Jordan King (Racing Engineering) dashed to a stunning first victory in today’s GP2 sprint race at the Red Bull Ring: The British driver did the very best he could in treacherous conditions and led the race from lights to flag. Oliver Rowland (MP Motorsport) finished in second place after race-long battles, and Alex Lynn fought his way up from P11 to make it an all-British podium in Austria.
After a heavy downpour during the GP3 race earlier today, there was still so much water on the track that the first laps of the race were driven behind the safety car. At the start of the race, King made a slow getaway but he was able to keep his team-mate Norman Nato, who had started from second place, behind him. Rowland from third place tried to have a say in this battle as well, attacking the Racing Engineering pair through Turn 6, however, the attack was cut short by another safety car appearance as yesterday’s podium finisher Sean Gelael spun off the track and his Campos car was stranded in the gravel trap.
The safety car did not stay out for long however, and the battles continued where they left off. Raffalele Marciello (Russian Time) had made his way up to fourth place from sixth and, hungry for more, attacked Rowland. Mitch Evans (Campos), winner of yesterday’s GP2 feature race, and Nicolas Latifi (DAMS) began to move up from the bottom of the top ten while Jimmy Eriksson struggled on the damp track and dropped outside of the top ten after having started from fifth. The likes of Sergey Sirotkin (ART GP), Antonio Giovinazzi (Prema Racing), Lynn, and Gasly (Prema Racing), who had all started outside of the top ten, closed in on the points-scoring positions, and a race-long battle shaped up between them.
King meanwhile was able to get a bit of breathing space, while his team-mate Nato began to tumble down the order and, running wide and losing even more positions, eventually finished outside the top ten. Rowland and Marciello fought tooth and nail for second place, with Luca Ghiotto (Trident) occasionally reminding the squabbling pair that he was lurking behind them in fourth place and ready to strike. Latifi made his way up to P5 after having started from P10 but was eventually overtaken by Alex Lynn fighting his way through the field, and behind them Evans, Sirotkin, Gasly, and Giovinazzi kept trading positions back and forth at the bottom of the top 10.
A safety car interrupted the battles once again in the second half of the race when Latifi ended his successful run in the Styrian grass, and some drivers in the lower half of the field used this to gamble on slicks since the track was drying up quickly and it had become difficult to keep the wet tyres cool.
When the race was restarted, the battles continued unchanged: King kept the lead once again as Rowland was busy fending off Marciello and Lynn, Ghiotto began closing in on the leading group, and behind them positions were snatched and recovered from each other as the four-way battle of Evans, Sirotkin, Gasly, and Giovinazzi continued.
King however remained unchallenged until the chequered flag fell and took a well-deserved victory ahead of countryman Rowland. Lynn was eventually able to get past Marciello in the final laps of the race, and Marciello himself soon came under attack from his countryman but was able to keep his position when Ghiotto came under pressure of the charging Giovinazzi and eventually spun in the final corner of the last lap. Giovinazzi made his way up to an impressive fifth after having started in 17th place, and Sirotkin crossed the finish line in sixth place, recovering well from the 10 second penalty that had seen him start from twelfth place. Gasly had an impressive race as well, fighting his way up through the field from 20th to an impressive seventh, and yesterday’s race winner Evans held on to the final point for eighth place. Ghiotto was able to recover from his spin to finish in ninth place. Sergio Canamasas (Carlin) completes the top ten.
