Pastor Maldonado outdragged local hero Jérôme d'Ambrosio on the long top straight on the last lap of this morning's race two at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit to claim victory after a superb race for both men in changeable weather conditions, with Vitaly Petrov just holding on to fill the final podium position.
D'Ambrosio looked to have done enough to take his home win but Maldonado's came out on top after blasting by a string of drivers to move up from P6 on the grid to first as the chequered flag dropped.
Fourth in the opening laps, Maldonado easily dispatched Buemi and Vitaly Petrov to put himself on the back of Soucek when impacts with the wall on lap 5 by Conway, Alberto Valerio and Alvaro Parente brought out the safety car to calm everyone down.
D'Ambrosio had the restart under control but yesterday's race winner Romain Grosjean looked to take advantage of a slow Buemi restart with the old rivals running side by side until the Frenchman touched the kerb and wobbled: Senna had a look on his outside but locked up at the end of Blanchimont and spun, forcing the Brazilian into the pits and retirement.
Maldonado and Soucek were having an almighty battle for second, banging wheels but leaving just enough space for each other all the way round the track. With 2 laps remaining the rain returned slightly, and when Soucek touched the white line and was thrown off track it was a miserable end to a spectacular drive but left the path open for the move on d'Ambrosio and the win, with Petrov absorbing extreme pressure from Buemi late in the race to hold on for third.
Di Grassi kept his head to hold on for fifth place, some small reward for yesterday's disappointments and which also handed Campos the lead in the team's championship, while Kobayashi pipped Davide Valsecchi for the final point after the Italian made a spectacular return after his enormous accident of yesterday.
But the Japanese driver had a 25 seconds penalty after the race, after he cut the chicane, letting Valsecchi score the last point.
With the driver's championship unchanged at the top Giorgio Pantano leads Senna by 11 points going into the final round at his home circuit of Monza, a happy hunting ground over the years for the Italian, while Grosjean and di Grassi are all square seven points behind Senna on 53 points.
With four drivers mathematically in contention, and GP2's reputation for throwing up the unexpected, the Italian round of the championship promises to be unmissable.
Race 2 classification :
1 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 18 tours en 39'35"698
2 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - à 1"256
3 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - à 5"439
4 - Sebastien Buemi - Arden - à 6"390
5 - Lucas Di Grassi - Campos - à 7"222
6 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango - à 8"213
Etc.
Championship provisional classification :
1.Pantano 71 points ; 2.Senna 60; 3.Di Grassi, Grosjean 53; 5.Maldonado 48; 6.Buemi 44; 7.Petrov 39; 8.Parente 34; 9.Zuber 32; 10.Chandhok 31, etc.
D'Ambrosio looked to have done enough to take his home win but Maldonado's came out on top after blasting by a string of drivers to move up from P6 on the grid to first as the chequered flag dropped.
Fourth in the opening laps, Maldonado easily dispatched Buemi and Vitaly Petrov to put himself on the back of Soucek when impacts with the wall on lap 5 by Conway, Alberto Valerio and Alvaro Parente brought out the safety car to calm everyone down.
D'Ambrosio had the restart under control but yesterday's race winner Romain Grosjean looked to take advantage of a slow Buemi restart with the old rivals running side by side until the Frenchman touched the kerb and wobbled: Senna had a look on his outside but locked up at the end of Blanchimont and spun, forcing the Brazilian into the pits and retirement.
Maldonado and Soucek were having an almighty battle for second, banging wheels but leaving just enough space for each other all the way round the track. With 2 laps remaining the rain returned slightly, and when Soucek touched the white line and was thrown off track it was a miserable end to a spectacular drive but left the path open for the move on d'Ambrosio and the win, with Petrov absorbing extreme pressure from Buemi late in the race to hold on for third.
Di Grassi kept his head to hold on for fifth place, some small reward for yesterday's disappointments and which also handed Campos the lead in the team's championship, while Kobayashi pipped Davide Valsecchi for the final point after the Italian made a spectacular return after his enormous accident of yesterday.
But the Japanese driver had a 25 seconds penalty after the race, after he cut the chicane, letting Valsecchi score the last point.
With the driver's championship unchanged at the top Giorgio Pantano leads Senna by 11 points going into the final round at his home circuit of Monza, a happy hunting ground over the years for the Italian, while Grosjean and di Grassi are all square seven points behind Senna on 53 points.
With four drivers mathematically in contention, and GP2's reputation for throwing up the unexpected, the Italian round of the championship promises to be unmissable.
Race 2 classification :
1 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 18 tours en 39'35"698
2 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - à 1"256
3 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - à 5"439
4 - Sebastien Buemi - Arden - à 6"390
5 - Lucas Di Grassi - Campos - à 7"222
6 - Davide Valsecchi - Durango - à 8"213
Etc.
Championship provisional classification :
1.Pantano 71 points ; 2.Senna 60; 3.Di Grassi, Grosjean 53; 5.Maldonado 48; 6.Buemi 44; 7.Petrov 39; 8.Parente 34; 9.Zuber 32; 10.Chandhok 31, etc.