Lynn takes second Barcelona GP2 race, Evans struggles to 14th

Autosport

Williams Formula 1 test driver Alex Lynn battled to victory in a Barcelona GP2 race that ended behind the safety car after a nasty crash for Antonio Giovinazzi.

Giovinazzi initially extricated himself from his car, but was in discomfort and required medical assistance.

The Italian’s Prema team said Giovinazzi was reporting light pain in his left leg but had otherwise escaped injury.

He had been challenging his long-time Formula 3 team-mate Sean Gelael for 14th down the back straight with six laps to go when the Campos driver moved across to defend.

Giovinazzi caught his rear wheel and was briefly airborne, clipping Arthur Pic as the Frenchman was turning into Turn 10 and then bouncing across the gravel trap before hitting the barriers hard.

The race ran to its conclusion under yellow, with Lynn repeating his 2015 Barcelona Sunday victory for DAMS ahead of former team-mate Pierre Gasly.

Lynn earned his win with an early charge.

As Jordan King lost momentum in an unsuccessful bid to pass polesitter Raffaele Marciello at Turn 2 on the first lap, Lynn got a run and claimed second by going around the outside of King at both Turn 3 and Turn 4.

Lynn then chased down Marciello and dived past the Russian Time car into the first corner as they started lap four.

Marciello locked up while trying to defend and started falling back.

Long-time Saturday leader Gasly picked off Sergio Canamasas, King and Marciello in quick succession and then set a fastest lap that instantly halved the advantage Lynn had built.

But Lynn responded and managed a cushion of between one and two seconds until the race was neutralised.

Marciello ended up down in fifth behind team-mate Artem Markelov, with King completing the podium.

Formula Renault 3.5 champion Oliver Rowland picked his way through to sixth place at the start of his first full GP2 season.

Saturday winner Norman Nato made a terrible start from eighth on the grid and instantly tumbled to 19th, with 16th the limit of his recovery.

Sergey Sirotkin fared better, charging up the order with a series of assertive moves after his race one spin and finishing 11th.

RESULTS – 26 LAPS:

PosDriverTeamGap
1Alex LynnDAMS43m50.241s
2Pierre GaslyPrema Racing0.377s
3Jordan KingRacing Engineering1.120s
4Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME2.168s
5Raffaele MarcielloRUSSIAN TIME3.382s
6Oliver RowlandMP Motorsport3.990s
7Nicholas LatifiDAMS4.584s
8Nobuharu MatsushitaART Grand Prix5.647s
9Sergio CanamasasCarlin8.115s
10Gustav MaljaRapax8.419s
11Sergey SirotkinART Grand Prix8.698s
12Luca GhiottoTrident8.828s
13Sean GelaelPertamina Campos Racing9.178s
14Mitch EvansPertamina Campos Racing9.650s
15Marvin KirchhoferCarlin10.152s
16Norman NatoRacing Engineering10.430s
17Daniel de JongMP Motorsport10.726s
18Nabil JeffriArden International11.672s
19Jimmy ErikssonArden International1 Lap
Arthur PicRapaxRetirement
Antonio GiovinazziPrema RacingRetirement
Philo Paz ArmandTridentRetirement

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

PosDriverPoints
1Pierre Gasly33
2Norman Nato27
3Alex Lynn23
4Nicholas Latifi20
5Artem Markelov20
6Jordan King16
7Raffaele Marciello10
8Sergio Canamasas10
9Oliver Rowland5
10Gustav Malja2
11Nobuharu Matsushita1

Lynn takes second Barcelona GP2 race, Evans struggles to 14th

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