Bahrain – Race 2: Haryanto’s First

For the first time in his career, Rio Haryanto stood on the top step of the podium in the GP2 Series at the Bahrain circuit. The Campos driver triumphed over Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne and Frenchman Nathanael Berthon.

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Rédigé par Par

Summary:

Following the penalty received by Nobuharu Matsushita, it is finally Julian Leal who starts in pole position for this second race of the season. The Colombian sits on the front row alongside Frenchman Nathanael Berthon. Mitch Evans follows on the grid ahead of Robert Visoiu, Jordan King, Alexander Rossi, Rio Haryanto, and Stoffel Vandoorne.

During the formation lap, Sergey Sirotkin remains stuck on the grid and is forced to start from the pit lane. The other cars join the grid without any problems. At the lights out, Leal gets the best start ahead of Evans and Rio Haryanto. Robert Visoiu follows in fourth position ahead of Negrao, Matshushita, Berthon, and Vandoorne. The Racing Engineering team’s cars completely missed their start.

At the start of the third round, drivers are allowed to use DRS. Starting eighth, Vandoorne is already in sixth place, just behind his teammate Matsushita. On his part, Pierre Gasly is 18th, just behind his teammate Alex Lynn. At the front of the pack, Rio Haryanto takes second place thanks to a magnificent overtake on Evans.

At the start of the fourth lap, Sergio Canamasas collides with Jordan King at the end of the first sector. Only the Spanish driver is forced to retire. At the front of the race, Haryanto is now only 1.2 seconds behind Leal. By the seventh lap, the Indonesian driver takes the lead. Leal is struggling with his tires but holds off attacks from Mitch Evans, who loses a position to Visoiu.

Several drivers are under penalty for not respecting the yellow flags. Alex Lynn and Marco Sorensen are notably affected. Robert Visoiu is having a good race for the Rapax team and takes second place at the start of the ninth lap as Leal and Evans collide at the exit of the ninth corner. Mark Webber’s protégé is slowing down, suffering from a puncture. The following lap, the Colombian loses two more places to the ART Grand Prix drivers.

At the end of the 10th lap, Rio Haryanto is leading comfortably with a four-second lead over Visoiu. Matsushita is third ahead of Vandoorne, Rossi, Leal, Negrao, and Berthon. For his debut in GP2, Matsushita is making a strong impression. After securing the front row in qualifying, the Japanese driver is the fastest on track 10 laps from the finish, allowing him to take second place from Visoiu.

Stoffel Vandoorne gets a little closer to the perfect weekend. The Belgian is now third, just under five seconds behind Rio Haryanto. At the back of the pack, Pierre Gasly seems to be struggling with his tires and is losing many positions. Meanwhile, Arthur Pic is on the verge of breaking into the Top 10.

After holding the second position for a few laps, Visoiu falls in the rankings as the Romanian’s tires are at the end of their lifespan. Vandoorne continues his forward march and overtakes his teammate Matsushita for second place. The Belgian is now only three seconds behind Haryanto.

Masushita attacked too much and he is also struggling with his tires in the final laps. The Japanese driver loses two places with three laps to go. Haryanto still leads ahead of Vandoorne, Rossi, Berthon, and Matsushita. Leal follows ahead of Visoiu, Negrao, and King. Meanwhile, Arthur Pic moves into the Top 10.

The man at the end of the race is called Nathanael Berthon. The Frenchman managed his tires perfectly and could secure the first podium for Team Lazarus in GP2.

After 23 laps of the race, Rio Haryanto achieves the best weekend of his career in GP2. Second yesterday, the Indonesian earns his first victory in the category ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne. Nathanael Berthon is third ahead of Alexander Rossi, Julian Leal, Nobuharu Mashushita, Robert Visoiu, and André Negrao.

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