Marcus Ericsson takes victory in delayed GP2 feature race

Marcus Ericsson has taken victory during a delayed GP2 feature race around the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, after a nasty incident involving Nigel Melker delayed the race for a lengthy period of time on the second lap. Eventual winner Ericsson was followed home by James Calado in 2nd and Davide Valsecchi in 3rd.

The race started cleanly enough, with the entire field safely negotiating the first chicane. However, as the cars climbed up the daunting Eau Rouge section, Rodolfo Gonzalez became the first retirement as he embedded his Caterham into the tyre barriers after spinning off. Further up the order and Rio Haryanto still led at the front, as Fabio Leimer was tipped into a spin through turns 5 and 6, with the Swiss driver eventually retiring.

Marcus Ericsson enjoyed a superb start, rising to 2nd on the opening lap as the Lotus duo of Esteban Gutierrez and James Calado battle amongst themselves. However, the Lotus of Gutierrez ruined his race on lap 2, as the Mexican driver passed his team-mate through Eau Rouge under yellow flag conditions, incurring a drive-thru penalty much later in the race once it had restarted. Marcus Ericsson’s superlative race continued into the second lap, as the Swedish driver took the lead from the Indonesian sensation of Rio Haryanto.

However, proceedings at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit were halted on the second lap, as the Ocean Racing Technology driver of Nigel Melker lost his car at the top of Eau Rouge and slammed heavily into the barriers. The race was immediately put under safety car conditions, as the marshals and medical staff descended on Melker. Whilst the Dutchman received medical attention due to his horrific incident, the majority of the pack carried out their mandatory pit stops under the safety car conditions.

The race was then red flagged on lap 7, as the field lined up behind the safety car on the grid as Nigel Melker was extracted from his car and taken to the medical centre in an ambulance. Giedo van der Garde led the field after the pit stops, with the Caterham driver deciding against pitting with the rest of the field. The restart was just about get underway after the lengthy repair works were carried out to the tyre barriers, when proceedings were once again brought to an immediate halt even before the safety car and cars reached turn 1. This was due to the medical helicopter having not returned from taking Nigel Melker to a nearby hospital, and so another lengthy delay ensued as the GP2 fraternity patiently waited for the helicopter to return.

After an extremely lengthy delay, the race was restarted initially behind the safety car, before returning to green flag racing after one lap. van der Garde led the field at the front, as numerous drive-thru penalties were dished out for wrongdoings under the red flag conditions. This included penalties for Johnny Cecotto jr. for initially jumping the original start, and Esteban Gutierrez for passing under yellow flag conditions.

Another huge incident was almost caused on the run down to Eau Rouge, when Sergio Canamasas pushed Nathaniel Berthon into the wall, with the two only just touching as Berthon suffered front wing damage. This ultimately led to Canamasas retiring in the pits, as Berthon continue to circulate albeit further down the order after pitting.

The race ran relatively incident free for the remaining laps, with only Jolyon Palmer, Victory Guerin and Stefano Coletti retiring in numerous minor incidents throughout the closing stages of the race. With the leading trio of Giedo van der Garde, Stephane Richelmi and Simon Trummer pitting in the closing stages of the race, this promoted Marcus Ericsson back into the lead during the closing few laps, as the Swedish driver stormed to his second career victory in GP2. Felipe Nasr clinched the reverse grid pole on the last lap, which will see the DAMS driver start from pole for tomorrow’s sprint race.

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