D'Ambrosio claims first GP2 victory
Jerome D'Ambrosio took his first GP2 victory in the Monaco sprint race
The DAMS driver led all the way from pole, but his early efforts to build a lead were dashed when Coloni's Alberto Valerio and Arden's Rodolfo Gonzalez crashed simultaneously at different parts of the circuit and prompted a safety car.
That brought D'Ambrosio back within range of Giedo van der Garde, and he had the Addax car in his mirrors for virtually the rest of the race, finally crossing the line just 0.3 seconds clear.
There was a lot of scrapping behind them for third place, which eventually went to ART's Jules Bianchi after a determined drive and a couple of brave passing moves. Rapax's Luiz Razia had been on target for the final podium place for most of the race, but after seeing off an early challenge from Valerio (which ended with Valerio hitting the wall at the chicane), he soon found himself under pressure from Bianchi.
The Frenchman eventually found a way past, while Razia lost another spot when he made a mistake on the penultimate lap and allowed Trident's Johnny Cecotto to slip past into fourth. Yesterday's winner Sergio Perez (Addax) took the final point for sixth.
The race was sprinkled with incidents, starting with Dani Clos ripping a wheel off on the barriers on lap nine and ending Racing Engineering's interest in the afternoon, with Christian Vietoris having failed to make the start due to an engine problem.
There was also a slew of drivethrough penalties, with the victims including Pastor Maldonado (jump-start), Rodriguez (jump-start) and Oliver Turvey, Davide Valsecchi, and Fabio Leimer (all for cutting the first corner at the start).
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 43m43.804s 2. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax + 0.351s 3. Jules Bianchi ART + 1.078s 4. Johnny Cecotto Trident + 2.919s 5. Luiz Razia Rapax + 6.572s 6. Sergio Perez Barwa Addax + 7.257s 7. Charles Pic Arden + 7.903s 8. Josef Kral Super Nova + 8.837s 9. Marcus Ericsson Super Nova + 9.431s 10. Sam Bird ART + 10.046s 11. Pastor Maldonado Rapax + 10.465s 12. Adrian Zaugg Trident + 11.239s 13. Vlado Arabadjiev Coloni + 12.591s 14. Max Chilton Ocean + 25.246s 15. Oliver Turvey iSport + 25.461s 16. Davide Valsecchi iSport + 25.703s 17. Fabio Leimer Ocean + 26.063s Retirements: Michael Herck DPR 22 laps Ho-Pin Tung DAMS 20 laps Giacomo Ricci DPR 17 laps Alberto Valerio Coloni 14 laps Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden 14 laps Dani Clos Racing Engineering 8 laps Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 0 laps
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