Mitch Evans completed a frustrating weekend of GP2 racing in Bahrain today with a 15th place finish in the sprint race.
Plagued by problems all meeting, the 18-year-old will just be satisfied to have finished on the Sakhir International circuit.
Electrical problems on Friday plagued his qualifying session. In Saturday’s feature race he had pushed all the way up to fourth from his starting position of 15th before his Arden International car collected debris that went through his radiator. The engine overheated and he was forced to retire after 25 of the 32 laps.
He also had problems in the pits with tyre changes.
That non-finish saw him start the 22-lap sprint race on hard tyres in 23rd place out of the 26-car field.
After a conservative start Evans used an aggressive approach and slowly but surely pushed his way through the field but still finished 36.90 seconds down on the race winner, Britain’s Sam Bird, who gave the Russian Time team their first GP2 victory.
Evans collected no points with the top eight finishers sharing the spoils.
It was a disappointing weekend for Evans after his podium finish on debut in the season-opening meeting in Malaysia last month.
The lack of points in Bahrain saw Evans drop from sixth to 10th in the divers’ championship. His team mate Johnny Cecotto lies 12th. Monaco’s Stefano Coletti currently leads.
