Sprint RaceConditions were a little easier for the drivers Sunday in the 20 lap Sprint Race as, although the temperatures were similar at 31° and 39° for the air and track respectively, the humidity was down to 50%. Following Saturday’s Feature Race Fabio Leimer was starting 3rd on the reversed grid following his 5th place finish whilst Julian Leal was back in 25th place after his accident with Berthon for which the Frenchman had been penalised. The majority of the cars, including both of the Racing Engineering cars, were starting on the P Zero Yellow soft compound Pirellis.
Fabio made a good start as the lights went off gaining a place to 3rd into the first corner and he completed the opening lap 0.6 seconds behind Ericsson and 0.8 seconds ahead of Richelmi. The young Swiss was now driving carefully to conserve his tyres for the later stages of the race and on lap 8 he was still chasing Ericsson, 1.5 seconds behind the DAMS car and 1.7 seconds in front of Richelmi.
At 10 laps, the half-way point, the positions remained unchanged although the leading drivers, including Fabio, were now starting to improve their lap times as they began to push harder. With eight laps to go the top three cars were separated by 3.5 seconds and Ericsson and Fabio were closing on race leader Bird who responded with some quicker laps. As the race entered its closing laps and the leaders’ tyres were starting to degrade Fabio, once again thinking of his championship position, made sure of his 3rd place by opening out the gap to Richelmi in 4th to 2.7 seconds and this was to be his final position at the chequered flag.
Julian had a clean getaway but part way around the first lap contact between Coletti and Evans saw several cars spin and the Racing Engineering car was badly delayed. Julián resumed racing in 24th and was soon lapping very quickly, setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 2, and by lap 7 he was 21st, 0.5 seconds behind Evans and 8.4 seconds ahead of Trummer.
Lap 10 saw Julian, now lying 17th, continue his race-long battle with Evans, the Racing Engineering car just 0.7 seconds behind the Arden car and on lap 12 he passed the New Zealander for what was now 15th as several cars were forced to make pitstops for a tyre change. On lap 14 the young Colombian passed Rosenzweig to take 14th position and he was just 0.6 seconds behind Clos. Two laps later Julián passed both Clos and Ghirelli for 12th position and he was now right on the gearbox of Haryanto but there was not enough time left to gain any more positions.
Fabio keeps his lead in the 2013 GP2 Series Championship by seven points following another strong race and the Championship is now, realistically, between Fabio and Bird. Julian drove a great race to finish 12th after starting from 25th on the grid. The Racing Engineering team now return to their Sanlúcar de Barrameda base to prepare for the final round of the 2013 GP2 series at Abu Dhabi on the 1st-3rd of November whilst the cars will be going straight to Abu Dhabi.
Quotes Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering:"Race 2 today in Singapore today was positive in the sense that Fabio finished on the podium earning some good points, which are important for the fight for the championship. Julian had to start from the back of the field due to the accident in race 1, so he fought his way back through the field. It's a pity he was blocked when he was overtaking on the outside and cars in front of him were involved in an incident. He was in traffic at that moment and had to fight his way back. He was able to push really hard to catch up the group and it's nice to see him overtake other cars and fight throughout the entire race. In Fabio's case we have to admit that we were not the quickest today. However, we deserve to be on the podium and we will work hard to be even stronger for the next event to be able to bring the title home."
Fabio Leimer:"I think today's race was OK with a good start, where I went from P4 to P3. After that it was a quite boring race as everyone was just following the car in front with everyone saving tyres until the end. That's actually how the race finished; I was in third position after turn 1 and finished in third position. It was exactly the same for the top 3 positions. It was nevertheless an important race as Sam won and I needed to score as many points as possible. I think we can be happy with P3 and I now continue in the lead and I’m looking forward to racing in Abu Dhabi."
Feature RaceFabio Leimer finishes 5th in Singapore to increase his lead in the 2013 GP2 Championship.Conditions for the 28 lap Feature Race would be very tough for the drivers with air and track temperatures of 31° and 40° respectively but, more importantly, the humidity was 59%. Fabio Leimer, who was starting from 3rd on the grid, had opted to use the P Zero Red Super Soft compound Pirellis for his first stint, as had Julián, but several others, including Nasr and Palmer who was just ahead on the grid, were using the P Zero Yellow. Following a post-qualifying penalty Julián Leal was now starting from 14th position on the grid.
As the lights went off pole man Palmer was slow away boxing in Fabio and dropping him to 4th but, as the cars entered the first corner, the Racing Engineering driver was able to re-pass Richelmi and Calado to take 2nd place. At the end of the first lap Fabio was 2.2 seconds behind Nasr and 1.1 seconds ahead of Palmer but it was soon clear that the drivers on the Super Soft tyres were struggling and on lap 3 Fabio lost a place to Palmer and was now battling with Calado. On lap 7 Fabio made his mandatory pitstop, switching to the soft tyre, and resuming in 12th place.
As the race reached lap 14, the half-way point, the young Swiss driver was now up to 7th as he passed Evans and with several cars ahead still to pit. On lap 16 Fabio had caught up with a battling Cecotto and Abt and he lost several seconds to Calado trying to pass the two men without taking any risks.
By lap 18 Fabio was up to 4th, having finally made it past Abt, but he was now 8 seconds behind Calado but he was lapping about a second a lap quicker with 9 laps to go. Three laps later the gap was down to 3.7 seconds as the Racing Engineering car continued to lap much faster than the ART car. With five laps to go Fabio had closed right in on Calado and was now looking for a place to pass but once again the Championship was his main concern and with his two closet rivals, Bird and Coletti, outside the top eight bringing the car home was the most important thing. As the cars began their final lap Fabio was still 4th but Richelmi had now caught the Racing Engineering car and Fabio lost a place to cross the finishing line in 5th.
At the start Julián dropped two places to 16th and at the end of the opening lap he was 0.7 seconds behind Lancaster and 0.3 seconds ahead of Quaife-Hobbs. By lap 5 the young Colombian was now involved in a big battle for13th with seven cars separated by just two seconds. The Racing Engineering car made its mandatory pitstop on lap 6, resuming in 23rd but, three laps later, contact between Julián and the Trident car of Berthon at Turn 13 saw both men out of the race.
Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering:"Saturday's race in Singapore was rather difficult for us. The start was good for Fabio, although it was a bit disappointing to see several drivers cut turn 1 and get away with it. It was our strategy to use the option tyres today and so keep a new set of primes for tomorrow. We knew that Fabio would struggle quite quickly on the super-soft tyres, but he was able to finish his first stint positively. After the pit stop he was a bit unfortunate as he had to be careful making his way through the traffic and pass drivers like Evans and Cecotto, trying to avoid any potential contact, which would have had very negative consequences. Once out of traffic, he had a very strong pace allowing him to close the gap to the cars in front of him very quickly. But he pushed hard and didn't have enough tyres left to fight during the last laps to finish on the podium, which was possible today. Having said that, the target was to score good points today and stay ahead in the championship, especially considering tomorrow's possibilities. For Julian the start itself was OK as well, but in turn 1 he had contact with another car damaging his front wing. We had to change the front wing and 4 tyres on lap 6, and shortly after he was involved in a bigger accident with Berthon the lap after his pit stop. Julian is OK, but there is a lot to do to have his car ready for tomorrow's race. The stewards have decided to penalize Nathanaël Berthon for this, but this is not giving us back the possibility we had today with Julian to maybe finish in the top 10. We will work hard now to have Julian's car ready for tomorrow and Fabio's car to again score important points in this fight for the championship, so we can arrive in Abu Dhabi with Fabio in the lead."
Fabio Leimer:"It was a quite hard race today. I had a pretty good start and went into the first corner in second. Nasr had a really good start, so he took the lead. Nasr, Palmer and the guys around me were on prime tyres and I was on options. They went away quickly, so after a few laps I already had some problems, we therefore opted for an early pit stop. There was still a long time until the end of the race and I unfortunately lost quite a lot of time in traffic behind Abt and Cecotto, who were quite slower than me at this point of the race. This was maybe where I lost my chance to pass Calado and finish on the podium. When I got by these two cars, I was really far away from Calado and pushed really hard to close the gap on him. Maybe it was a bit too much as towards the end I had some problems and then unfortunately Richelmi was able to pass me on the last lap, as he had much better tyres than me, which stopped me from keeping him behind me. In the end P5 is not a perfect result, but I think we can be satisfied as Bird finished behind me in 8th."
Julian Leal:"It was not my day today. I started with yesterday's penalty, which meant I lost two positions compared to my qualifying result. My start was quite OK. I was maybe a bit too optimistic into turn 1 and crashed into Berthon damaging my front wing. After that I only tried to keep my pace and was behind Abt. Being stuck in traffic we decided on an early pit stop where we also changed my front wing. When I came back on track, I had Berthon in front of me and when I tried to overtake him, he closed the door on me and put me into the wall. After the pit stop I was only able to do less than a lap, but with the new front wing I already felt quite a difference. So I think tomorrow I can do a good job.”
