GP2: Perez powers to fourth victory

Sergio Perez on way to GP2 victory at Spa

Aug.29 (GP2 Series) Mexican Sergio  Perez  has  kept  his  championship  aspirations  alive  with  a  dominant  victory  in  this morning’s sprint race at Spa Francorchamps, claiming the lead on the first race and controlling his rivals through 3  restarts  to  take  his  fourth  win  of  the  season  ahead  of  teammate  Giedo  van  der  Garde  and Alvaro Parente.

Spa podium: Winner Sergio Perez (middle) celebrates his victory with second placed team mate Giedo Van der Garde (left) and third placed Alvaro Parente (right)

The win was set up at the start when Perez made a good start to slot in behind polesitter Rodolfo Gonzalez into the first corner, picked up a good tow up the hill and slingshot past for a lead that he  was  never  going  to  relinquish,  with  Oliver  Turvey  just  behind  the  pair  and  ahead  of  the Charles Pic / Luca Filippi / van der Garde skirmish: the Italian tapped the back of his French rival at the bus stop and lost his front wing, giving the Dutchman a line through and prompting a safety car to allow the marshals to pick up the debris.

At the restart van der Garde, who had sliced by Pic just before the SC board was shown, was soon moving up another spot as he clinically disposed of Turvey at the end of the top straight, with  Parente  repeating  the  move  one  lap  later.

Unfortunately  Christian  Vietoris  ran  wide  just behind them and lost the car over the kerbs, finding the wall and bringing the safety car out for another visit. At the restart van der Garde made a big move inside Gonzalez at the first corner, but was too deep and couldn’t make it stick: he lined up right behind the Venezuelan with Parente on his tail, the Dutchman went left and the Portuguese driver to the right of Gonzalez as they blasted past, with van der Garde the last man to brake as he pinched second behind his teammate.

A  couple  of  laps  later  and  Pic  was  pushing  hard  to  get  by  Turvey,  but  repeated  Vietoris’  early mistake and made a heavy impact into the wall: the safety car had to stay out for a few laps as the marshals struggled to rebuild the tyre barriers and get the race restarted. When the race finally went live Perez pushed hard to stay ahead of his teammate: the fastest lap of the race for Perez and a small mistake by van der Garde secured the  win  for the Mexican, who scored maximum points with Maldonado stopping on the first lap with a mechanical gremlin.

Van der Garde made it a one-two for Addax, while Parente claimed his second podium on his first weekend back in the series. Gonzalez held on for a strong fourth position, with Turvey right behind him and Romain Grosjean cleaning up the final point of the day. With  Monza  just  days  away  the  championship  continues  to  swing  back  and  forth  between Maldonado and Perez: the Venezuelan leads with 87 points to 60, but with 40 points on offer for the final two races all eyes will be on the leading pair in qualifying next Friday.