Filippi wins GP2 opener in Bahrain
Luca Filippi scored his first GP2 win in dominant fashion at the season-opener in Bahrain on Saturday
The Super Nova driver converted pole into the lead at the start and was never threatened from there, as he only ceded the lead during the pitstop phase.
When the order shook out he was still comfortably ahead of Timo Glock in second, and he duly went on to record an excellent win.
Glock made a stunning start from seventh to make his way into second on the exit of the first corner, although front row-starter Alexandre Negrao dropped down the order at turn two after a collision with the German.
Glock was never able to close more than a tenth or two on the Italian in the lead, but second place was a solid start to his title challenge. He was backed up in third by team-mate Andreas Zuber, which gave iSport their first-ever double podium.
Bruno Senna was the top rookie in fourth place, having not put a foot wrong all race, despite some intense pressure from Lucas di Grassi.
Di Grassi eventually took fifth, but was made to fight for it by Senna's Arden team-mate Adrian Zaugg, who nipped ahead of the ART driver during the pitstops and put up a solid defence of fifth. Only a daring move through turn four moved di Grassi ahead.
Zaugg held on to sixth, despite having the DAMS car of Nicolas Lapierre on his tail for the final third of the race.
The experienced Frenchman opted not to risk his front row start for Sunday's sprint race, while pole for that goes to Borja Garcia, who drove a great race for Durango to claim eighth and the final point.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. L. Filippi Super Nova International 58:34.676 2. T. Glock iSport International + 8.162 3. A. Zuber iSport International + 11.903 4. B. Senna Arden International + 16.373 5. L. Di Grassi ART Grand Prix + 18.074 6. A. Zaugg Arden International + 39.135 7. N. Lapierre DAMS + 39.462 8. B. Garcia Durango + 40.122 9. K. Chandhok Durango + 43.505 10. M. Ammermuller ART Grand Prix + 51.883 11. S. Yamamoto BCN Competicion + 62.082 12. A. Soucek DPR + 64.142 13. C. Bakkerud DPR + 64.409 14. V. Petrov Campos Grand Prix + 69.289 15. H. Tung BCN Competicion + 72.116 16. A. Pizzonia FMS International + 1 lap 17. K. Nakajima DAMS + 1 lap 18. K. Hirate Trident Racing + 1 lap
NOT CLASSIFIED
S. Jimenez Racing Engineering 32 laps
A. Negrao Minardi Piquet Sports 14 laps
J. Villa Racing Engineering 7 laps
J. Tahincir FMS International 3 laps
R. Rodriguez Minardi Piquet Sports 1 lap
M. Conway Super Nova International 0 laps
G. Pantano Campos Grand Prix 0 laps
P. Maldonado Trident Racing 0 laps
Fastest lap: Nakajima, 1:43.226 on lap 27
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