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Petrov wins Turkey feature race

Vitaly Petrov emerged victorious from an eventful GP2 Series feature race in Istanbul this afternoon

The Russian crossed the line 6.5 seconds clear of Super Nova's Luca Filippi, with Durango's Davide Valsecchi completing the podium.

Petrov was in control for most of the race, having taken the lead on lap 3 when pole-sitter Nico Hulkenberg and Filippi were so caught up in their own fight that they left a gap for the Barwa Addax car to sneak through at the final corner.

With a clear track ahead, Petrov set about opening a gap and had stretched his lead out to 10.7 seconds before the safety car was brought out 12 laps later to remove the car belonging to Alvaro Parente, who had spun out of second place at Turn 8 and stopped across the track.

Alberto Valerio worked hard for his eventual finishing position of fourth, which put him ahead of Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Giedo van der Garde and Javier Villa, who will start from pole for the sprint race tomorrow morning. That will offer some consolation to the Spaniard after he lost four places in as many corners three laps before the finish.

Almost half of the field failed to make it to the finish due to a combination of incidents and mechanical problems, the most notable victim being Romain Grosjean, who slowed to a halt with a couple of laps remaining.

The Frenchman had already endured a difficult afternoon, having lost several places when he spun while trying to go around the outside of Filippi at Turn 8 on the opening lap, and was running outside the points when he retired.

Others who suffered mishaps but were able to continue included Lucas di Grassi, who was forced into the pits early on to have a new front wing fitted, and Karun Chandhok, who fell to the back of the field when he failed to get away from the start line.

The proliferation of incidents elsewhere in the field promises a busy evening for the stewards, with no less than five cars under investigation for various mishaps. This comes after four drivers were dealt grid penalties for yellow flag infringements during practice yesterday.

Classified:

Pos  Driver            Team                           Time
 1.  Vitaly Petrov     Barwa Addax Team               57:57.260
 2.  Luca Filippi      Super Nova Racing              +   6.563
 3.  Davide Valsecchi  Durango                        +   7.155
 4.  Alberto Valerio   Piquet GP                      +  19.649
 5.  Nico Hulkenberg   ART Grand Prix                 +  19.948
 6.  Pastor Maldonado  ART Grand Prix                 +  23.967
 7.  G.van der Garde   iSport International           +  25.216
 8.  Javier Villa      Super Nova Racing              +  27.011
 9.  Lucas Di Grassi   Fat Burner Racing Engineering  +  28.508
10.  Andreas Zuber     FMS International              +  28.835
11.  Davide Rigon      Trident Racing                 +  29.312
12.  Diego Nunes       iSport International           +  29.712
13.  Daniel Clos       Fat Burner Racing Engineering  +  31.849
14.  Karun Chandhok    Ocean Racing Technology        +  34.559
15.  Ricardo Teixeira  Trident Racing                 +  39.001

Not Classified:

     Driver            Team                          Laps
     Roldan Rodriguez  Piquet GP                      26
     Romain Grosjean   Barwa Addax Team               25
     Edoardo Mortara   Telmex Arden International     20
     N.Panciatici      Durango                        18
     Alvaro Parente    Ocean Racing Technology        15
     Giacomo Ricci     DPR                            14
     Luiz Razia        FMS International              13
     J.D'Ambrosio      DAMS                           7
     Michael Herck     DPR                            4
     Sergio Perez      Telmex Arden International     1
     Kamui Kobayashi   DAMS                           1

Fastest lap: Chandhok, 1:36.679 on lap 14

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