Williams Formula 1 development driver Alex Lynn pulled off a superb first GP2 feature race victory and helped secure a DAMS one-two with Pierre Gasly at the Hungaroring.

Lynn got a great start from pole and was almost a second clear of the field when they reached Turn 2.

Championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne, who also started on the front row, had an awful start, bogging down on the grid and falling down to fifth.

Lynn set about building a gap to his team-mate but was stopped in his tracks by the safety car, which was caused by Sergio Canamass ending up in the barrier following contact with Nicholas Latifi.

On the restart Lynn was able to gradually increase the gap to Gasly and looked to have the race under control.

The shape of the race changed though when Vandoorne pitted on lap seven. The plan was for the McLaren protege to manage his tyres and mount a challenge for the win, this however didn’t materialise as he picked up a five-second penalty for an unsafe release after almost colliding with Julian Leal.

Vandoorne carved his way through the field, setting several fastest laps on the way, and was within 21 seconds of leader Lynn before he pitted late on.

Lynn rejoined almost 10-seconds behind Vandoorne and Campos Racing driver Rio Haryanto but with fresh tyres he made light work of closing the gap before passing Haryanto on the outside of the first corner and Vandoorne on the inside on the following lap.

Red Bull junior Gasly followed the same strategy as his DAMS team-mate and like Lynn breezed past Haryanto and Vandoorne on consecutive laps to secure the team’s one-two finish.

Rapax driver Sergey Sirotkin completed the podium after making a bold move up the inside of the penultimate corner on Haryanto. The pair made contact and Haryanto damaged his front wing but Sirotkin wouldn’t yield and secured third while Haryanto had to settle for fourth.

Vandoorne’s penalty moves him down to seventh and promotes Racing Engineering’s Jordan King and Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello up to fifth and sixth respectively.

Nobuharu Matsushita, who fought hard with several drivers throughout, was able to hold on to eighth, six tenths ahead of Robert Visoiu and well clear of Daniel de Jong, who rounded out the top 10.

Norman Nato enjoyed a strong race from the back of the grid to secure 11th place while fellow Frenchman Arthur Pic had a disappointing afternoon, finishing a lowly 13th from third on the grid.

RESULT

Alex Lynn wins Hungary GP2 feature, no luck for our Kiwi boys