummer
Trident Racing	20th	Nathanaël Berthon
	21st	Kevin Ceccon
Hilmer Motorsport	22nd	Conor Daly
	23	Pål Varhaug
Venezuela GP Lazarus	24	René Binder
	25th	Kevin Giovesi
MP Motorsport	26th	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
	27	Daniël de Jong

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	team	time	begin
01	Stefano Coletti	Rapax	1: 44.280	01
02	James Calado	ART Grand Prix	1: 44.284	02
03	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	1: 44.288	03
04th	Fabio Leimer	Racing engineering	1: 44.463	04th
05	Sam Bird	Russian time	1: 44.598	08th
06th	Mitch Evans	Arden International	1: 44.618	05
07th	Rio Haryanto	Barwa Addax team	1: 44.681	06th
08th	René Binder	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1: 44.687	07th
09	Simon Trummer	Rapax	1: 44.692	09
10	Tom Dillmann	Russian time	1: 44.731	10
11	Julian Leal	Racing engineering	1: 44.732	11
12	Sergio Canamasas	Caterham Racing	1: 44.761	12
13	Marcus Ericsson	DAMS	1: 44.766	13
14th	Johnny cecotto jr.	Arden International	1: 44.788	EX
15th	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	MP Motorsport	1: 45.191	14th
16	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	1: 45.262	15th
17th	Conor Daly	Hilmer Motorsport	1: 45.289	16
18th	Nathanaël Berthon	Trident Racing	1: 45.378	17th
19th	Kevin Ceccon	Trident Racing	1: 45.491	18th
20th	Qing Hua Ma	Caterham Racing	1: 45.497	19th
21st	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	1: 45.522	20th
22nd	Daniel Dept.	ART Grand Prix	1: 45.593	21st
23	Jolyon Palmer	Carlin	1: 45.662	22nd
24	Jake Rosenzweig	Barwa Addax team	1: 45.662	23
25th	Pål Varhaug	Hilmer Motorsport	1: 45.830	24
26th	Kevin Giovesi	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1: 45.985	25th

Remarks

1. ↑ Bird was called to death by Johnny Cecotto Jr. shifted 3 positions backwards.
2. ↑ Cecotto was banned from qualifying because of "unacceptable reaction" to Sam Bird's disability .

Main race

Item	driver	team	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Fabio Leimer	Racing engineering	31	57: 49.385	04th	1: 48.947 ( 08.)
02	James Calado	ART Grand Prix	31	+ 2.045	02	1: 49.714 (19.)
03	Stefano Coletti	Rapax	31	+ 11.271	01	1: 49.739 ( 04th)
04th	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	31	+ 12.810	03	1: 49.846 (26.)
05	Julian Leal	Racing engineering	31	+ 28.837	11	1: 49.242 (11.)
06th	Jolyon Palmer	Carlin	31	+ 34.209	22nd	1: 49.637 (23.)
07th	Sam Bird	Russian time	31	+ 41.183	08th	1: 48.777 (16.)
08th	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	31	+ 58.941	15th	1: 49.445 ( 08.)
09	Simon Trummer	Rapax	31	+1: 02.853	09	1: 49.540 (16.)
10	Mitch Evans	Arden International	31	+1: 13.730	05	1: 49.363 ( 08.)
11	René Binder	Venezuela GP Lazarus	31	+1: 16.137	07th	1: 49.989 (15.)
12	Johnny cecotto jr.	Arden International	31	+1: 18.357	26th	1: 50.143 (27.)
13	Conor Daly	Hilmer Motorsport	31	+1: 20.096	16	1: 49.407 (15.)
14th	Tom Dillmann	Russian time	31	+1: 21.812	10	1: 49.103 (11.)
15th	Pål Varhaug	Hilmer Motorsport	31	+1: 23.754	24	1: 49.458 (18.)
16	Kevin Giovesi	Venezuela GP Lazarus	31	+1: 35.775	25th	1: 50.647 (24.)
17th	Kevin Ceccon	Trident Racing	31	+1: 37.928	18th	1: 50.161 ( 09.)
18th	Jake Rosenzweig	Barwa Addax team	31	+1: 43.252	23	1: 50.026 (24.)
19th	Sergio Canamasas	Caterham Racing	31	+ 2: 00.257	12	1: 51.358 ( 02nd)
20th	Rio Haryanto	Barwa Addax team	30th	+ 1 lap	06th	1: 50.211 (15.)
21st	Qing Hua Ma	Caterham Racing	30th	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 51.446 (12.)
-	Nathanaël Berthon	Trident Racing	19th	DNF	17th	1: 51.394 (10.)
-	Daniel Dept.	ART Grand Prix	09	DNF	21st	1: 51.444 ( 03rd)
-	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	03	DNF	20th	1: 53.231 ( 03rd)
-	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	MP Motorsport	03	DNF	14th	1: 52.217 ( 03rd)
-	Marcus Ericsson	DAMS	00	DNF	13	-

Sprint race

Item	driver	team	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Stefano Coletti	Rapax	22nd	40: 49.455	06th	1: 50.253 ( 05.)
02	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	22nd	+ 0.832	05	1: 50.536 ( 04.)
03	Mitch Evans	Arden International	22nd	+ 8.358	10	1: 50.661 ( 03rd)
04th	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	22nd	+ 11.935	01	1: 50.750 ( 04.)
05	Johnny cecotto jr.	Arden International	22nd	+ 15.874	12	1: 50.564 ( 04.)
06th	Simon Trummer	Rapax	22nd	+ 17.072	09	1: 50.676 ( 03rd)
07th	Conor Daly	Hilmer Motorsport	22nd	+ 17.479	13	1: 50.366 ( 05.)
08th	René Binder	Venezuela GP Lazarus	22nd	+ 23.726	11	1: 50.710 (12.)
09	Jolyon Palmer	Carlin	22nd	+ 24.326	03	1: 50.671 (15.)
10	Kevin Giovesi	Venezuela GP Lazarus	22nd	+ 29.020	16	1: 51.025 ( 07.)
11	Tom Dillmann	Russian time	22nd	+ 30.522	14th	1: 50.881 ( 08.)
12	Fabio Leimer	Racing engineering	22nd	+ 30.802	08th	1: 50.599 ( 04.)
13	Marcus Ericsson	DAMS	22nd	+ 31,342	24	1: 50.603 (15.)
14th	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	22nd	+ 32.391	24	1: 51.170 (17.)
15th	Sergio Canamasas	Caterham Racing	22nd	+ 35.336	19th	1: 51.005 (14.)
16	Daniel Dept.	ART Grand Prix	22nd	+ 36.339	23	1: 51.529 (10.)
17th	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	MP Motorsport	22nd	+ 37.033	25th	1: 51.463 ( 04th)
18th	Rio Haryanto	Barwa Addax team	22nd	+ 43.468	20th	1: 51.549 ( 04th)
19th	Pål Varhaug	Hilmer Motorsport	22nd	+ 46.092	15th	1: 51.274 ( 04th)
20th	Jake Rosenzweig	Barwa Addax team	22nd	+ 51.244	18th	1: 51.525 ( 05.)
21st	Nathanaël Berthon	Trident Racing	22nd	+ 53.777	21st	1: 48.780 (18.)
22nd	Kevin Ceccon	Trident Racing	21st	+ 1 lap	17th	1: 50.722 ( 08.)
-	Sam Bird	Russian time	00	DNF	02	-
-	Julian Leal	Racing engineering	00	DNF	04th	-
-	James Calado	ART Grand Prix	00	DNF	07th	-
	Qing Hua Ma	Caterham Racing		DNS

Championship stands after the run

Driver ranking

Item driver team Points 01  Stefano Coletti Rapax 36 02  Fabio Leimer Racing engineering 25th 03  Felipe Nasr Carlin 24 04th  James Calado ART Grand Prix 18th 05  Stéphane Richelmi DAMS 12 06th  Mitch Evans Arden International 11 07th  Julian Leal Racing engineering 10 08th  Jolyon Palmer Carlin 8th 09  Sam Bird Russian time 8th 10  Johnny cecotto jr. Arden International 6th 11  Simon Trummer Rapax 6th 12  Conor Daly Hilmer Motorsport 2 13  René Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 1

Item driver team Points 14th  Kevin Giovesi Venezuela GP Lazarus 0 15th  Tom Dillmann Russian time 0 16  Marcus Ericsson DAMS 0 17th  Daniël de Jong MP Motorsport 0 18th  Pål Varhaug Hilmer Motorsport 0 19th  Sergio Canamasas Caterham Racing 0 20th  Daniel Dept. ART Grand Prix 0 21st  Kevin Ceccon Trident 0 22nd  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP Motorsport 0 23  Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax 0 24  Rio Haryanto Barwa Addax 0 25th  Qing Hua Ma Caterham Racing 0 26th  Nathanaël Berthon Trident 0

Team evaluation

Item team Points 01  Rapax 42 02  Racing engineering 35 03  Carlin 32 04th  ART Grand Prix 18th 05  Arden International 17th 06th  DAMS 12 07th  Russian time 8th

Item team Points 08th  Hilmer Motorsport 2 09  Venezuela GP Lazarus 1 10  MP Motorsport 0 11  Caterham Racing 0 12  Trident Racing 0 13  Barwa Addax team 0

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Christian Menath: "GP2 season preview: start going, well-known names come". Motorsport-Magazin.com, March 20, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 . 
2. ↑ Frederik Hackbarth: "First best time goes to favorites". Motorsport-Magazin.com, March 22, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Gerald Dirnbeck: "Coletti conquers first pole of the season". Motorsport-Total.com, March 22, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Gerald Dirnbeck: "Leimer opens GP2 season with victory". Motorsport-Total.com, March 23, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Gerald Dirnbeck: "Calado punished for starting collision". Motorsport-Total.com, March 23, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 . 
6. ↑ Gerald Dirnbeck: "Malaysia: Coletti wins in the sprint". Motorsport-Total.com, March 24, 2013, accessed February 6, 2014 .