Italian GP – Race 1: Haphazard Scenario and Victory for Alexander Rossi

Theater of the 8th meeting of this GP2 Series season, the starting grid of the Monza Feature Race has placed a Frenchman in Pole Position, in the person of Pierre Gasly. The DAMS team driver is determined and hopes to capitalize on his pole position.

At the start, a good takeoff for Gasly who perfectly breaks away from the pack. Just behind him, Vandoorne got off to a poor start: he is under pressure from Alex Lynn. The passage through the first corner is intense between the two men, Alex Lynn passes but the Belgian takes back the 2nd place in a very daring maneuver in the next turn, the “Curva Grande.” He bravely slips into the small space left by Lynn. This effort, however, will be in vain, as he falls to 4th position at the end of the 1st lap. A trouble-free start for all 24 competitors from a general standpoint.

First major incident in the 3rd Lap with Van Bueeren hitting the wall at the exit of “Ascari”: the Safety Car is deployed. A shame for Pierre Gasly who had built a small but interesting lead.

During this neutralization, the standings are as follows: Gasly leads Lynn, Sirotkin, Vandoorne, Rossi, Pic, Visoiu, Matsushita, Stanaway, and Nato. The 3 French drivers on the grid are therefore in the top 10. After 2 laps of neutralization, the race resumes! Pierre Gasly doesn’t miss the restart and continues his forward march. Behind him, Alex Lynn is under threat from Sergei Sirotkin. In 4th position until now, Stoffel Vandoorne is the first of the leading drivers to stop.

At the end of the 8th Lap, Pierre Gasly makes his pit stop. But a harsh blow strikes the young Frenchman: one of his tires was not properly attached. The situation is cruel, and all hope of victory is now lost. The misfortune continues to plague the Dams team as Alex Lynn also experiences a tire issue in the pits, with the gun getting stuck! He can nevertheless rejoin the race, but Vandoorne is now a clear threat.

The milestone of ten laps of the race has now been surpassed, and the provisional leader is another Frenchman, Norman Nato. Among the group of drivers who have already been through the pits, Sergey Sirotkin makes a good move by overtaking Vandoorne on the main straight, so he can aim for the lead once the drivers ahead of him have stopped.

The race continues to liven up from all sides: at the 13th lap, there’s chaos at the first corner chicane, Alex Lynn tries to sneak through but his overtaking is reckless, he clips Sirotkin and takes him off into the grass in the process. It’s a really complicated race for the DAMS team when all hopes were allowed: Gasly has indeed set foot on the ground.

The drivers now have the mid-race behind them: there are less than 15 laps to go. The provisional Top 10 after these different incidents is as follows: Stanaway is the leader, ahead of Markelov, Nato, Binder, Canamasas – Negrao – Niederhauser – Vandoorne – Rossi – Cecotto. The top 7 in the standings have not yet pitted, so Vandoorne and Rossi are the virtual leaders of the race, and they are also the top two in the World Championship standings. The duel is on between the two men!

10 laps from the finish, the suspense is still at its peak for the victory. Stanaway and Markelov are battling for the actual lead of the race while Vandoorne and Rossi fight for 7th place, which will become 1st when the front runners pit. But a timely ally might come in the form of rain, as heavy clouds loom over the Monza circuit.

Finally, the leading men stop one by one. Between Vandoorne and Rossi, the battle is intense! Rossi overtakes the Belgian from ART Grand Prix on the straight. With DRS and slipstream, he goes through! The two drivers take the lead of this Grand Prix, and they will be able to fight for the victory.

On the French side, Norman Nato is also disadvantaged: 5 seconds will be added to his final time due to speeding in the pits. So it falls to Arthur Pic to carry France to the top: he is currently in 3rd. However, struggling with his brakes, he relinquishes his position to Norman Nato. The driver from the Côte d’Azur still needs to push hard to actually make it onto the podium with this 5-second penalty. Mitch Evans also takes advantage, passing Pic, moving up to 4th, and possibly 3rd.

In the lead, Alexander Rossi has built a small gap over Stoffel Vandoorne: he is entering his final lap.

In Monza, the American driver wins the main race of the 2015 GP2 Series! A second consecutive victory for him following his success in the sprint race at Spa.

Behind him, Vandoorne finishes in a solid second place, which will benefit him for the World Drivers’ Championship standings. Norman Nato may regret this penalty that deprives him of a podium. The French lacked success this afternoon…

The final ranking of this long race is therefore as follows:

1. A. ROSSI (Racing Engineering) 49:32:084

2. S. Vandoorne (ART Grand Prix) + 1.275

3. Mr. Evans (Russian Time) + 16,004

4. R. Stanaway (Status Grand Prix) + 17.704

5. A. Markelov (Russian Time) + 18.198

6. N. Nato (Arden International) + 18.302

7. A. Pic (Campos Racing) + 18.847

8. J. King (Racing Engineering) + 19.842

9. R. Visoliu (Rapax) +22.083

10. R. Binder (MP Motorsport) +22.556

… 13. R. Haryanto (Campos Racing) + 36.041

… Abandons: S. Sirotkin (Rapax)

A. Lynn (DAMS)

P. Gasly (DAMS)