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Spa GP2: Rossi leads home King for first win of 2015

Alexander Rossi took an overdue first GP2 victory of the season in the sprint race at Spa, leading home Racing Engineering teammate Jordan King.

Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering

Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering

GP2 Series Media Service

Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering
Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering
The safety car leads Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering and Mitch Evans, RUSSIAN TIME
Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering
Stoffel Vandoorne, ART Grand Prix
Alexander Rossi, Racing Engineering
Mitch Evans, RUSSIAN TIME

From third on the grid, Rossi surged into the lead on the opening lap, jumping ahead of Nathanael Berthon at the start before slipping past poleman King as the Briton ran wide exiting Les Combes.

King was able to remain in close company for much of the race, but never looked like re-taking the lead, settling into second behind his more experienced teammate.

Rossi survived a late restart after a Virtual Safety Car period, caused by a spin into the gravel at Stavelot for Arthur Pic, for his first win since Abu Dhabi in 2013 and Racing Engineering's first since the end of last season.

Behind the leading duo, feature race winner Stoffel Vandoorne had gone from eighth on the grid to third after dispatching Berthon at Les Combes just after half-distance, and looked like threatening the Racing Engineering cars ahead until he suffered a ferocious lock-up at the final chicane after the VSC restart.

That gave Mitch Evans, who passed Berthon a lap after Vandoorne, the opportunity to close, and after coming close to passing the points leader on the penultimate lap, the Kiwi was able to make the move with the help of DRS on the final tour.

Vandoorne crossed the line in fourth, ahead of Artem Markelov, who held off Sergey Sirotkin in a spirited all-Russian battle for sixth before passing Berthon for fifth.

Berthon then fell prey to Sirotkin at the final chicane on the last lap to fall to seventh, with Alex Lynn overcoming Sergio Canamasas for the final point.

Julian Leal meanwhile, despite running as high as fourth early on, found himself a sitting duck along the Kemmel Straight with no working DRS, and was shuffled down to 11th by the finish.

Race results:

Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap
Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 38'26.855
Jordan King Racing Engineering 1.507
Mitch Evans RUSSIAN TIME 3.225
Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 4.462
Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 11.642
Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 13.573
Nathanael Berthon Daiko Team Lazarus 13.770
Alex Lynn DAMS 14.383
Sergio Canamasas Daiko Team Lazarus 15.147
10  Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 18.340
11  Julian Leal Carlin 18.954
12  Raffaele Marciello Trident 20.281
13  Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 25.418
14  Andre Negrao Arden International 25.548
15  Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 25.864
16  Robert Visoiu Rapax 27.269
17  Nick Yelloly Hilmer Motorsport 27.986
18  Gustav Malja Trident 29.040
19  Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 34.546
20  Norman Nato Arden International 36.590
21  Sean Gelael Carlin 41.816
Ret Oliver Rowland MP Motorsport  
Ret Arthur Pic Campos Racing  
Ret Pierre Gasly DAMS  

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