Leal penalised, Rigon injured during sprint race

In the final laps during today’s Sprint Race at Istanbul Speed Park, Julian Leal caused a collision on the front straight with Davide Rigon which saw both men retire prematurely with very broken cars.

The Italian racer from Scuderia Coloni was injured upon impact and the Rapax driver was found responsible for the accident. Leal was thus handed a ten grid position penalty for Barcelona Feature Race which will take place in two weeks.

Italian driver suffers leg fractures in crash

Davide Rigon has suffered multiple fractures of the tibia and fibula as a result of a heavy impact with the barriers on the front straight after being hit from behind by Julian Leal, with the Italian scheduled for surgery in Istanbul tomorrow morning.

The Italian driver was seen to get out of the car unassisted but continued to sit on top of the chassis until the medical crew arrived, and initial investigations in the medical centre confirmed the damage.

Team principal Paolo Coloni noted: “We are quite shocked because Davide is very popular with everyone in the team, and he is a very experienced driver. He had the Ferrari doctor with him immediately, and the damage is quite serious.

“He is already booked in for surgery tomorrow morning, and we are all concentrating on that and hoping for good success. All of our thoughts are with Davide, and hopefully we will get some good news soon.”

Everyone at GP2 Series wishes Davide a speedy recovery...