Rapax driver Stefano Coletti claimed the GP2 Sprint Race ahead of the hard charging Robin Frijns and Felipe Nasr.
The Monegasque racer enjoyed a terrific start, to jump from the third row to the lead, but needed to fend off the intentions of Johnny Cecotto Jr in the process.
A poor couple of corners dropped Cecotto Jr to 4th behind the super quick Frijns and Nasr, both whom rose from 8th and 7th on the grid respectively.
Coletti maintained a narrow gap over Frijns throughout the running, although the Dutch racer did fall at least 4.7s behind the leader one point.
Having preserved his tyres in the middle stint, Frijns drew back to the rear of Coletti in the final laps; however the Hilmer Motorsport racer could not budge passed the Rapax, ensuring Coletti a margin of 0.6s at the flag.
It is a victory that allows Coletti to extend his championship lead over Nasr to 17 points.
Nasr enjoyed a solid run to 3rd to continue his run of consistent top four finishes. In the early laps, the Brazilian made a gap while Cecotto Jr dropped behind, allowing Nasr to keep solid pace as the race aged.
The next spot would eventually be taken by Carlin’s Jolyon Palmer. The Briton continues his upward turn of form, as he lept Kevin Ceccon and Alexander Rossi at bay in the opening half of the race, before slotting by Cecotto Jr with six laps remaining to take 4th, quickly pulling clear of the Venezuelan.
For Cecotto Jr, his race was once again became shrouded in controversy. With his Pirelli’s destroyed, the Arden racer weaved and cut across several competitors, before clashing with Sergio Canamasas in an attempt to hold him behind on the penultimate tour.
With Canamasas stumped for pace, a squeezed Rio Haryanto could do little but run into the rear Canamasas, as a pack of at least twelve cars closed into a tight bunch in the final chicane.
Haryanto would gain a ten-place grid penalty for Monaco’s Feature Race as a result – harsh considering the circumstances. Although slightly damaged, Cecotto Jr continued to claim 5th at the flag. His collision with Canamasas was deemed a racing incident; however it could have easily avoided had a touch a sensibility prevailed.
Amidst the chaos that formed behind the Cecotto Jr / Canamasas / Haryanto mess, Rossi took 6th ahead of Ceccon, with Daniel Abt sneaking from 12th to 8th on the final lap to pick up the final point.
Fabio Leimer took 9th ahead of Jon Lancaster 10th; as the field sorted itself out while James Calado and Sam Bird tiptoed through the mess to secure 11th and 12th respectively.
In a heart stopping moment at the race start, Tom Dillmann stalled on the grid, with the field around the Frenchman somehow missing him by inches.
2013 GP2 Series round of Barcelona (Rd 3, Sprint Race; 26 laps) Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Stefano Coletti Rapax 41m49.895s 2. Robin Frijns Hilmer + 0.691s 3. Felipe Nasr Carlin + 7.212s 4. Jolyon Palmer Carlin + 12.129s 5. Johnny Cecotto Jr Arden + 35.593s 6. Alexander Rossi Caterham + 36.991s 7. Kevin Ceccon Trident + 38.483s 8. Daniel Abt ART + 39.645s 9. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering + 40.664s 10. Jon Lancaster Hilmer + 41.353s 11. James Calado ART + 41.464s 12. Sam Bird Russian Time + 41.876s 13. Mitch Evans Arden + 42.520s 14. Sergio Canamasas Caterham + 44.190s 15. Stephane Richelmi DAMS + 44.277s 16. Simon Trummer Rapax + 44.487s 17. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus + 44.628s 18. Daniel de Jong MP + 45.041s 19. Rene Binder Lazarus + 48.132s 20. Marcus Ericsson DAMS + 53.650s 21. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP + 53.938s 22. Jake Rosenzweig Addax + 1m02.518s 23. Nathanael Berthon Trident + 1m06.632s 24. Rio Haryanto Addax + 1m25.590s 25. Julian Leal Racing Engineering + 1 lap 26. Tom Dillmann Russian Time + 1 lap
2013 GP2 Series round of Barcelona (Rd 3, Sprint Race) Pos Driver Points 1. Stefano Coletti 93 2. Felipe Nasr 76 3. Fabio Leimer 54 4. Robin Frijns 37 5. Sam Bird 33 6. Jolyon Palmer 31 7. Alexander Rossi 27 8. James Calado 24 9. Tom Dillmann 22 10. Johnny Cecotto Jr 19 Pos Team Points 1. Carlin 107 2. Rapax 101 3. Racing Engineering 64 4. Hilmer Motorsport 56 5. Russian Time 55
