Filippi wins dramatic season finale
Luca Filippi won today's final GP2 race of the season at the Algarve in a dramatic afternoon that included a massive start-line accident and the leading six drivers being penalised out of contention
The race had been reduced by a lap due to Johnny Cecotto stopping on the first dummy grid, but when the cars formed up for the second time, it was Vitaly Petrov's turn to stall.
Several cars managed to avoid the stricken Barwa Addax car, but DPR's Michael Herck was less fortunate and ran into the back of it at high speed before spinning into the pitwall.
Petrov was able to walk away, but Herck needed to be extracted from his car by the medical team, and while the Romanian was reported to be conscious, he was taken to a nearby hospital for checks.
The crash left the main straight covered with debris and prompted a long delay while the mess was cleaned up. After nearly half an hour the field was led back out behind the safety car, with Coloni's Andreas Zuber leading from Davide Valsecchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi, Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado.
Zuber backed the field up at the final corner in preparation for the green flag on lap six, but timed his charge too early and shot past the safety car as it was still steering into pitlane.
Valsecchi, Kobayashi, di Grassi, Hulkenberg and Maldonado all followed, and notification came shortly afterwards that all six had been issued with drivethrough penalties as a result.
By the time they had all served their punishments, Filippi been cycled up into the lead and subsequently cruised home for his first win of the season.
Arden's Sergio Perez followed him 4.1s later, with Filippi's Super Nova team-mate Javier Villa completing the podium.
Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) held off local hero Alvaro Parente (Ocean) for fourth, while Diego Nunes had to withstand similar pressure from iSport team-mate Giedo van der Garde to secure the final point for sixth.
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Luca Filippi Super Nova 1h01m55.822s 2. Sergio Perez Arden + 4.141s 3. Javier Villa Super Nova + 8.351s 4. Dani Clos Racing Engineering + 9.026s 5. Alvaro Parente Ocean + 9.430s 6. Diego Nunes iSport + 13.646s 7. Giedo van der Garde iSport + 13.932s 8. Alberto Valerio Piquet + 19.357s 9. Edoardo Mortara Arden + 21.674s 10. Davide Rigon Trident + 21.882s 11. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS + 24.031s 12. Andreas Zuber Coloni + 30.244s 13. Karun Chandhok Ocean + 33.425s 14. Davide Valsecchi Addax + 33.869s 15. Lucas di Grassi Racing Engineering + 34.790s 16. Nico Hulkenberg ART + 35.036s 17. Luiz Razia Coloni + 39.546s 18. Johnny Cecotto Jr DPR + 50.684s 19. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS + 51.728s 20. Pastor Maldonado ART + 52.557s 21. Ricardo Teixeira Trident + 1 lap Retirements: Roldan Rodríguez Piquet 5 laps Michael Herck DPR 0 laps Vitaly Petrov Addax 0 laps
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