Frenchman on top as rivals fall away

Charles Pic has claimed victory in his first GP2 race in Barcelona, keeping his head and driving a strong, sensible race as his rivals dropped away to lead home Giacomo Ricci and Dani Clos in Saturday's season opener.

The Frenchman's race was set up at the start when polesitter Jules Bianchi and teammate Sam Bird struggled to get off the line as the lights went out. Sergio Perez tore away from the front row with  Christian  Vietoris  pushing  for  a  line  inside  the  Mexican  at  the  first  turn:  the  pair  came together  out  of  the  corner  with  the  German  spinning  backwards  into  Bianchi,  putting  them both out on the spot and forcing Bird over the high kerbs to avoid the melee.

As  a  result  Pic  was promoted to P2 behind the rapidly escaping Perez, with Ricci's astonishing start pushing the Italian up from tenth on the grid to third on the road in a few corners, ahead of Pastor  Maldonado,  Dani  Clos,  Oliver  Turvey and Diego van der Garde, although the Dutchman was soon to disappear from the proceedings after 2 drive through penalties, one for leaving the pits too late and the other for a jump start.

Up in front Perez was building a strong lead over his rivals as the pitstops shook out: Pic came in on  lap  12  and  returned  40  seconds  down  the  track  from  the  race  leader,  who  looked  to  have everything under control, but a sticking right rear tyre during his stop four laps later rained on his parade, pushing him back to P4 when he finally returned to the circuit.

And so it was fated to end: Pic drove a strong, intelligent race and held just enough of a lead for the rest of the race to deny a fast charging Ricci, with Clos overtaking Maldonado after his stop to claim a home podium ahead of a bitterly disappointed Perez, who pushed the Spaniard hard for the second half of the race without reward.

Oliver Turvey finished fifth in a lonely but fruitful race for  the  rookie  Briton,  with  Maldonado  pushed  to  the  line  by  teammate  Luiz  Razia  and  Fabio Leimer, while Sam Bird drove a race full of qualifying laps after replacing his broken nose on lap one to claim ninth and the final point for fastest lap.

Barcelona – Race 1 Driver Team 1. Charles Pic Arden International 2. Giacomo Ricci DPR 3. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 4. Sergio Perez Barwa Addax Team 5. Oliver Turvey iSport International 6. Pastor Maldonado Rapax 7. Luiz Razia Rapax 8. Fabio Leimer Ocean Racing Technology 9. Sam Bird ART Grand Prix 10. Davide Valsecchi iSport International 11. Marcus Ericsson Super Nova Racing 12. Josef Kral Super Nova Racing 13. Ho-Pin Tung Dams 14. Alberto Valerio Scuderia Coloni 15. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden International 16. Adrian Zaugg Trident Racing 17. Michael Herck DPR 18. Max Chilton Ocean Racing Technology 19. Vladimir Arabadzhiev Scuderia Coloni 20 Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team Not classified Jerome d’Ambrosio Dams Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering Johnny Cecotto Trident Racing