Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
05/10/2009
Barcelona (ESP)
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Mortara claimed his first GP2 win on his debut weekend (Photo: GP2 Series)
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Provided by the GP2 press office
Edoardo Mortara fought off race long pressure from championship leader Romain Grosjean to claim his first win in the GP2 Series, showing tenacity and speed to hold on for the victory ahead of the Frenchman and Jérôme d'Ambrosio.
The result was set up as the lights went out when Mortara made a blinding start to leaving poleman Kamui Kobayashi in his wake, with d'Ambrosio also following him through. Giedo van der Garde slotted in behind the pair out of turn one ahead of Grosjean, Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov, with the latter giving way to a fast charging Luca Filippi into the final complex.
But it was Grosjean who was on a charge, disposing of van der Garde and d'Ambrosio in successive laps before latching onto the rear of the race leader and not letting go. The pair were streaking away from the field and it was obvious that the Frenchman was looking to add another victory to his one from yesterday, but Mortara was out to add to his own growing reputation.
The action wasn't restricted to the front though as Filippi could not shake Petrov all race, and the Russian soon had ART teammates Maldonado and Hülkenberg filling his rear mirrors. The Italian was clearly pushing hard, but with 3 laps remaining his tyres were completely shot, and he had nothing left to defend from the Venezuelan.
After a non-stop battle it was Mortara who held on for the win just ahead of Grosjean, with d'Ambrosio a further five seconds behind. Van der Garde and Kobayashi had the luxury of quiet races to add to their point scores, while Maldonado claimed the final point for sixth place. But if Mortara won the battle it was Grosjean who won the war, leaving the paddock with 19 points to hold a comfortable lead as we head to Monaco.
Sprint Race Results
1 Edoardo Mortara (Telmex Arden International)
2 Romain Grosjean (Barwa Addax)
3 Jerome D'Ambrosio (Dams)
4 Giedo van der Garde (iSport International)
5 Kamui Kobayashi (Dams)
6 Pastor Maldonado (ART Grand Prix)
7 Luca Filippi (Super Nova)
8 Diego Nunes (iSport International)
9 Vitaly Petrov (Barwa Addax)
10 Lucas di Grassi (Fat Burner Racing Engineering)
11 Alvaro Parente (Ocean Racing Technology)
12 Luiz Razia (Fisichella Motor Sport)
13 Alberto Valerio (Piquet GP)
14 Nico Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix)
15 Giacomo Ricci (DPR)
16 Davide Valsecchi (Durango)
17 Sergio Perez (Telmex Arden International)
18 Nelson Panciatici (Durango)
19 Dani Clos (Fat Burner Racing Engineering)
20 Ricardo Teixeira (Trident)
21 Davide Rigon (Trident)
Not classified
Karun Chandhok (Ocean Racing Technology)
Javier Villa (Super Nova)
Michael Herck (DPR)
Andi Zuber (Fisichella Motor Sport)
Roldan Rodriguez (Piquet GP)
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