Luiz Razia steals victory in hectic GP2 sprint race at Valencia

Luiz Razia has stolen victory away from James Calado in a frenetic closing lap during the GP2 sprint race at the Valencia Street Circuit, after the Briton suffered damage to his car in a collision with Rio Haryanto. Fabio Leimer came home 3rd, after very nearly taking the victory instead of Razia.

After the chaos that ensued throughout yesterday’s main feature race, much of the same was predicted for this morning’s final race of the weekend. As the field negotiated the tight turn 2 at the start, there was total carnage as the iSport International of Marcus Ericsson hit the wall whilst behind him feature race winner Esteban Gutierrez and Stefano Coletti piled into the rear of Ericsson’s car, partially blocking the track. Davide Valsecchi was also involved in the incident, however the Italian driver was able to continue racing undamaged.

The safety car was inevitably immediately deployed, as the stricken cars at turn 2 were cleared. James Calado remained in the lead, as Valsecchi returned to the pits to receive a new nose cone. The safety car period lasted only a couple of laps, as on lap 3 the race was resumed.

However, as the field crossed the start finish line Johnny Cecotto jr. and Jolyon Palmer made contact with each other. The Venezuelan driver of Cecotto was furious, and leaped from his Barwa Addax car gesticulating towards Palmer. This incident caused yet another safety car period, as Valsecchi pitted once again for new tyres.

On lap 5 the race was restarted, as Fabio Onidi lost his front wing in a collision with Nathanael Berthon. With debris strewn across the track, it was a wonder that the safety car didn’t make a third consecutive appearance in as many laps. As the Italian driver returned to the pits for a new nose cone, Monegasque driver Stephane Richelmi also retired from the race.

As the race wore on, Indonesian star Rio Haryanto began to pile immense amounts of pressure upon race leader James Calado. Max Chilton was close behind the leading duo, eager to pick up the pieces if the two collided. Whilst the heat at the front rose, Rodolfo Gonzalez was issued a drive-through penalty for passing the safety car earlier on in the race.

On lap 19, the track action flew sky high as Rio Haryanto lunged up the inside of James Calado for the lead. The inevitable happened and the two touched, both taking damage. However, whilst Haryanto was forced to retire, Calado was able to continue in the lead albeit with a considerable lack of pace. Amid the excitement and confusion, Luiz Razia was steadily rising through the order, and on lap 21 the Brazilian driver was up to 3rd place ahead of Max Chilton.

On the final lap, the action reached breaking point as James Calado and Fabio Leimer tangled through turns 12 and 13. With Fabio Leimer illegally taking the lead whilst cutting turn 13, the Swiss driver was forced to hand the lead back to Calado. This enabled Razia to close right to the pair, and as the leading trio negotiated turn 17, Razia completed a barnstorming maneuver around the outside of Calado to steal the lead and ultimately the victory. James Calado managed to limp home in 2nd, with Fabio Leimer 3rd.

The Formula 1 race later today will have to go some to exceed this amount of excitement, as the GP2 fraternity now turn their attention to Silverstone in two weekends time.

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