Calado wins final race of GP2 season

From left, Dani Clos (MP Motorsport), James Calado (ART Grand Prix), Fabio Leimer (Racing Engineering)

James Calado dominated his rivals with a crushing display of speed and guile in sauna- like conditions to claim the final win of the season at today’s sprint race in Abu Dhabi ahead of Dani Clos and champion Fabio Leimer, while Sam Bird’s fourth place secured victory for his RUSSIAN TIME squad in the teams’ championship.

The win was set up at the start: front row starters Johnny Cecotto and Felipe Nasr had poor starts but left enough space for the Briton to slice between the pair and into the lead, and when they tripped over themselves at turn one Cecotto was spun around and tagged by American Alexander Rossi (who finished the season as the highest placed rookie), with Clos, Leimer, Daniel Abt and Bird sneaking through before the safety car emerged for the stricken vehicles.

Calado made a solid restart as the rest of the field shook out behind him, with Bird spotting a chance and taking Abt’s position from him: the German fought back valiantly, but when Bird shut the door at the marina Ericsson was there to pick up any scraps, and Abt had to make do with what he had.

Stephane Richelmi and Jon Lancaster had a huge battle throughout the race, but it got up close and personal on lap nine when the pair came together at the marina: the Briton was spun into retirement, prompting another safety car period to negotiate: Calado did a great job of controlling his rivals before powering off into the distance once again.

The Briton built such a lead that he was able to slow down over the final laps and nurse his car home: Calado’s brought his second win of the season home ahead of a clearly delighted Clos, on the podium for the first time this year, and new champion Leimer. Bird made up a little for his disappointments yesterday by bringing home fourth and the teams’ title, just ahead of Abt and Ericsson, while Simon Trummer and Sergio Canamasas held off Stefano Coletti’s race-long efforts to get into the points.

Fabio Leimer is the 2013 GP2 champion with a total points haul of 201, ahead of Sam Bird on 191 and James Calado, whose win today leapfrogged him over Felipe Nasr for third, 157 points to 154. RUSSIAN TIME are the 2013 GP2 teams’ champions in their first season in the championship with 273 points: Carlin have the same total but are vice-champions on a win count back, with Racing Engineering finishing the year third with 263 points.

Results

POS NO DRIVERS TEAMS LAPS TIME GAP INT. BEST
1 3 J. Calado ART Grand Prix 22 44:04.124 0.000 0.000 1:53.396
2 26 D. Clos MP Motorsport 22 44:04.911 0.787 0.787 1:53.360
3 8 F. Leimer Racing Engineering 22 44:09.089 4.965 4.178 1:53.615
4 11 S. Bird RUSSIAN TIME 22 44:13.564 9.440 4.475 1:54.353
5 4 D. Abt ART Grand Prix 22 44:14.081 9.957 0.517 1:54.306
6 1 M. Ericsson DAMS 22 44:16.105 11.981 2.024 1:54.502
7 19 S. Trummer Rapax 22 44:17.312 13.188 1.207 1:54.494
8 14 S. Canamasas EQ8 Caterham Racing 22 44:20.556 16.432 3.244 1:54.554
9 18 S. Coletti Rapax 22 44:22.241 18.117 1.685 1:54.634
10 7 J. Leal Racing Engineering 22 44:22.611 18.487 0.370 1:53.937
11 16 J. Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 22 44:28.877 24.753 6.266 1:54.823
12 17 R. Haryanto Barwa Addax Team 22 44:37.813 33.689 8.936 1:55.773
13 20 N. Berthon Trident Racing 22 44:38.277 34.153 0.464 1:55.366
14 6 M. Evans Arden International 22 44:38.609 34.485 0.332 1:55.487
15 21 G. Raimondo Trident Racing 22 44:40.247 36.123 1.638 1:55.871
16 24 R. Binder Venezuela GP Lazarus 22 44:41.008 36.884 0.761 1:54.370
17 27 D. De Jong MP Motorsport 22 44:41.595 37.471 0.587 1:55.735
18 9 F. Nasr Carlin 22 44:44.395 40.271 2.800 1:55.237
19 25 V. Ghirelli Venezuela GP Lazarus 22 44:45.993 41.869 1.598 1:56.049
20 2 S. Richelmi DAMS 22 45:23.246 79.122 37.253 1:51.817
21 22 A. Quaife-Hobbs Hilmer Motorsport 19 38:38.762 DNF 1:54.040
DNF 10 J. Palmer Carlin 17 35:14.893 DNF 1:54.353
DNF 23 J. Lancaster Hilmer Motorsport 9 18:30.928 DNF 1:55.826
DNF 5 J. Cecotto Arden International 0 DNF
DNF 15 A. Rossi EQ8 Caterham Racing 0 DNF

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