GP2 Barcelona: Norman Nato wins season opener

Racing Engineering driver Nato sat between Red Bull protege Gasly and ART Grand Prix's Renault Formula 1 test driver Sergey Sirotkin in a tense but not super-close top three for most of the race.

As their pitstops approached, Sirotkin stepped up his challenge for second, only to spin and stall on the exit of Turn 2.

The stranded ART car prompted the race's second safety car - the first having come immediately when first-lap scuffles sent Luca Ghiotto into the Turn 3 barriers with a puncture - and sent all the leaders into the pits.

Gasly looked totally in control for GP2 newcomer Prema on hard tyres in the first stint, but he was more vulnerable on softs after the stops.

Nato dived to his inside into the Turn 10 hairpin on the first lap after the restart, squeezed through and then edged clear.

Gasly fell away, later losing second place to DAMS driver Nicholas Latifi.

He held on to third under big pressure from a flying Artem Markelov, who would have been well-placed to snatch a podium had the race not ended under the safety car after Raffaele Marciello was sent spinning into the Turn 4 gravel by Antonio Giovinazzi.

Williams F1 development driver Alex Lynn was the only frontrunner to start on soft tyres.

He lost out to Latifi and Sirotkin from third on the grid, then reclaimed fourth from his DAMS team-mate as they tussled through the opening corners.

Lynn dived for the pits as soon as the window opened, but a stubborn left front cost him more time and the leaders were able to rejoin ahead of him after their eventual stops.

He grabbed fifth on the final racing lap from Carlin's last-minute signing Sergio Canamasas, who had surged through from 15th on the grid.

Pitting early like Lynn worked well for Nato's team-mate Jordan King, as he converted 13th in qualifying to seventh in the race.

Rookie Giovinazzi secured eighth and reverse grid pole in his late clash with Marciello, but he may face questions over the tangle from the stewards.

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