Marcus Ericsson has claimed the victory in the GP2 Feature race after getting a lightning start to get into first going into turn one.
Jumping off the line quicker than Stéphane Richelmi – his team mate – both in DAMS cars, it was actually Mitch Evans who got down the straight in the lead but overcooked the braking and ended up going straight on.
It was not long after the start that the safety car was required – Kevin Ceccon was pitched into a roll after being squeezed by Daniel Abt and Nathanaël Berthon who were all trying to avoid the stalled Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.
In the pitstops Felipe Nasr in the Carlin jumped first to put on the GP2 spec super-soft tyres on only lap six – but as others pitted later the gamble seemed to have been misjudged, the Brazilian only managing to get up to ninth.
James Calado seemed to be the big winner eventually finishing second but in no state to challenge Ericsson in front – he reported that his tyres were done by the end, the 7.8 second gap proving testament to that.
However, it was the battle for fifth that was occupying the minds of many spectators – Robin Frijns and Stefano Coletti were fighting tooth and nail all the way round the final lap with the Monegasque finally muscling ahead of the Dutchman in the final chicane.
Richelmi eventually finished third, with Fabio Leimer taking fourth. Jon Lancaster finished seventh in the Hilmer Motorsport car with Tom Dillmann gaining eighth place and a point for RUSSIAN TIME.
The GP2 sprint race takes place tomorrow at 09:30.
