Davide Valsecchi gave Team Air Asia its first GP2 win in the streets of Monte-Carlo in an eventful race held Friday.
The qualifying sessions had already been pretty hectic, as several drivers were penalized for causing accidents during the session.
Giedo Van der Garde, who set the fastest time ahead of Sam Bird and Jules Bianchi, received a five-position penalty on the grid for having hit Oliver Turvey in qualifying.
Jules Bianchi was also forced to drop five positions on the grid for the accident he was involved with Van der Garde at the start of second race in Barcelona one week ago. Last but not least, Grosjean was also penalized, and was forced to start from the back of the grid after a contact with his teammate, Pal Varhaug.
Sam Bird stalled his engine at the green in Monaco. He was miraculously avoided by the other cars while Davide Valsecchi jumped into the lead ahead of Alvaro Parente. The Italian driver was on his way to an easy win, but he lost his advantage when the Safety Car came in near the end of the race after Marcus Ericsson lost his rear wing in the tunnel.
At the restart, Valsecchi was able to pull away in front, and took the win, which was the first one for team Air Asia. Alvaro Parente and Luca Filippi took second and third places.
Romain Grosjean drove a stunning race, as he ended up fourt after he started from 26th and last place on the grid.
Jules Bianchi had another contact with Giedo Van der Garde, as they were fighting over fourth position. The Frenchman had to stop to have his front wing fixed, and the Dutchman had a broken rear wing. It was a bad day for Sam Bird, who stalled on the grid, then had a contact with his teammate Marcus Ericsson.
Max Chilton took 8th, and will start from pole in race 2 on Sunday.
Race 1 classification:
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Air Asia - 41 laps in 1h00'23"857
2 - Alvaro Parente - Racing Engineering + 1"4
3 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova + 2"1
4 - Romain Grosjean - Dams + 4"2
5 - Stefano Coletti - Trident + 14"0
6 - Josef Kral - Arden + 14"4
7 - Oliver Turvey - Carlin + 15"0.
8 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 16"0
Etc.
The qualifying sessions had already been pretty hectic, as several drivers were penalized for causing accidents during the session.
Giedo Van der Garde, who set the fastest time ahead of Sam Bird and Jules Bianchi, received a five-position penalty on the grid for having hit Oliver Turvey in qualifying.
Jules Bianchi was also forced to drop five positions on the grid for the accident he was involved with Van der Garde at the start of second race in Barcelona one week ago. Last but not least, Grosjean was also penalized, and was forced to start from the back of the grid after a contact with his teammate, Pal Varhaug.
Sam Bird stalled his engine at the green in Monaco. He was miraculously avoided by the other cars while Davide Valsecchi jumped into the lead ahead of Alvaro Parente. The Italian driver was on his way to an easy win, but he lost his advantage when the Safety Car came in near the end of the race after Marcus Ericsson lost his rear wing in the tunnel.
At the restart, Valsecchi was able to pull away in front, and took the win, which was the first one for team Air Asia. Alvaro Parente and Luca Filippi took second and third places.
Romain Grosjean drove a stunning race, as he ended up fourt after he started from 26th and last place on the grid.
Jules Bianchi had another contact with Giedo Van der Garde, as they were fighting over fourth position. The Frenchman had to stop to have his front wing fixed, and the Dutchman had a broken rear wing. It was a bad day for Sam Bird, who stalled on the grid, then had a contact with his teammate Marcus Ericsson.
Max Chilton took 8th, and will start from pole in race 2 on Sunday.
Race 1 classification:
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Air Asia - 41 laps in 1h00'23"857
2 - Alvaro Parente - Racing Engineering + 1"4
3 - Luca Filippi - Super Nova + 2"1
4 - Romain Grosjean - Dams + 4"2
5 - Stefano Coletti - Trident + 14"0
6 - Josef Kral - Arden + 14"4
7 - Oliver Turvey - Carlin + 15"0.
8 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 16"0
Etc.