GP2 run in as-Sachir 2014

 GP2 run in as-Sachir 2014

Racing data
1st of 11 rounds of the GP2 series 2014
Date:	4th-6th April 2014
Place:	as-Sachir
Course:	Bahrain International Circuit
Length:	Main race 173.184 km in 32 laps of 5.412 km Sprint races 124.476 km in 23 laps of 5.412 km
Main race
Pole position
Driver:	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS
Time:	1: 38.865 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS
Time:	1: 44.804 min (lap 10)
Podium
First:	Stoffel Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix
Second:	Julian Leal	Carlin
Third:	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS
Sprint race
Pole position
Driver:	Felipe Nasr	Carlin
Fastest lap
Driver:	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS
Time:	1: 45.636 min (lap 4)
Podium
First:	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS
Second:	Simon Trummer	Rapax
Third:	Julian Leal	Carlin

The GP2 run in as-Sachir 2014 took place from April 4th to 6th on the Bahrain International Circuit in as-Sachir and was the first run of the GP2 series in 2014 .

Reports

background

The event took place in the framework of the Bahrain Grand Prix .

Nine drivers made their debut in this race in the GP2 series: Takuya Izawa ( ART Grand Prix ), Axcil Jefferies ( Trident Racing ), Raffaele Marciello ( Racing Engineering ), Artjom Markelow ( RT Russian Time ), André Negrão ( Arden International ), Arthur Pic ( Campos Racing ), Facu Regalía ( Hilmer Motorsport ), Kimiya Satō (Campos Racing) and Stoffel Vandoorne (ART Grand Prix). Izawa switched from Super Formula , where he finished seventh. Jefferies previously drove in the Indy Lights , in which he finished eleventh. Marciello switched to the GP2 series as champion of the European Formula 3 championship . Markelow rose as runner-up in the German Formula 3 Cup . Negrão, Pic and Vandoorne drove in the Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013 . Negrão was tenth, Pic eighth and Vandoorne second overall. Regalia previously drove in the GP3 series , Satō in the Auto GP , in which they were both runner-up.

Daniel Abt (Hilmer Motorsport), Nathanaël Berthon ( Venezuela GP Lazarus ), René Binder (Arden International), Johnny Cecotto jr. (Trident Racing), Stefano Coletti (Racing Engineering), Conor Daly (Venezuela GP Lazarus), Mitch Evans (RT Russian Time), Rio Haryanto ( EQ8 Caterham Racing ), Jon Lancaster ( MP Motorsport ), Julian Leal ( Carlin ), Jolyon Palmer ( DAMS ) and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs ( Rapax ) started for their new teams for the first time.

Campos Racing returned to the GP2 series and took over the starting position from Barwa Addax . Campos was already active in the GP2 series until 2008 and had sold the GP2 team to Barwa Addax in 2009. ISport International from Motopark Academy took care of the RT Russian Time master team .

During the run in as-Sachir, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Hard (orange) and P Zero Soft (yellow) as well as Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

training

Shortly before the end of the training session, Daniël de Jong parked his vehicle after Turn 2 and caused a red flag. Due to the short remaining time, the training time was not stopped. Evans finished the session with the fastest time, followed by Vandoorne and Marciello.

Qualifying

Qualifying took place for the first time in Bahrain under floodlights. At the beginning, some drivers hesitated to pull out in order to have better track conditions on their fast lap. Abbot also drove out later and took the lead for the time being. Halfway through qualifying, all drivers were back in the pits and switched to new tires with the softer compound. After almost all the drivers were back on track, Markelow spun around eight minutes before the end of qualifying and caused a red flag. All drivers had to stop their lap and go back to the pits. When the track was opened again, all the remaining drivers drove out again. While Abbot didn't improve, Palmer and Vandoorne drove faster than on their first attempt. Finally, Palmer secured pole position with three hundredths of a second ahead of Vandoorne and Abt.

Following qualifying, Felipe Nasr was given three positions as a penalty because he hindered another driver with an “abnormal change of direction”.

Main race

At the start of the introductory lap, Trummer stalled the engine. He was then pushed into the pit lane, from where he started after the field.

When the race started, Palmer was not getting off pole position well. Abt behind then had to take off the accelerator as well and both drivers lost many positions. Vandoorne got off to a good start and took the lead, closely followed by Richelmi. On the first lap, Regalia retired after a collision. After the first lap, Vandoorne was leading in front of Richelmi, Coletti, Haryanto, Evans and Palmer.

In the third lap there was a collision between Satō and Jefferies. Satō had tried to position himself to the right of Jefferies before turn 4, while Jefferies also moved to the right to defend his position. Satō touched the rear of Jefferies, whereupon it turned and drove uncontrollably into the wall. The vehicle came to a stop in the gravel bed of the next curve and the safety car was sent out.

At the end of the sixth lap, the safety car came in. The pit stop window opened at the same time and ten drivers came straight in to switch from the soft to the hard tire compound. Abt made a mistake by driving the wrong box. He came in again a lap later, but fell back well to the end of the field.

In the following laps, the rest of the drivers who started on the soft tires all switched to the hard tires. Vandoorne kept the virtual lead and in the following laps narrowed the gap to the seven remaining drivers who had to stop. Marciello and Satō received a drive-through penalty because they had exceeded the speed limit in the pit lane. In addition, Cecotto received the same penalty for overtaking Satō outside of the route marking.

On lap 16, Daly was the first of the seven drivers without a pit stop to come in. Shortly afterwards, Berthon also completed his pit stop, during which, however, a wheel nut was not tightened. Despite the team's request to park the vehicle, he returned to the pits.

After Vandoorne had already overtaken Markelow on the track, only Trummer and de Jong had to pit. Meanwhile, the drivers took advantage of the fresh, soft tires and overtook numerous drivers.

Trummer waited until lap 31 to come in for his stop. He fell back to position nine. He overtook two drivers in just one lap and ended up seventh.

Vandoorne won his debut race ahead of Leal and Palmer. He was only the fourth driver after Heikki Kovalainen (series production started in 2005), Álvaro Parente (2008) and Charles Pic (2010) who succeeded. Markelow set the fastest lap of the race, but since he was not in the top 10, the two points for the fastest lap went to Palmer. Nasr crossed the finish line in eighth place and secured pole position for the sprint race.

Sprint race

Palmer won the race ahead of Simon Trummer and Leal. Rossi set the fastest lap of the race, but since he was not in the top 10, the two fastest lap points went to Palmer.

Registration list

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

team	Automobile #	driver
RT Russian Time	01	Mitch Evans
	02	Artyom Markelov
Carlin	03	Felipe Nasr
	04th	Julian Leal
Racing engineering	05	Raffaele Marciello
	06th	Stefano Coletti
DAMS	07th	Jolyon Palmer
	08th	Stéphane Richelmi
ART Grand Prix	09	Takuya Izawa
	10	Stoffel Vandoorne
Hilmer Motorsport	11	Daniel Dept.
	12	Facu regalía
Rapax	14th	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
	15th	Simon Trummer
Arden International	16	René Binder
	17th	André Negrao
EQ8 Caterham Racing	18th	Rio Haryanto
	19th	Alexander Rossi
MP Motorsport	20th	Daniël de Jong
	21st	Jon Lancaster
Trident Racing	22nd	Axcil Jefferies
	23	Johnny cecotto jr.
Venezuela GP Lazarus	24	Nathanaël Berthon
	25th	Conor Daly
Campos Racing	26th	Arthur Pic
	27	Kimiya Sato

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	team	time	begin
01	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS	1: 38.865	01
02	Stoffel Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	1: 38.895	02
03	Daniel Dept.	Hilmer Motorsport	1: 39.073	03
04th	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	1: 39.081	04th
05	Rio Haryanto	Caterham Racing	1: 39.228	05
06th	Stefano Coletti	Racing engineering	1: 39.271	06th
07th	Mitch Evans	RT Russian Time	1: 39.274	07th
08th	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	1: 39.301	11
09	Raffaele Marciello	Racing engineering	1: 39.449	08th
10	Arthur Pic	Campos Racing	1: 39.462	09
11	Jon Lancaster	MP Motorsport	1: 39.507	10
12	Julian Leal	Carlin	1: 39.588	12
13	Johnny cecotto jr.	Trident Racing	1: 39.615	13
14th	André Negrao	Arden International	1: 39.647	14th
15th	Alexander Rossi	Caterham Racing	1: 39.651	15th
16	Kimiya Sato	Campos Racing	1: 39.749	16
17th	René Binder	Arden International	1: 39.788	17th
18th	Conor Daly	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1: 39.848	18th
19th	Facu regalía	Hilmer Motorsport	1: 39.881	19th
20th	Nathanaël Berthon	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1: 39.928	20th
21st	Simon Trummer	Rapax	1: 40.059	21st
22nd	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	1: 40.060	22nd
23	Takuya Izawa	ART Grand Prix	1: 40.401	23
24	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Rapax	1: 40.408	24
25th	Axcil Jefferies	Trident Racing	1: 40.619	25th
26th	Artyom Markelov	RT Russian Time	1: 41.172	26th

Remarks

1. ↑ Nasr was relocated three positions back because of an "abnormal change of direction" that hindered another driver.

Main race

Item	driver	team	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Stoffel Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	32	59: 57.411	02	1: 44.882 ( 08.)
02	Julian Leal	Carlin	32	+ 1.551	12	1: 44.845 (10.)
03	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS	32	+ 5.880	01	1: 44.804 (10.)
04th	Stefano Coletti	Racing engineering	32	+ 6.317	06th	1: 45.680 ( 08.)
05	Arthur Pic	Campos Racing	32	+ 15,100	09	1: 44.910 ( 08.)
06th	Takuya Izawa	ART Grand Prix	32	+ 21.729	23	1: 45.504 (24.)
07th	Simon Trummer	Rapax	32	+ 21.979	21st	1: 45.245 (32nd)
08th	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	32	+ 24.425	11	1: 46.015 ( 09.)
09	René Binder	Arden International	32	+ 24.861	17th	1: 46.482 (25.)
10	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Rapax	32	+ 26.194	24	1: 45.480 (11.)
11	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	32	+ 27.034	22nd	1: 45.658 (27.)
12	Conor Daly	Venezuela GP Lazarus	32	+ 31.931	18th	1: 46.410 (18.)
13	Daniel Dept.	Hilmer Motorsport	32	+ 36.231	03	1: 44.949 ( 09.)
14th	Mitch Evans	RT Russian Time	32	+ 36.997	07th	1: 45.837 ( 02.)
15th	Artyom Markelov	RT Russian Time	32	+ 41.030	26th	1: 43.604 (24.)
16	Rio Haryanto	Caterham Racing	32	+ 41.714	05	1: 45.715 ( 09.)
17th	Jon Lancaster	MP Motorsport	32	+ 42.412	10	1: 45.481 ( 08.)
18th	Raffaele Marciello	Racing engineering	32	+ 46.849	08th	1: 45.591 (10.)
19th	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	32	+ 49.656	04th	1: 45.874 (10.)
20th	André Negrao	Arden International	32	+1: 02.346	14th	1: 45.948 ( 09.)
21st	Johnny cecotto jr.	Trident Racing	32	+1: 13.454	13	1: 45.259 ( 09.)
22nd	Alexander Rossi	Caterham Racing	32	+1: 34.560	15th	1: 45.224 ( 08.)
23	Nathanaël Berthon	Venezuela GP Lazarus	30th	DNF	20th	1: 44.672 (22.)
-	Kimiya Sato	Campos Racing	27	DNF	16	1: 46.096 ( 08.)
-	Axcil Jefferies	Trident Racing	02	DNF	25th	1: 49.506 ( 02.)
-	Facu regalía	Hilmer Motorsport	00	DNF	19th	-

Sprint race

Item	driver	team	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Jolyon Palmer	DAMS	23	41: 02.484	06th	1: 45.636 ( 04.)
02	Simon Trummer	Rapax	23	+ 0.809	02	1: 45.756 ( 04th)
03	Julian Leal	Carlin	23	+ 1.430	07th	1: 45.948 ( 04th)
04th	Felipe Nasr	Carlin	23	+ 8.719	01	1: 46.467 ( 02.)
05	Stéphane Richelmi	DAMS	23	+ 16,416	19th	1: 45.781 ( 03rd)
06th	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Rapax	23	+ 17.680	10	1: 46.148 ( 05.)
07th	Mitch Evans	RT Russian Time	23	+ 18.012	14th	1: 46.159 ( 03rd)
08th	René Binder	Arden International	23	+ 19.791	09	1: 46.694 ( 05.)
09	Arthur Pic	Campos Racing	23	+ 19.977	04th	1: 46.592 ( 04th)
10	Artyom Markelov	RT Russian Time	23	+ 20.678	15th	1: 45.776 ( 06.)
11	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	23	+ 21.086	11	1: 46.559 ( 04th)
12	Takuya Izawa	ART Grand Prix	23	+ 21.713	03	1: 46.634 ( 03rd)
13	Daniel Dept.	Hilmer Motorsport	23	+ 29.171	13	1: 46.923 ( 05.)
14th	Johnny cecotto jr.	Trident Racing	23	+ 33,500	21st	1: 46.878 ( 05th)
15th	Jon Lancaster	MP Motorsport	23	+ 34.017	17th	1: 46.925 ( 05.)
16	Rio Haryanto	Caterham Racing	23	+ 35.778	16	1: 46.733 ( 04th)
17th	Nathanaël Berthon	Venezuela GP Lazarus	23	+ 38.028	23	1: 46.744 ( 03rd)
18th	André Negrao	Arden International	23	+ 38.524	20th	1: 47.093 ( 05.)
19th	Kimiya Sato	Campos Racing	23	+ 39.439	24	1: 47.125 ( 04.)
20th	Facu regalía	Hilmer Motorsport	23	+ 44.065	26th	1: 47.335 ( 04th)
21st	Axcil Jefferies	Trident Racing	23	+ 48.583	25th	1: 46.895 ( 04th)
22nd	Stoffel Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	23	+ 49.324	08th	1: 45.696 ( 05.)
23	Stefano Coletti	Racing engineering	23	+ 80.944	05	1: 45.753 ( 03rd)
24	Raffaele Marciello	Racing engineering	22nd	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 45.921 (15.)
25th	Alexander Rossi	Caterham Racing	22nd	+ 1 lap	22nd	1: 45.344 ( 04th)
-	Conor Daly	Venezuela GP Lazarus	16	DNF	12	1: 46.649 ( 03rd)

Championship stands after the run

Driver ranking

Item driver team Points 01  Jolyon Palmer DAMS 38 02  Julian Leal Carlin 28 03  Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 25th 04th  Simon Trummer Rapax 18th 05  Felipe Nasr Carlin 12 06th  Stefano Coletti Racing engineering 12 07th  Arthur Pic Campos Racing 10 08th  Takuya Izawa ART Grand Prix 8th 09  Stéphane Richelmi DAMS 6th 10  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 5 11  René Binder Arden International 3 12  Mitch Evans RT Russian Time 2 13  Artyom Markelov RT Russian Time 0

Item driver team Points 14th  Daniël de Jong MP Motorsport 0 15th  Conor Daly Venezuela GP Lazarus 0 16  Daniel Dept. Hilmer Motorsport 0 17th  Johnny cecotto jr. Trident Racing 0 18th  Jon Lancaster MP Motorsport 0 19th  Rio Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 0 20th  Nathanaël Berthon Venezuela GP Lazarus 0 21st  André Negrao Arden International 0 22nd  Raffaele Marciello Racing engineering 0 23  Kimiya Sato Campos Racing 0 24  Facu regalía Hilmer Motorsport 0 25th  Axcil Jefferies Trident Racing 0 26th  Alexander Rossi EQ8 Caterham Racing 0

Team evaluation

Item team Points 01  DAMS 44 02  Carlin 40 03  ART Grand Prix 33 04th  Rapax 23 05  Racing engineering 12 06th  Campos Racing 10 07th  Arden International 3

Item team Points 08th  RT Russian Time 2 09  MP Motorsport 0 10  Venezuela GP Lazarus 0 11  Hilmer Motorsport 0 12  Trident Racing 0 13  EQ8 Caterham Racing 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “GP2 Series announce teams for 2014-2016”. gp2series.com, October 15, 2013, accessed April 2, 2014 . 
2. ↑ “P Zero Orange Hard and Yellow Soft Tires for GP2 in Bahrain”. gp2series.com, April 2, 2014, accessed April 2, 2014 . 
3. ↑ “Felipe Nasr Penalized”. gp2series.com, April 4, 2014, accessed April 5, 2014 .