2012 Valencia GP2 Series round explained

Country:	Spain
Grand Prix:	Valencia
Round No:	6
Season No:	12
Year:	2012
Location:	Valencia, Spain
Course:	Street circuit
Course Mi:	3.367
Course Km:	5.419
Date R1:	23 June
Laps R1:	28 (30 scheduled)
Pole Driver Country:	United Kingdom
Pole Driver:	James Calado
Pole Team:	Lotus GP
Pole Time:	1:47.342
First Driver Country R1:	Mexico
First Driver R1:	Esteban Gutiérrez
First Team R1:	Lotus GP
Second Driver Country R1:	Sweden
Second Driver R1:	Marcus Ericsson
Second Team R1:	iSport International
Third Driver Country R1:	Brazil
Third Driver R1:	Luiz Razia
Third Team R1:	Arden International
Fast Driver Country R1:	Mexico
Fast Driver R1:	Esteban Gutiérrez
Fast Team R1:	Lotus GP
Fast Time R1:	1:49.360
Fast Lap R1:	28
Date R2:	24 June
Laps R2:	23
First Driver Country R2:	Brazil
First Driver R2:	Luiz Razia
First Team R2:	Arden International
Second Driver Country R2:	United Kingdom
Second Driver R2:	James Calado
Second Team R2:	Lotus GP
Third Driver Country R2:	Switzerland
Third Driver R2:	Fabio Leimer
Third Team R2:	Racing Engineering
Fast Driver Country R2:	Brazil
Fast Team R2:	DAMS
Fast Time R2:	1:50.556
Fast Lap R2:	18

The 2012 Valencia GP2 Series round was the sixth round of the 2012 GP2 Series season. It was held on June 22–24, 2012 at Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain.^[1] The race was used to support the 2012 European Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

		Driver	Team	Time
1	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	1:47.342	1
2	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	1:47.349	2
3	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	1:47.444	5
4	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	1:47.458	6
5	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	1:47.543	3
6	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	1:47.674	4
7	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	1:47.779	7
8	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	1:47.801	8
9	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	1:47.972	9
10	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	1:47.996	10
11	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	1:48.155	11
12	20	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	1:48.176	12
13	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	1:48.222	13
14	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	1:48.288	14
15	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	1:48.390	17
16	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	1:48.518	15
17	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	1:48.565	18
18	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	1:48.578	16
19	2	Josef Král	Barwa Addax Team	1:48.626	19
20	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	1:48.641	20
21	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:48.846	21
22	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	1:48.936	22
23	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	1:49.021	23
24	24	Víctor Guerin	Ocean Racing Technology	1:49.335	24
25	21	Daniël de Jong	Rapax	1:49.900	25
	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	No time	26

Notes:

• — Esteban Gutiérrez, Davide Valsecchi and Johnny Cecotto Jr. were each handed a three grid position penalty and Simon Trummer was dropped two places, having impeded other competitors during the qualifying session.^[2]

Feature race

		Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	28	1:00:31.895	5	27
2	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	28	+1.615	9	18
3	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	28	+6.064	11	15
4	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	28	+6.408	7	12
5	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	28	+6.928	10	10
6	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	28	+7.605	15	8
7	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	28	+8.384	4	6
8	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	28	+11.099	1	8
9	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	28	+15.404	13	2
10	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	28	+15.782	18	1
11	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	28	+15.962	3
12	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	28	+16.869	20
13	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	28	+17.715	16
14	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	28	+18.338	14
15	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	28	+22.983	22
16	21	Daniël de Jong	Rapax	28	+23.456	25
17	24	Víctor Guerin	Ocean Racing Technology	27	+1 lap	24
18	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	28	+30.573	6
Ret	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	21	Retired	26
Ret	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	18	Retired	2
Ret	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	17	Retired	8
Ret	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	17	Retired	21
Ret	20	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	11	Retired	12
Ret	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	1	Retired	23
DSQ	2	Josef Král	Barwa Addax Team	28	(+19.580)	19
DSQ	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	28	(+39.627)	17
Source:^[3]

Notes:

• — Davide Valsecchi had 20 seconds added to his race time after he was judged to have overtaken during a safety car period.^[4]
• — Barwa Addax drivers, Josef Král and Johnny Cecotto Jr. were excluded from the race results, after they were each given tyres which were allocated to the other at the pit stop.^[5]

Sprint race

		Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	23	46:07.255	6	15
2	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	23	+1.179	1	12
3	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	23	+1.587	5	12
4	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	23	+2.425	2	8
5	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	23	+2.957	3	6
6	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	23	+4.969	11	4
7	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	23	+8.415	10	2
8	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	23	+9.501	12	1
9	21	Daniël de Jong	Rapax	23	+13.591	15
10	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	23	+17.564	16
11	2	Josef Král	Barwa Addax Team	23	+21.005	26
12	20	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	23	+34.565	21
13	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	23	+46.929	22
14	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	23	+50.083	19
15	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	23	+51.366	24
16	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	23	+57.490	18
17	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	23	+1:03.342	13
18	24	Víctor Guerin	Ocean Racing Technology	23	+1:03.439	17
Ret	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	19	Retired	4
Ret	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	5	Retired	14
Ret	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	3	Retired	23
Ret	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	3	Retired	25
Ret	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	0	Retired	9
Ret	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	0	Retired	7
Ret	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	0	Retired	8
DNS	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	0	Not started	20
Source:^[6]

Notes:

• — Jolyon Palmer and Rodolfo González were both handed a ten place grid position penalty for causing separate collisions during Feature Race.^[4]

Standings after the round

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Davide Valsecchi	141
	2	Luiz Razia	140
2	3	James Calado	95
1	4	Max Chilton	93
2	5	Giedo van der Garde	89

Teams' Championship standings

	Pos	Team	Points
1	1	Lotus GP	182
1	2	DAMS	169
	3	Arden International	144
	4	Carlin	119
1	5	Racing Engineering	106

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2012 European Grand Prix
• 2012 Valencia GP3 Series round

Notes and References

1. News: GP2 to support F1 in Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia. Keith. Collantine. F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. 16 December 2011. 13 May 2012.
2. News: Valencia Post Qualifying penalties. GP2 Series.com. GP2 Series. 22 June 2012. 26 June 2012.
3. News: Gutierrez wins for Lotus in chaotic GP2 feature race at Valencia street circuit. Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 23 June 2012. 26 June 2012.
4. News: Valsecchi, Palmer and Gonzalez penalised after feature race. GP2 Series.com. GP2 Series. 23 June 2012. 26 June 2012.
5. News: Kral and Cecotto excluded from feature race. GP2 Series.com. GP2 Series. 23 June 2012. 26 June 2012.
6. News: Luiz Razia wins thrilling GP2 sprint race on last lap at Valencia street circuit for Arden. Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 24 June 2012. 26 June 2012.