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Bahrain GP2: Vandoorne takes sixth win, ART secures teams' title

McLaren Formula 1 reserve Stoffel Vandoorne eased to his sixth GP2 victory of the season to lead an ART Grand Prix one-two and seal the teams' championship for the French outfit

In typically dominant fashion, Vandoorne stormed into the lead at Turn 1 in Bahrain and never looked back.

The Belgian was more than five seconds clear before taking his mandatory pitstop with 10 laps to go.

He rejoined in front of early stopper Nathanael Berthon and with a clear track he was able to extend his lead further.

The Belgian eventually crossed the line 13s ahead of team-mate Nobuharu Matsushita.

ART's GP2 teams' championship comes on the same day it sealed the GP3 crown.

Honda junior Matsushita worked his way up to third from eighth on the gird before his pitstop.

The Japanese driver rejoined behind Alexander Rossi and Mitch Evans, but made up a place with ease after Rossi and Evans made contact at Turn 3.

Rossi clipped the back of Evans on the exit of the corner, which resulted in a damaged front wing for the American. He subsequently had to pit for repairs and finished down in 18th.

With just two laps to go, Matsushita made light work of Evans with the help of DRS at Turn 1 to secure ART's second one-two of the season.

From seventh on the grid, Evans was able to claim his fifth podium of 2015 after a hard-fought race.

The Kiwi was scrapping for seventh in the early stages after losing a place at the start but made his way up to sixth before his pitstop.

He rejoined ahead of Rossi and was doing well holding onto second, before Matsuhita grabbed the place late on.

Raffaele Marciello finished fourth after running in the top three for the majority of the race.

The Ferrari junior lost places after his pitstop but was able to fend off Rapax driver Sergey Sirotkin, following their wheel-to-wheel battle in the closing stages.

Polesitter Pierre Gasly had a less than perfect race to finish sixth. The Frenchman lost the lead off the line to Vandoorne and continued to fall down the order.

He was able to pass Rio Haryanto late, but the Red Bull junior's search for his maiden win in GP2 goes on.

Williams F1 development driver Alex Lynn finished eighth to secure reverse-grid pole, edging out Jordan King, who escaped punishment for crossing the pitlane entry line, in ninth.

Racing Engineering driver King appeared to be heading for the pitlane alongside Haryanto when he suddenly veered off to the left and back on to the track, almost causing a collision.

The stewards investigated the incident but no further action was taken.

Arthur Pic grabbed the final spot in the top 10 on the penultimate lap, deposing Lazarus driver Berthon, who was on old tyres and fell from second.

Norman Nato, who was running as high as third, finished down in 24th after picking up a puncture in the closing stages of the race.

RESULTS - 32 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Gap
1 Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 57m15.184s
2 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 13.526s
3 Mitch Evans RUSSIAN TIME 17.617s
4 Raffaele Marciello Trident 20.494s
5 Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 21.924s
6 Pierre Gasly DAMS 22.622s
7 Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 26.972s
8 Alex Lynn DAMS 30.590s
9 Jordan King Racing Engineering 31.312s
10 Arthur Pic Campos Racing 41.514s
11 Nathanael Berthon Daiko Team Lazarus 43.621s
12 Sergio Canamasas Daiko Team Lazarus 45.597s
13 Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 47.319s
14 Nicholas Latifi MP Motorsport 49.854s
15 Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 56.728s
16 Gustav Malja Rapax 57.380s
17 Andre Negrao Arden International 59.439s
18 Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 59.845s
19 Daniel de Jong Trident 1m00.613s
20 Rene Binder MP Motorsport 1m00.700s
21 Dean Stoneman Carlin 1m08.684s
22 Oliver Rowland Status Grand Prix 1m11.829s
23 Sean Gelael Carlin 1 Lap
24 Norman Nato Arden International 1 Lap


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