Cecotto jr. takes victory in GP2 Feature Race around Monaco

Johnny Cecotto jr. has taken his maiden GP2 victory around the streets of Monte-Carlo, after a dominating lights to flag drive in his Barwa Addax car. Marcus Ericsson came home 2nd, after a race long battle with Cecotto for the win. Giedo van der Garde finished 3rd roughly four seconds off the leading pair.

At the start, there was a melee of cars jostling for position through turn 1, with various pieces of bodywork flying around. Marcus Ericsson got the jump on Max Chilton, who dropped from 2nd to 4th on the opening lap. Josef Kral became the first retirement after only three laps, as Felipe Nasr and Julian Leal were issued drive-through penalties for jumping the start. A further penalty was issued to Rio Haryanto, after the Indonesian driver exceeded track limits at turn 1 on lap 1.

Johnny Cecotto’s lead at the front began to ebb and flow as Marcus Ericsson gradually begun to reel in the Venezuelan driver. Fabrizio Crestani was issued a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags, as he and his team-mate, Giancarlo Serenelli, once again failed adhere to the blue flags.

On lap 21, the first of the front runners made their mandatory pit-stops, as Max Chilton and Esteban Gutierrez came in. A lap later Marcus Ericsson made his stop, before the race leader Cecotto did so on lap 22, thus handing the lead down to Championship leader Davide Valsecchi. However, his lead was short-lived as the Italian driver pitted a lap later, which returned Cecotto to the lead with Ericsson close behind.

Fabio Onidi became the second retirement of the race, as the Scuderia Coloni driver ground to a halt on track with what looked like a mechanical issue. The Monaco mechanics completed a superlative job of clearing the car, without the need for the safety car. Nigel Melker also retired several laps later, after making contact with the wall through the tunnel and damaging his left rear wheel.

Esteban Gutierrez’s frustrating weekend continued, as the Mexican tried to lap a car and made slight contact with the barrier though the Nouvelle chicane. This forced the Lotus driver to pit once again for a new nose, loosing vital positions in the process.

In typical Monaco style, Marcus Ericsson was frustratingly close to Cecotto, but was unable to find his way around the Venezuelan. This left Johnny Cecotto jr. to take his first ever GP2 victory, only weeks after his fellow countryman Pastor Maldonado did so in Formula 1 at Spain. Local star Stephane Richelmi finished 8th and will therefore start tomorrow’s sprint race from pole in traditional GP2 fashion.

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