The 2012 Marina Bay GP2 Series round was a GP2 Series motor race held on September 22 and 23, 2012 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore.[1] It was the final round of the 2012 GP2 Season and was run in support of the Singapore Grand Prix. The event marked the first time the GP2 Series had travelled to Singapore. With the 2012 GP3 Series season having concluded at the previous round at Monza.[2]
| Round details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Round 12 of 12 rounds in the 2012 GP2 Series | |||
 Layout of the Marina Bay street circuit | |||
| Location | Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore | ||
| Course |
Street circuit 5.073 km (3.152 mi) | ||
| Feature race | |||
| Date | 22 September 2012 | ||
| Laps | 28[a] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |
 Luca Filippi | Scuderia Coloni | |
| Time | 1:59.444 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
 Max Chilton | Carlin | |
| Second |
 Esteban Gutiérrez | Lotus GP | |
| Third |
 Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | |
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
Esteban Gutiérrez[b] | Lotus GP | |
| Time | 2:04.247 (on lap 17) | ||
| Sprint race | |||
| Date | 23 September 2012 | ||
| Laps | 24 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
 Giedo van der Garde | Caterham Racing | |
| Second |
 Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | |
| Third |
Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | |
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Stefano Coletti[c] | Rapax | |
| Time | 2:03.184 (on lap 5) | ||
Davide Valsecchi was declared the 2012 series champion after he out-scored title rival Luiz Razia in the feature race.[3] Giedo van der Garde won the sprint race.[4]
Report
editSprint race
editGiedo van der Garde, who started from pole, got off to a good start keeping Marcus Ericsson behind him, while Luiz Razia moved up to third. Felipe Nasr got off to a bad start dropping from third to ninth. Sergio Canamasas, on the other hand, had a great start, when he rose from 16th to seventh. On the third lap, he received a drive-through penalty because one of his mechanics was late leaving the grid. Despite being constantly notified of the penalty on the radio, the driver did not return to serve the penalty over three laps, so he was disqualified on lap seven. Thinking that his radio was damaged or had interference, his engineer also used a sign to inform him that he had to return to the pits. It wasn't until lap 14 that Canamasas returned to the pits with a mechanical problem and retired from the race, but he had no idea that he had been disqualified.
The safety car came out on the ninth lap of the race when Rene Binder spun in the last corner. Meanwhile, at the front, van der Garde held on to the lead after the restart and won easily by 1.7 seconds. There was a fight for third place on the last lap when Fabio Leimer overtook Razia in turn ten, taking advantage of his rival's tire problems.
Davide Valsecchi and Felipe Nasr secured the DAMS squad's first teams' title in GP2 with fifth and seventh placed finishes enough to beat rival Lotus GP.
Classification
editQualifying
edit
- Notes
- ^1 – Fabio Onidi was given a ten-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Nigel Melker at the previous round in Monza sprint race.
Feature race
editSprint race
edit- Notes
- ^1 – Johnny Cecotto Jr. was given a three-place grid penalty for crossing the white pit exit line when rejoining the circuit during the feature race.[6]
- ^2 – Fabio Onidi was given a five-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Jake Rosenzweig during the feature race.[6]
- ^3 – Stéphane Richelmi was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
- ^4 – Sergio Canamasas was disqualified because her mechanics worked on her car too close to the start of the formation lap.
- ^5 – Luca Filippi did not start because her car could not be repaired in time after hitting a wall in the feature race.
Standings after the round
edit
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
- Note: Bold names include the Drivers' and Teams' Champion respectively.
Notes
edit- ^ The race was scheduled to take place over 34 laps, but was revised to 28 as per series regulations, which state that the feature race will be run to the first lap over 170 kilometres (110 mi), or the first lap over one hour of racing. As lap 28 marked the first lap over one hour of racing, the number of laps was reduced.
- ^ Luca Filippi set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Esteban Gutiérrez was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Nathanaël Berthon set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Stefano Coletti was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
References
edit- ^ Collantine, Keith (16 December 2011). "GP2 to support F1 in Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ^ "2012 GP3 Series Calendar". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Valsecchi champion as Chilton wins". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ a b Bradley, Charles (23 September 2012). "Van der Garde wins Singapore sprint". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ Bradley, Charles (21 September 2012). "Filippi takes GP2 pole in Singapore". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ a b "Penalties for Cecotto, Onidi". GP2Series.com. GP2 Series Ltd. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
