Report 2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round

1 report

1.1 background
1.2 practice , qualifying
1.3 races

1.3.1 feature race
1.3.2 sprint race


1.4 post-race

report
background

bahrain international circuit, race held.

the 2014 bahrain gp2 series round first of eleven scheduled events in 2014. held on 5 , 6 april 2014 @ bahrain international circuit in sakhir, , run in support of 2014 bahrain grand prix. races contested thirteen teams of 2 drivers each. teams were: dams, carlin, art grand prix, racing engineering, russian time, trident, campos racing, mp motorsport, rapax, arden international, caterham racing, hilmer motorsport , lazarus. tyre supplier pirelli brought 2 types of tyre race: 2 dry compounds (yellow-banded soft options , orange-banded hard primes ).

the final mass test session before new season took place @ track on 19–21 march. on first day, daniel abt set fastest lap of morning session time of 1 minute , 40.676 seconds saw session twice disrupted when takuya izawa stopped on track , simon trummer abandoned car after hitting turn ten kerb. alexander rossi set quickest lap of day in afternoon session one-minute , 40.604 seconds lap. rio haryanto recorded fastest lap of 3 days, one-minute , 39.129 seconds in second day s morning session, , daniël de jong paced afternoon session time of 1 minute , 40.508 seconds. in third (and final) day, jon lancaster fastest driver in morning session lap of 1 minute , 39.693 seconds, , abt quickest in afternoon session time of 1 minute , 41.061 seconds.

practice , qualifying

one 45-minute practice session held on friday before 2 races. in practice session, held in windy conditions , on dusty track, mitch evans fastest time of 1 minute , 42.062 seconds, six-hundredths of second faster stoffel vandoorne in second. raffaele marciello third-fastest, ahead of abt, stéphane richelmi , haryanto. andré negrão seventh-fastest, jolyon palmer eighth, trummer ninth , conor daly completed top ten ahead of qualifying. julián leal understeered off track , turn eleven; spun off 2 corners later. facu regalia slid under braking , went off turn thirteen run-off area, while rossi locked tyres , ran wide @ turn eleven. 2 minutes remaining in session, de jong stopped in run-off area leaving first turn , practice ended because of limited amount of time available.

jolyon palmer (pictured @ monza later in season) had second pole position of gp2 series career.

friday evening s qualifying session ran 30-minutes. drivers fastest lap times determined starting order first race. driver won pole position awarded 4 points went towards drivers , teams championship races. in contrast previous years, qualifying held in night time conditions, first such occurrence in gp2 series. track less dusty had been in practice, , multiple drivers stood in pole position throughout duration of half hour session. palmer clinched first pole position of season , second of gp2 series career time of 1 minute , 38.865 seconds. flat spotted first set of tyres , aware second set equipped challenge pole position. palmer joined on grid s front row vandoorne recorded lap three-hundredths of second slower rival. vandoorne temporarily investigated stewards exceeding track limits @ turn thirteen, no action prompted. abt took third having been unable improve on lap time. richelmi improved towards end of session , secured fourth. haryanto took fifth ahead of sixth-placed stefano coletti. pace setter evans fell once field bettered times , managed seventh.

in session s closing minutes, nasr on fast lap , closed johnny cecotto jr. s slow car on racing line while driving through fourth corner , appeared execute sudden manoeuvre resulting in nasr gesticulating cecotto. stewards deemed nasr @ fault , handed three-grid penalty. result, marciello, arthur pic , lancaster rounded out top ten. leal fastest driver not have received penalty unable qualify in top ten; best time of 1 minute , 39.588 seconds 0.723 seconds off palmer s pace. followed cecotto , negrão in next 2 spots. rossi not replicate earlier form , muster 15th place start. kimiya sato 16th , closely followed rené binder , daly. regalia restricted starting 19th , nathanaël berthon completed first twenty competitors. trummer qualified in 21st position. followed de jong spun under braking cold tyres late in session. izaka 23th , joined on grid s twelfth row adrian quaife-hobbs. 25th-place starter axcil jefferies lost control of car s rear-end while drivers getting tyres optimum temperature @ session s start. artem markelov started of field after spinning on cold tyres. caused him running on turn 1 kerb. markelov stalled car , session red flagged enable marshals extract vehicle racing line.

races

the first race held on distance of either 170 kilometres (110 mi) or 60 minutes , drivers required make 1 pit stop. first ten finishers scored points, 2 being awarded competitor recorded fastest lap. starting order second race determined finishing positions of first race first 8 drivers in reverse order of finished. run on distance of either 120 kilometres (75 mi) or 45 minutes , in contrast first race drivers not allowed make pit stops. top 8 finishers scored points towards respective championships.

feature race

the first race commenced @ 13:10 arabia standard time (utc+3) on 5 april. weather conditions @ start of race dry , sunny air temperature of 27 °c (81 °f) , track temperature @ 52 °c (126 °f). of leading drivers started on soft compound tyres. tyre degradation predicted major factor in event, , pirelli believed hard compound tyre last entire race without issues, although of lower starting drivers using tyre , anticipation high them create traffic problems. trummer stalled formation lap began , required start race pit lane. when race started, palmer spun wheels leaving grid , vandoorne took advantage of handicap lead field heading first corner. richelmi , coletti passed palmer , abt move second , third places. regalia battled position on first lap sustained broken front suspension impact cecotto after exiting turn 4 forced regalia end race prematurely. palmer fell sixth , battled nasr position. evans executed successful overtaking manoeuvre on haryanto fourth place @ first turn @ start of second lap.

stoffel vandoorne (pictured in 2013) won first gp2 series race on debut in series.

on following lap, large crash necessitated deployment of safety car. jefferies defending position sato on straight linking turns 3 , 4 , sato went jefferies s rear-end. sato punted jefferies heavy collision wall lining circuit @ high speed. jefferies s vehicle slid across tarmac @ turn 1 , stopped in gravel trap without collecting other cars. jefferies unhurt. @ lap 6 restart, vandoorne remained leader richelmi, coletti, haryanto , nasr elected make pit stops mandatory change hard compound tyre. evans , palmer made pit stops on following lap, though vandoorne committed himself making track position pay off , extended advantage 5 seconds in front of pic required make pit stops. richelmi lost positions teammate palmer moved field , third position. nasr became disgruntled when cecotto forced him side of track while battling position. vandoorne ceded first place berthon @ end of lap 9 when made pit stop , rejoined two-second advantage on palmer.

haryanto fell behind coletti passed him virtual fourth place @ first corner. sato took ten-second stop-and-go penalty on lap 13 role in lap 3 accident jeffries. trummer took advantage of battle between binder , izawa pass both drivers in same passing manoeuvre in opening corners third place on 14th lap. passed daly second position 2 laps later. bertbon went pit lane lead on lap 18 , narrowly avoided colliding trummer attempted enter pit lane. after leaving pit lane, berthon affected wheel nut problem caused him slow suspected loose wheel before returning pit lane. leal heavily delayed markelov allowing palmer pull away. meanwhile, trummer remained on track , lost small amounts of pace pushing hard. vandoorne reduced trummer s lead 8 seconds time trummer made pit stop @ end of lap 30. followed coletti, pic , nasr late-stopping quaife-hobbs , izama moving through field courtesy of having newer soft compound tyres installed on cars.

leal attacked palmer , passed him around inside @ turn 1 braking later did second position. trummer emerged pit lane in tenth place 2 laps left in race , had advantage of newest set of soft compound tyres enabling him move ahead of quaife-hobbs, nasr , binder on final lap , settle seventh place. vandoorne maintained advantage @ head of field , crossed start/finish line after completing 32 laps win maiden gp2 series race on debut. leal finished second, 1 , half seconds behind , palmer fended off attacks coletti secure third. debutants pic , izawa finished in fifth , sixth places; latter narrowly held off trummer on main straight. nasr, binder , quaife-hobbs rounded out top-ten points scoring positions. de jong, daly, abt, evans , markelov filled next 5 places , haryanto, lancaster, marciello, richelmi , negrão completed top twenty. cecotto, rossi , berthon last of classified finishers.

sprint race

the second race began @ 14:15 local time. weather conditions @ start of race hot , sunny air temperature of 28 °c (82 °f) , track temperature of 51 °c (124 °f). drivers chose start event on hard compound tyres. vandoorne s access cover above car s pedals became detached on installation lap heading turn 4 prompted mechanics apply tape on it. tyre preservation key since temperatures sprint race higher previous day s feature event. second day running, not pole sitter led field entering first corner nasr spun wheels off line , trummer moved first place , palmer took on second place. leal made start, moving seventh third, , quaife-hobbs settled fourth position. coletti stalled on grid , drivers forced swerve avoid hitting stationary car. coletti , maricello s cars pushed pit lane mechanics enable them started. vandoorne made poor getaway , fell eleventh. @ beginning of lap two, trummer unable fend off challenge palmer slipstreamed him on main straight. palmer passed trummer move lead going first turn.

simon trummer (pictured in 2008) led first lap before being passed palmer. finished second clinch first podium result since 2009 international formula master.

further down field same lap, vandoorne passed teammate izawa impacted rear-end of de jong s car @ turn four, damaging front wing , forcing vandoorne reduce speed. vandoorne forced sand faster markelov before limp pit lane repairs , dropped out of top ten. rossi sustained puncture on third lap , required make unscheduled pit stop soft compound tyres in attempt record race s fastest lap. since no mandatory pit stops had made, palmer still leading though advantage on trummer less second. leal close despite raising concerns on suspected damage car. evans passed de jong eighth place on lap 6 while haryanto fell behind izawa, daly , markelow eleventh lap. race s halfway point, questions raised drivers used tyres hard in stages of event , used compounds economically view late attack. primary action @ point abt , berthon battling 15th place , both drivers caught marciello s lapped car. daly retired on lap 15 after sustaining possible puncture caused driving on turning vane binder s vehicle ahead of him.

the first 3 runners separated less 2 seconds 6 laps left in race. palmer , leal received frequent reminders preserve tyres, while trummer informed on radio have hopes of winning race had attack. quaife-hobbs slowed because tyres had degraded enough enable nasr close him. battle allowed pic, richelmi, evans , binder close causing jostling , minor contact between 6 cars. nasr passed quaife-hobbs @ final corner on 30th lap quaife-hobbs reclaimed fourth place driving first turn. nasr got ahead of quaife-hobbs slipstreaming him driving on outside line heading turn four. on final lap, richelmi overtook pic @ turn 8 fifth place while pic , markelov lost positions evans , binder. trummer unable overhaul palmer kept lead remainder of race clinch victory. trummer finished eight-tenths of second adrift in second , took first podium finish since 2009 international formula master. leal further six-tenths of second in arrears in third, nasr fourth , richelmi fifth. quaife-hobbs, evans , binder rounded out top-eight points scoring positions. pic, markelov, de jong, izawa, abt, cecotto, lancaster, haryanto, berthon, negrão, sato , regalia, vandoorne, coletti, marciello , rossi last of 25 classified finishers. victory palmer s fourth in gp2 series.

post-race

julián leal (pictured @ first pre-season test in abu dhabi) performed in both races , stood ten points behind palmer in drivers championship.

the top 3 drivers of both races appeared on podium collect trophies , participate later in press conference. after feature race, vandoorne said have run longer soft-compound tyres chose enter pit lane ensure remain in lead , felt team made correct decision, wanted safe , keep lead because had made 2 more laps others on soft tyres. leal delighted secure second-place finish , did not believe have finished in position because of started team noted pace strong throughout pre-season testing, it’s great able replicate , here today.” revealed engineer told him push hard 2 laps enabling him gain positions , not attempting attack palmer passed him result of conserving tyre life in event s closing stages. third-place finisher palmer spoke of disappointment because felt team challenge victory praised strategy enabled him move field. admitted work needed done on starts did not change strategy after slow getaway.

when sprint race had finished, palmer stated on podium, yesterday first sixth in 1 lap , sixth first made , absolutely delighted. had done lot of homework on start , tyre degradation , think nailed them both. described race tough , drove more conseratively knowledge acculated previous day s race , made set-up , balance changes. trummer said felt finish in second place , knew beforehand achieve result in sprint race. stated did not defend excessively against palmer on second lap because of fast pace , aware had conserve tyre life, bit wrong because kept strong pace race long. @ end of race thought struggle more didn’t. hard attack him. great race. had great pace , i’m happy p2. third-place finisher leal spoke of unbelievable start of season himself , team focused attention next race of season. said after first corner, maintaining third place , praised trummer performance in spite of not overtaking him in first 3 laps.

following this, first race of season, palmer led drivers championship 38 points, ten ahead of second-placed leal. vandoorne in third on 25 points, trummer further 7 points behind in fourth. nasr rounded out top 5 twelve points. dams assumed lead of teams championship 44 points; carlin close behind in battle first place 40 points. art grand prix in third place on 33 points rapax ten points in arrears in fourth place. racing engineering stood in fifth position on twelve points ten rounds left in season.