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Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) won the first GP2 race presented this weekend in Barcelona thanks to a bold pit stop strategy.
The Dutchman, who started fifth place on the grid, ran third in the first part of the race behind poleman James Calado and Fabio Leimer, who were fighting for first position.
But Van der Garde and his Caterham team gambled on their mandatory pit stop when they choose to change only two tires, which helped Van der Garde to be back on track ahead of both Calado and Leimer, who also lost time in traffic.
Later, Leimer was penalized for having almost hit Calado in the pits, as both drivers stopped for their tire change at the same moment. The Swiss dropped down in the back of the field, and Stefano Coletti moved up to third.
Championship leader Davide Valsecchi was fourth ahead of Nathanael Berthon and Fabio Onidi. Max Chilton and Luiz Razia were seventh and eighth respectively, which allows the Brazilian driver to start from pole position for race 2 on Sunday.
Race results - GP2 (Barcelona)
1 - Giedo Van der Garde - Caterham - 37 laps in 1h00min22.966s
2 - James Calado - Lotus + 0.878s
3 - Stefano Coletti - Coloni + 3.811s
4 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams + 11.859s
5 - Nathanael Berthon - Racing Engineering + 15.795s
6 - Fabio Onidi - Coloni + 19.379s
7 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 19.768s
8 - Luiz Razia - Arden + 20.072s
etc.
The Dutchman, who started fifth place on the grid, ran third in the first part of the race behind poleman James Calado and Fabio Leimer, who were fighting for first position.
But Van der Garde and his Caterham team gambled on their mandatory pit stop when they choose to change only two tires, which helped Van der Garde to be back on track ahead of both Calado and Leimer, who also lost time in traffic.
Later, Leimer was penalized for having almost hit Calado in the pits, as both drivers stopped for their tire change at the same moment. The Swiss dropped down in the back of the field, and Stefano Coletti moved up to third.
Championship leader Davide Valsecchi was fourth ahead of Nathanael Berthon and Fabio Onidi. Max Chilton and Luiz Razia were seventh and eighth respectively, which allows the Brazilian driver to start from pole position for race 2 on Sunday.
Race results - GP2 (Barcelona)
1 - Giedo Van der Garde - Caterham - 37 laps in 1h00min22.966s
2 - James Calado - Lotus + 0.878s
3 - Stefano Coletti - Coloni + 3.811s
4 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams + 11.859s
5 - Nathanael Berthon - Racing Engineering + 15.795s
6 - Fabio Onidi - Coloni + 19.379s
7 - Max Chilton - Carlin + 19.768s
8 - Luiz Razia - Arden + 20.072s
etc.