GP2 Series Round 2 Analysis

Best performance: Davide Valsecchi
There could only be one choice for the best performer from the round; Davide Valsecchi was simply stunning, dominating the entire weekend.  His impressive performance began by taking pole on Friday, and in the feature race on Saturday he was able to use the position to his advantage, fending off Esteban Gutiérrez at turn 1 and holding his lead for almost the entirety of the race.  Victory in the feature race put him 8^th on the grid for the sprint race on Sunday, but by passing clinically and avoiding getting caught up battling for position he was able to move through the field while keeping the leaders in his sights.  On the final lap he was close enough to race leader Esteban Gutiérrez in order to pass him coming out of turn 1, taking the victory.  Only Giedo van der Garde setting the fastest lap in the sprint race prevented him from taking all the points available.


Worst performance: Johnny Cecotto, Jr.
I could maybe have gone for Marcus Ericsson again, who had another poor weekend and is watching his title chances slip away, but given that he was carrying a 5-place grid penalty into the weekend a poor performance was not unexpected.  Instead I went for Johnny Cecotto, Jr.  Given that he qualified 5^th for the feature race, a point-scoring finish was will within his reach, but an accident with Felipe Nasr put paid to his race, as well as Nasr's.  While the stewards later penalised Nasr for the accident, in my opinion it was Cecotto who was at fault as he lunged up the inside of Nasr who was already turning in.  Any chances to make amends in the sprint race were almost over by the first corner, when Cecotto was involved in a small collision, damaging his front wing.  It seems unfair that team-mate Josef Král should lose his seat at Barwa Addax for underperforming when Johnny Cecotto, Jr. gets to keep his.


Race rating: 9/10
Great racing in both the feature race and the sprint race, with Valsecchi providing a master class.  The race was only let down by a couple of poor stewarding decisions, particularly that giving Fabio Leimer a drive-through penalty, costing him a chance of winning the sprint race.


Drivers' Championship

1.	Davide Valsecchi	70
2.	Luiz Razia	57
3.	Esteban Gutiérrez	45
4.	James Calado	39
5.	Max Chilton	35
6.	Felipe Nasr	22
7.	Fabio Leimer	22
8.	Giedo van der Garde	12
9.	Stefano Coletti	10
10.	Tom Dillmann	8
11.	Fabio Onidi	4
12.	Rio Haryanto	4
13.	Jolyon Palmer	2
14.	Nathanaël Berthon	1
15.	Simon Trummer	1
16.	Fabrizio Crestani	1
17.	Brendon Hartley	1

Teams’ Championship

1.	DAMS	92
2.	Lotus GP	84
3.	Arden International	58
4.	Carlin	39
5.	Racing Engineering	23
6.	Scuderia Coloni	14
7.	Caterham Racing	12
8.	Rapax	8
9.	iSport International	2
10.	Ocean Racing Technology	1
11.	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1