Clos wins race, Grosjean takes title
Dani Clos won the GP2 Asia finale at Imola on Sunday, while Romain Grosjean sealed the title with fourth place after Jules Bianchi was taken out at the start
Race winner Clos grabbed the lead straight away, as polesitter Fairuz Fauzy (Super Nova) bogged down when the red lights went out.
Fauzy lost several places, and he then locked up going into the first corner. He ran into the back of Trident's Stefano Coletti, who could not avoid hitting title contender Bianchi's ART car.
Bianchi's retirement guaranteed Grosjean a second Asia series title, leaving the DAMS driver only to worry about fighting for a podium spot.
He was fourth after the first-lap incidents, chasing Giedo van der Garde (Addax), who had made his second very fast getaway of the weekend from seventh on the grid.
Grosjean seemed to have the edge over the Dutchman, but he could not find a way through and eventually had to turn his attention to defending fourth place from ART's Esteban Gutierrez.
The Mexican attacked the new champion into the Variante Alta chicane with two laps to go, but Grosjean held on to the place as both cars went across the grass.
Up front, Clos (Racing Engineering) was unable to break clear of Fabio Leimer (Rapax) in second throughout the race. But every time the Swiss driver closed, Clos was able to respond and get himself some breathing space.
Behind the leaders, the final point for sixth place went to Coloni's Michael Herck, who moved up when Rodolfo Gonzalez retired his Trident car mid-race.
Herck had briefly slipped behind iSport's Marcus Ericsson as well, but the Swede went off after attacking Gonzalez down the outside into Tamburello on lap five.
Results - 25 laps: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 37m25.901s 2. Fabio Leimer Rapax + 0.931s 3. Giedo van der Garde Addax + 4.007s 4. Romain Grosjean DAMS + 7.826s 5. Esteban Gutierrez ART + 8.366s 6. Michael Herck Coloni + 15.312s 7. Pal Varhaug DAMS + 27.415s 8. Oliver Turvey Ocean + 29.294s 9. Josef Kral Arden + 29.721s 10. Luca Filippi Coloni + 30.139s 11. Charles Pic Addax + 32.505s 12. Andrea Caldarelli Ocean + 36.006s 13. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering + 36.893s 14. Luiz Razia AirAsia + 38.998s 15. Max Chilton Carlin + 39.815s 16. Marcus Ericsson iSport + 40.192s 17. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia + 42.100s 18. Julian Leal Rapax + 1m05.466s 19. Johnny Cecotto Super Nova + 1 lap 20. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin + 1 lap Retirements: Sam Bird iSport 20 laps Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 14 laps Stefano Coletti Trident 0 laps Jolyon Palmer Arden 0 laps Jules Bianchi ART 0 laps Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 0 laps
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