Esteban Gutierrez (Lotus) finally won for the first time this season in the first of two rounds presented in Valencia this weekend.

James Calado, teammate of Gutierrez, started from pole position and pulled a gap in the first laps, but the Brit pitted too late for his mandatory stop, the race having just being neutralized. When Calado rejoined the track, he dropped behind all of his rivals who already stopped earlier.

That’s how Fabio Leimer inherited the lead, but the Swiss was later pushed a Gutierrez forcing his way back to first position, allowing also Luiz Razia to move up to second.

In the end, Gutierrez, one of the title favourites, took his first victory ahead of Marcus Ericsson, who came back from ninth place on the grid. Luiz Razia rounded out the top three.

Furthermore, several drivers were penalized after the race. Championship leader Davide Valsecchi lost his eighth place, which would have given him the pole position for race 2, for having overtaken during the safety car period.

This allowed James Calado to move up into eighth, and on pole for race 2.



Race 1 results – GP2 (Valencia)

1 - Esteban Gutierrez - Lotus - 28 laps in 1h00min31.895s

2 - Marcus Ericsson - iSport - 1.615s

3 - Luiz Razia - Arden - 6.064s

4 - Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering - 6.408s
5 - Rio Haryanto - Carlin - 6.928s

6 - Nathanel Berthon - Racing Engineering - 7.605s

7 - Max Chilton - Carlin - 8.384s

8 - James Calado - Lotus - 11.099s
Etc.