2012 Bahrain GP2 Series rounds

The 2012 Bahrain GP2 Series rounds were a series of GP2 Series motor races held at the Bahrain International Circuit as part of the 2012 GP2 Series season.^[1] The first round was held on 21 and 22 April, in support of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix. The second round was held one week later as an independent round of the championship, the only one of its kind on the 2012 calendar.

The rounds were the first time the GP2 Series has visited the Bahrain International Circuit since 2007. The circuit was a regular fixture on the calendar of the now-defunct GP2 Asia Series from its inception in 2008 until 2011, when the race was cancelled due to anti-government protests.^[2] With the GP2 Asia series being discontinued at the end of the 2011 season and merged into its parent series,^[3] the Bahrain International Circuit returned to the larger GP2 Series as part of the series' expansion to include fly-away rounds.

In the week before the first race, Barwa Addax driver Josef Král was replaced by Dani Clos.^[4] Brendon Hartley also replaced Ocean Racing Technology's Jon Lancaster.^[5]

DAMS driver Davide Valsecchi qualified on pole for the first feature race, and won both the feature and sprint races. Valsecchi also won the second feature race, with Rapax driver Tom Dillmann taking his first GP2 Series win in the second sprint.

Classification (first round)

   2012 First Bahrain GP2 round

Round details
Round 2 of 12 rounds in the 2012 GP2 Series season
Location	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.412 km (3.359 mi)
GP2 Series
Feature race
Date	21 April 2012
Laps	32
Pole position
Driver	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Time	1:41.200
Podium
First	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Second	Luiz Razia	Arden International
Third	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP
Fastest lap
Driver	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Time	1:44.380 (on lap 25)
Sprint race
Date	22 April 2012
Laps	23
Podium
First	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Second	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP
Third	James Calado	Lotus GP
Fastest lap
Driver	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing
Time	1:45.650 (on lap 3)

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Grid
1	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	1:41.200	1
2	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	1:41.479	2
3	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	1:41.785	3
4	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	1:41.798	4
5	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	1:41.858	5
6	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	1:41.862	6
7	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	1:41.933	17^1
8	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	1:41.939	7
9	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	1:41.962	8
10	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	1:41.980	9
11	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	1:42.097	10
12	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	1:42.139	11
13	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	1:42.156	12
14	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax Team	1:42.158	13
15	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	1:42.190	14
16	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	1:42.374	15
17	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	1:42.409	16
18	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	1:42.427	18
19	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	1:42.456	19
20	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:42.706	20
21	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	1:42.782	26^2
22	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	1:42.853	21
23	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	1:42.895	22
24	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	1:43.014	23
25	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:43.907	24
26	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	1:44.078	25

Notes:

• ^1 — Marcus Ericsson was given a ten-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Davide Valsecchi at Sepang.^[6]
• ^2 — Brendon Hartley received a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Giedo van der Garde during the qualifying session.^[7]

Feature Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	32	59:31.115	1	31 (25+4+2)
2	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	32	+7.770	8	18
3	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	32	+13.528	2	15
4	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	32	+14.088	9	12
5	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	32	+16.278	7	10
6	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	32	+16.559	14	8
7	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	32	+17.243	4	6
8	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	32	+28.109	15	4
9	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	32	+32.846	10	2
10	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	32	+36.093	26	1
11	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	32	+37.377	6
12	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	32	+38.677	19
13	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	32	+40.627	17
14	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	32	+41.009	20
15	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	32	+44.028	16
16	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	32	+44.552	23
17	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	32	+47.776	25
18	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	32	+52.464	24
19	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax Team	30	Brakes^3	13
20	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	30	Accident damage^3	22
21	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	29	Accident damage^3	18
Ret	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	16	Collision	5
Ret	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	16	Collision	3
Ret	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	16	Accident damage	11
Ret	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	2	Collision	21
DNS	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International		Electrical	12
Fastest lap: Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) — 1:44.380 (lap 25)

Notes:

• ^3 — Dani Clos, Nigel Melker and Nathanaël Berthon were classified as having finished the race, as they had completed 90% of the winners race distance.

Sprint race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	22	39:22.363	8	15
2	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	22	+0.399	6	12
3	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	22	+10.617	4	10
4	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	22	+12.463	7	8
5	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	22	+13.573	5	6
6	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	22	+15.414	26^4	4
7	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	22	+22.950	25	2
8	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	22	+30.425	16	1
9	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	22	+31.976	23	2
10	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	22	+32.545	3^7
11	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax Team	22	+32.632	19
12	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	22	+32.856	2
13	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	22	+36.275	17
14	15	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	22	+36.477	1
15	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	22	+39.988	9
16	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	22	+40.386	13
17	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	22	+47.410	12
18	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	22	+56.196	20
19	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	22	+59.488	14
20	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	22	+1:53.295	18
21	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	22	+2:12.968^5	15
22	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax Team	21	Retired^6	22
23	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	20	Retired^6	24
Ret	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	15	Retired	21
Ret	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	2	Retired	10
Ret	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	0	Retired	11
Fastest lap: Giedo van der Garde (Caterham Racing) — 1:45.650 (lap 3)

Notes:

• ^4 — Felipe Nasr was given a five-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Johnny Cecotto Jr. in the feature race. He later started from the pit lane.^[8]
• ^5 — Rodolfo González received a post-race 20-second penalty.
• ^6 — Johnny Cecotto Jr. and Stefano Coletti were both classified as having finished the race, as they had completed 90% of the winners race distance.
• ^7 — Tom Dillmann started from the pit lane.

Classification (second round)

   2012 Second Bahrain GP2 round

Round details
Round 3 of 12 rounds in the 2012 GP2 Series season
Location	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.412 km (3.359 mi)
GP2 Series
Feature race
Date	27 April 2012
Laps	32
Pole position
Driver	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing
Time	1:42.451
Podium
First	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Second	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering
Third	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing
Fastest lap
Driver	James Calado	Lotus GP
Time	1:43.964 (on lap 28)
Sprint race
Date	28 April 2012
Laps	23
Podium
First	Tom Dillmann	Rapax
Second	Luiz Razia	Arden International
Third	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS
Fastest lap
Driver	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International
Time	1:46.064 (on lap 2)

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Grid
1	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	1:42.451	1
2	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	1:42.596	2
3	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	1:42.619	3
4	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	1:42.628	4
5	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	1:42.691	5
6	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	1:42.839	6
7	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	1:42.951	7
8	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax	1:43.080	8
9	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	1:43.124	9
10	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	1:43.163	10
11	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	1:43.172	11
12	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	1:43.206	12
13	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	1:43.213	13
14	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	1:43.219	14
15	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:43.311	15
16	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	1:43.328	16
17	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	1:43.391	17
18	14	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	1:43.447	18
19	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	1:43.453	19
20	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax	1:43.599	20
21	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	1:43.659	21
22	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	1:43.757	22
23	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	1:43.929	23
24	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	1:44.100	24
25	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	1:44.850	25
26	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	1:45.036	26

Feature race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	32	57:35.088	2	27 (25+2)
2	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	32	+7.711	3	18
3	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	32	+14.824	1	19 (15+4)
4	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	32	+24.142	6	12
5	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	32	+24.705	4	10
6	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	32	+40.965	5	8
7	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	32	+50.645	9	6
8	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	32	+52.522	10	4
9	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax	32	+55.578	20	2
10	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	32	+56.211	13	1
11	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	32	+1:05.772^7	11
12	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	32	+1:06.906	16
13	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	32	+1:07.254	14
14	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	32	+1:15.486	23
15	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	32	+1:16.363	21
16	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	32	+1:20.506	22
17	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	32	+1:21.441	24
18	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	32	+1:29.206^7	7
19	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	32	+1:29.955	19
20	14	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	32	+1:47.146	18
21	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	31	+1 lap	12
22	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	31	+1 lap	26
23	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	31	+1 lap	25
24	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	30	Retired^8	17
Ret	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	24	Retired	15
Ret	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax	8	Retired	8
Fastest lap: James Calado (Lotus GP) — 1:43.964 (lap 28)

Notes:

• ^7 — Felipe Nasr and Rodolfo González were both issued with twenty-second time penalties after the race for ignoring yellow flags.^[9]
• ^8 — Jolyon Palmer was classified as having finished the race, as he had completed 90% of the winners race distance.

Sprint race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	21	Tom Dillmann	Rapax	23	41:16.276	1	15
2	23	Luiz Razia	Arden International	23	+0.198	5	14 (12+2)
3	3	Davide Valsecchi	DAMS	23	+3.958	8	10
4	10	Esteban Gutiérrez	Lotus GP	23	+16.488	10	8
5	4	Felipe Nasr	DAMS	23	+18.602	11	6
6	27	Rio Haryanto	Carlin	23	+20.425	3	4
7	7	Marcus Ericsson	iSport International	23	+26.294	2	2
8	5	Fabio Leimer	Racing Engineering	23	+29.605	7	1
9	14	Fabio Onidi	Scuderia Coloni	23	+33.490	20
10	6	Nathanaël Berthon	Racing Engineering	23	+34.078	12
11	25	Nigel Melker	Ocean Racing Technology	23	+43.463	19
12	9	James Calado	Lotus GP	23	+44.371	16
13	26	Max Chilton	Carlin	23	+46.743	4
14	17	Julián Leal	Trident Racing	23	+47.439	15
15	11	Rodolfo González	Caterham Racing	23	+54.991	18
16	24	Brendon Hartley	Ocean Racing Technology	23	+59.764	13
17	16	Stéphane Richelmi	Trident Racing	23	+1:00.655	17
18	14	Stefano Coletti	Scuderia Coloni	23	+1:02.090	21
19	12	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Racing	23	+1:02.632	6
20	20	Ricardo Teixeira	Rapax	23	+1:07.468	23
21	19	Giancarlo Serenelli	Venezuela GP Lazarus	23	+1:08.293	22
22	8	Jolyon Palmer	iSport International	23	+1:18.688	24
23	18	Fabrizio Crestani	Venezuela GP Lazarus	23	+1:26.049	26^9
24	22	Simon Trummer	Arden International	21	Retired^10	14
Ret	2	Dani Clos	Barwa Addax	19	Retired	25
Ret	1	Johnny Cecotto Jr.	Barwa Addax	0	Retired	9
Fastest lap: Jolyon Palmer (iSport International) — 1:46.064 (lap 2)

Notes:

• ^9 — Fabrizio Crestani was given a five grid position penalty for ignoring yellow flags during Feature race.^[9]
• ^10 — Simon Trummer was classified as having finished the race, as he had completed 90% of the winners race distance.

Standings after the rounds

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Davide Valsecchi 107 1 2 Luiz Razia 83 1 3 Esteban Gutiérrez 54 2 4 Max Chilton 45 2 5 Fabio Leimer 41

Teams' Championship standings Pos Team Points 1 DAMS 135 2 Lotus GP 93 3 Arden International 84 4 Carlin 61 5 Racing Engineering 42

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. Collantine, Keith (16 December 2011). "GP2 to support F1 in Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 25 March 2012.
2. "Bahrain withdraw from 2011 GP2 Asia Series calendar". GP2 Series (GP2 Motorsport Limited). 21 February 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
3. Collantine, Keith (12 July 2011). "GP2 to drop Asia Series in 2012". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 25 March 2012.
4. Allen, Peter (18 April 2012). "Clos replaces Kral at Addax for Bahrain". The Checkered Flag (BlackEagleMedia Network). Retrieved 18 April 2012.
5. "Brendon Hartley rejoint Ocean" [Brendon Hartley joins Ocean]. AUTOhebdo (in French) (Groupe Hommell). 19 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
6. "Ericsson handed a 10 place grid penalty". GP2 Series.com (GP2 Series Ltd.). 25 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
7. "Hartley issued with five place grid penalty". GP2 Series.com (GP2 Series Ltd.). 20 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
8. "Felipe Nasr given five-place grid penalty for GP2 sprint race". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 21 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
9. "Sakhir post Feature Race penalties". GP2 Series (GP2 Series Limited). 27 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.

External links

• GP2 Series official website – Results