Johnny Cecotto Jr and Jolyon Palmer continued Monaco’s occasional form for surprise winners, with the pairing taking victories in the principality last weekend.
With the big points going to those normally associated with the midfield, the series’ top players were left to scramble for minor placings – if they finished at all.
Although the carnage at the beginning of the Sprint Race assured nearly every finisher took home some sort of prize.
——
TV Notes
Feature Race (May 25th)
Johnny Cecotto Jr picked up his first GP2 victory last week on the streets of Monaco, despite constant pressure from Marcus Ericsson.
The Venezuelan – whose previously best GP2 finish of 4th also came at Monaco, in 2010 – held the Swede at bay for all 42 laps, crossing the line with an advantage of 0.564 seconds. Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde took 3rd spot.
Cecotto Jr led virtually every lap, only ceding the front during the pitstops, and while the fast-starting Ericsson* pushed the Barwa Addax racer, there was nowhere for the iSport driver to make a move.
The lead rarely extended beyond two seconds – often loitering around the one second mark – something that must have hurt the iSport crew when they lost a couple of seconds in the pits during Ericsson’s 23rd lap stop.
Taking new tyres on the following tour allowed Cecotto back out ahead of Ericsson, whereby the on track chess match recommenced in earnest, although Ericsson had little in the way of potent ammunition.
There followed a sort of stalemate, guaranteeing victory and twenty-five points for Cecotto Jr.
Van der Garde enjoyed a quieter event on his run to 3rd. Like Ericsson, the Dutch pilot jumped Carlin’s Max Chilton off the line and from there proved too quick to be challenged by the chasing pack, while also too slow to challenge the leading pair.
Series leader Davide Valsecchi enjoyed a far more exciting race in his DAMS machine. The Italian began the race in 7th, locking onto a fight with Chilton, Luiz Razia (Arden) and Jolyon Palmer (iSport).
Valsecchi remained in that position until the stops. Staying out until lap 26, the GP2 veteran maintained an efficient pace on his Pirelli’s, as others pitted only to find themselves locked in Monegasque traffic. His pace speedy and consistent, Valsecchi ensured he jumped ahead of his rivals, emerging 4th as the pit work filtered out.
Chilton was the first to lose out, dropping to 5th despite starting on the front row – indeed a poor getaway suffocated the Englishman’s race almost immediately.
Chilton ended the day four seconds clear of Palmer (6th), with Lotus man James Calado a further four seconds adrift in 7th. Despite starting 13th, Lotus brought Calado into play following an early stop, allowing the GP3 graduate to run confidently in clean air.
Trident racer Stephane Richelmi applied a similar strategy to come home 8th after lining up 14th, earning the reverse grid pole position for the Sprint Race.
Richelmi finished several seconds clear of Nathanael Berthon (Racing Engineering) and Stefano Coletti (Coloni), with the latter managing 39 laps on his Pirelli’s before pitting for fresh rubber.
Backmarkers played a big role in the midfield, with both Giancarlo Serenelli and Fabrizio Crestani in particular creating havoc throughout. A nadir was reached when Crestani blocked Esteban Gutierrez (Lotus) at the chicane, causing the Mexican to launch into the barriers, causing his weekend to sink further after a disastrous Friday** – the spread debris proceeded to slice Razia’s tyres apart.
* {note 1}
Qualifying saw the field split into two groups, in order to avoid a repeat of embarrassing scenes from the previous season’s qualifying session.
The order was set by two 15-minute sessions, with even number cars assuming one side of the grid and odd-numbered cars on the other. The fastest group took the left-hand side of the grid and with it the pole slot.
Johnny Cecotto Jr took pole position by heading “Group 2”, just bumping “Group 1” quick man Max Chilton across to the dirty side of the track.
** {note 2}
Cecotto Jr also headed practice, this time ahead of Davide Valsecchi, Fabio Leimer and Giedo van der Garde. There were few incidents, including a major dent for Esteban Gutierrez, who crashed into the St Devote barriers after only four minutes of running. Giancarlo Serenelli, van der Garde and Josef Kral all spun without making contact during the session.
2012 GP2 Round of Monaco (Rd 5, Feature Race, 42 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Johnny Cecotto Addax 59m42.521s
2. Marcus Ericsson iSport + 0.564s
3. Giedo van der Garde Caterham + 5.040s
4. Davide Valsecchi DAMS + 16.347s
5. Max Chilton Carlin + 17.378s
6. Jolyon Palmer iSport + 21.883s
7. James Calado Lotus + 25.685s
8. Stephane Richelmi Trident + 42.275s
9. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering + 45.319s
10. Stefano Coletti Coloni + 47.099s
11. Tom Dillmann Rapax + 51.285s
12. Simon Trummer Arden + 1m04.054s
13. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham + 1m21.395s
14. Rio Haryanto Carlin + 1m23.537s
15. Luiz Razia Arden + 1m23.639s
16. Victor Guerin Ocean + 1 lap
17. Felipe Nasr DAMS + 1 lap
18. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering + 1 lap
19. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus + 1 lap
20. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax + 1 lap
21. Julian Leal Trident + 2 laps
22. Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus + 2 laps
Retirements:
Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 37 laps
Nigel Melker Ocean 32 laps
Fabio Onidi Coloni 26 laps
Josef Kral Addax 0 laps
Sprint Race (May 26th)
Jolyon Palmer grabbed his first GP2 win following a crash intensive Sprint Race at Monaco. The iSport racer headed Max Chilton (Carlin) by one second, with Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde 3rd a further three seconds adrift.
Realistically, the race wasn’t especially close – and Palmer has James Calado to thank for that. A stellar start allowed the iSport racer to leap Calado and poleman Stephane Richelmi before reaching St Devote; however Calado was less successful with his move on Richelmi.
The Lotus pilot punted Richelmi in the rear, breaking his front wing while also forcing the Swiss racer out.
Despite his wounded car, Calado persisted in 2nd place ahead of Chilton until the stewards called the Englishman in for a change on lap 11, bringing Chilton in to 2nd spot. By then, Palmer and Chilton were already over ten seconds apart.
The gap may have been longer had it not been for a four-lap long safety car period following another smash on the opening lap, this time started by Feature Race victor Johnny Cecotto Jr.
As the field began to filter through Massenet, Cecotto lost the rear end, starting a violent chain reaction that took out not only the Venezuelan, but also seven other cars – most significantly series leader Davide Valsecchi.
A precious and expensive game of pinball developed as cars bounced into each other with enough violence to rip wheels, suspension units and carbon fibre other parts clean away. Most spectacularly was Felipe Nasr, who rammed the unsighted Victor Guerin in the rear, sending him briefly airborne.
All of these developments effectively gave the race to Palmer – although the Englishman still had do some work to take the win. The Englishman kept a measured gap to Chilton to the flag, allowing it to close mere tenths at a time with every tour.
Meanwhile, van der Garde – enjoying another quiet race – also drew toward the front, but did so without raising the alarm of the leading pair.
Behind van der Garde, it was predictably single file running, with iSport’s Marcus Ericsson claiming 4th ahead of the surprisingly quick Rodolfo Gonzalez (Caterham, 5th).
Luiz Razia (Arden) and Esteban Gutierrez (Lotus) spent the race swapping fastest lap times as they shot for the bonus two points – a fight won by Razia. They pair would come home 6th and 8th respectively, split by Nathanael Berthon (Racing Engineering).
Only twelve drivers managed to complete the thirty-lap distance. Arden’s Simon Trummer assumed the first non-points place in 9th, all the while holding Josef Kral (Barwa Addax, 10th), Rio Haryanto (Carlin, 11th) and Nigel Melker (ORT, 12th) at bay.
Calado eventually retired from 13th spot on lap 21 in what would be his first non-finish in any category of racing since April 3rd, 2010***.
*** {note 3}
Incredibly, James Calado‘s last race retirement came at the opening round of the 2010 British Formula 3 Series at Oulton Park. Calado did not actually start race two of the Magny Cours round the following month; however this does not count to his record, as the Briton did not take to the parade lap.
By Monaco, Calado’s run of consecutive finishes had reached fifty-six races.
2012 GP2 Round of Monaco (Rd 5, Sprint Race, 30 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Jolyon Palmer iSport 45m41.227s
2. Max Chilton Carlin + 1.083s
3. Giedo van der Garde Caterham + 4.426s
4. Marcus Ericsson iSport + 8.133s
5. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham + 19.968s
6. Luiz Razia Arden + 23.273s
7. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering + 26.376s
8. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus + 26.880s
9. Simon Trummer Arden + 31.663s
10. Josef Kral Addax + 35.338s
11. Rio Haryanto Carlin + 36.546s
12. Nigel Melker Ocean + 37.164s
Retirements:
James Calado Lotus 20 laps
Julian Leal Trident 12 laps
Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 8 laps
Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 8 laps
Stephane Richelmi Trident 0 laps
Davide Valsecchi DAMS 0 laps
Johnny Cecotto Addax 0 laps
Stefano Coletti Coloni 0 laps
Tom Dillmann Rapax 0 laps
Victor Guerin Ocean 0 laps
Felipe Nasr DAMS 0 laps
Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 0 laps
Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus 0 laps
Fabio Onidi Coloni 0 laps
2012 GP2 Series Points Standings (Rd 5) Drivers’ Championship Pos Driver Points 1. Davide Valsecchi 141 2. Luiz Razia 110 3. Giedo van der Garde 85 4. Max Chilton 79 5. James Calado 75 6. Esteban Gutierrez 60 7. Fabio Leimer 41 8. Marcus Ericsson 34 9. Johnny Cecotto Jr 31 10. Stefano Coletti 29 Teams’ Championship Pos Team Driver 1. DAMS 169 2. Lotus 135 3. Arden 111 4. Carlin 95 5. Caterham 91
