Spain – Race 2: Lynn wins, Gasly takes the championship lead
The British driver from the DAMS team won the sprint race on Sunday morning. The podium was completed this time by Pierre Gasly (PREMA Racing) and Jordan King (Racing Engineering). The Red Bull driver took the lead in the overall drivers' standings.
Unfortunate yesterday after being neutralized in the middle of the long race, Alex Lynn reassured himself in a very beautiful way this morning by winning at the end of the twenty-six laps that the sprint race comprised. For the first meeting of
This 2016 GP2 season, the Williams test driver has this time gotten the better of his opponents.
Starting from third place on the grid, the Briton took advantage of an unsuccessful attempt by Jordan King at the start to move up to second as they exited the long curve of the third corner. Pushed towards the curbs, the Racing Engineering team driver was attempting to pass the pole-sitter, Italian Raffaele Marciello (Russian Time).
That’s when Lynn continued with her momentum by putting pressure on Marciello, which ultimately proved rewarding. By the fourth lap, the DAMS team driver dived inside the first corner at the end of the long start/finish straight. An aggressive but rewarding maneuver that allowed Lynn to take control of the race and never let it go afterward.
Lynn repeats her 2015 performance by winning the Sunday race again.
Only Pierre Gasly was at one point able to close in on the heels of the English driver. After successively overtaking Sergio Canamasas (Carlin), Jordan King, and Marciello, the young Frenchman tried to catch up with the leader by setting fastest laps. He was even less than two seconds behind Lynn at the start of the last five laps. But Lynn took advantage of the safety car intervention this time to secure his victory.
Already out yesterday, the race had to be neutralized again to clear the debris from the spectacular crash involving Antonio Giovinazzi (Pierre Gasly’s teammate at Prema Racing) and Sean Gelael (Camps Racing). Battling for a mid-field position, Gelael energetically closed the door on the straight towards the tenth turn. The Italian driver behind him took off on his left rear tire before ending his wild ride in the gravel at the far end of the turn, after hitting the unfortunate Arthur Pic in front of him.
It then took the medical team quite some time to extract the driver from his car, as he seemed to be in pain from his spectacular crash. Reassuringly, Team Prema reported that Giovinazzi fortunately only suffered a “slight injury to his left arm.”
In the end, it was the end of this race, which concluded like yesterday under the Safety Car regime. Alex Lynn therefore returns to the honors of victory after already winning three times in 2015.
Huge congratulations to @alexlynnracing who took his opening win of the 2016 GP2 season in today’s sprint race. pic.twitter.com/nIcErMGfOm
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) May 15, 2016
Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, pulled off a great performance. Consistent, the young Norman driver climbed to the second step of the podium and most importantly took the lead in the overall drivers’ standings. This performance will certainly reassure the Red Bull camp about the abilities of their young prodigy, even though the road is obviously still long until the end of the season.
A little further down the rankings, it was worth noting the fine performance of Oliver Rowland. Supported by Renault, the British rookie finished in sixth place in this sprint race.
Let’s also commend the impressive series of overtakes by Sergey Sirotkin, another driver under the brand’s umbrella. Starting 21st and finishing 11th, this strong performance is nevertheless not rewarded in points.
On the contrary, Norman Nato fell back in the ranks today. The long race winner had a sluggish start that pushed him down to the depths of the standings (19th). Finishing 16th, the driver from the Côte d’Azur is unlikely to be satisfied with such a modest result.
Here is the complete standings of this sprint race:
| Driver | Team | Time / Gap | |
| 1 | A. Lynn | DAMS | 43:50.241 |
| 2 | P. Gasly | PREMA Racing | +0.377 |
| 3 | J. King | Racing Engineering | +1.120 |
| 4 | A. Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | +2.168 |
| 5 | R. Marciello | RUSSIAN TIME | +3.382 |
| 6 | O. Rowland | MP Motorsport | +3.990 |
| 7 | N. Latifi | DAMS | +4.584 |
| 8 | N. Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | +5.647 |
| 9 | S. Canamasas | Carlin | +8.115 |
| 10 | G. Malja | Rapax | +8.419 |
| 11 | S. Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | +8.698 |
| 12 | L. Ghiotto | Trident | +8.828 |
| 13 | S. Gelael | Pertamina Campos Racing | +9.178 |
| 14 | M. Evans | Pertamina Campos Racing | +9.650 |
| 15 | M. Kirchhofer | Carlin | +10.152 |
| 16 | N. Nato | Racing Engineering | +10.430 |
| 17 | D. de Jong | MP Motorsport | +10.726 |
| 18 | N. Jeffri | Arden International | +11.672 |
| 19 | J. Eriksson | Arden International | +1 Lap |
| 20 | A. Pic | Rapax | Retirement |
| 21 | A. Giovinazzi | PREMA Racing | Retirement |
| 22 | P. Armand | Trident | Retirement |
In the overall drivers’ standings, Pierre Gasly leaves Catalonia as the leader with 32 points. He is ahead of Norman Nato (27 points) and Alex Lynn (23 points).
The drivers now have an appointment in two weeks in Monaco for the continuation of this GP2 season!
Never cross the streams! @PierreGASLY @alexlynnracing @42jordanking #GP2 #WhoYouGonnaCall pic.twitter.com/nceLSmnfg8
— GP2 Series Official (@GP2_Official) May 15, 2016
