Jordan King stormed to a home win at Silverstone in the GP2 sprint race ahead of Luca Ghiotto and Oliver Rowland.
A prospect of mixed conditions awarded the GP2 sprint race an amazing final few laps, which ended a run of clean racing for most of the field.
The 21 lap battle started in bone dry conditions, with Artem Markelov and Jordan King making great starts, with some drivers in the midfield finding more wheel-spin than they wished for.
A trait over the past few years, across most motorsports, is that turn three at Silverstone is a hot-spot for broken end-plates and retirements. However, the GP2 drivers manoeuvred themselves very well and were drove clean for the first laps of the race.
After the front-runners – King, Ghiotto and Nobaharu Matsushita – built a stable gap to the midfield, the first accident occurred when struggling Sergey Sirotkin was clipped from behind into Copse, giving the Russian a right-rear puncture and a lengthy pit-stop.
Sergio Canamasas wasn’t the most popular driver on the track after some incidents during practice, but the Carlin driver found himself in most of the action throughout the race. The Spanish racer was constantly battling those behind him as he struggled for traction, finding himself running wide on several occasions – especially into Turn 18 where he lost a place after running wide onto the wet astroturf.
The second half of the race was where the action really took place, Jordan King started to pull away from those behind him, but drops of rain were appearing on the onboard cameras, indicating a turn of events to later unfold.
The midfield battles really started to escalate, racing was still clean with only a couple wheels touching and one front wing endplate finding itself loose on the track. Canamasas continued to fall down the order as he failed to find grip in his car, no thanks to the developing conditions.
The final few laps were dramatic as showers started to appear on the Silverstone circuit, King was one of many drivers who struggled with the damp track, with there being two few laps remaining for a stop for a different tyre compound to be reasonable. Ghiotto, who has proved to like mixed racing conditions, adapted quickly to the wet track and was reeling in King by several seconds each lap.
The final lap was probably the best, Ghiotto looked like he could possibly take the lead in the final few corners. King locked up badly going into Turn 17 but expertly managed to keep control of the car and avoid the grass, leaving Ghiotto to accept a well-deserved second place and his first ever GP2 podium.
Oliver Rowland took third place with Giovinazzi behind him. Matsushita claimed fifth place ahead of Marciello and Gasly.
