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| April 04, 2009 |
| GP2 Asia: Nunes Scores First Series Win in Malaysia |
 | Diego Nunes scored the first GP2 Asia Series win for Piquet GP in Malaysia
(Photo: GP2 Series Media Services) |
Fast and consistent since the beginning of the Malaysian round, Diego Nunes took an impressive first victory for Piquet GP on Saturday afternoon (April 4) in the feature race at the Sepang International Circuit.
Poleman Jérôme d'Ambrosio at Dams unfortunately returned to the pits after his reconnaissance lap following a driveshaft failure due to a manufacturing glitch. Nunes hence found himself effectively on pole alongside Super Nova Racing's James Jakes. At the start however, both men were slow to get away, while Jakes' teammate, Javier Villa stalled. Starting from sixth, Barwa International Campos Team's Vitaly Petrov found his way up to second place with Pastor Maldonado in an ART Frand Prix car in tow. Championship leader Kamui Kobayashi kept his position ahead of Ocean Racing Technology's Yelmer Buurman.
As Nunes took a comfortable lead, behind him Maldonado ran wide, allowing Kobayashi, Buurman and Jakes to pass him. The Brit from Super Nova then overtook Buurman for fourth place. Petrov, slightly slower than the rest of the cars behind him, tried to resist as much as possible to the charges of an impatient Kobayashi. Frustrated, the Dams driver decided to pit early on lap seven. On track, Petrov made a small mistake letting Jakes back in second place. Two laps later, Buurman passed the Russian who pitted soon after that.
Jakes decided to obverse his mandatory pitstop on lap 12 and came out of the pits right behind Kobayashi. The race leader came in one lap later with enough time to get back on track ahead of his closest rivals. Meanwhile, the lead was handed to GFH Team iSport's Hamad Al Fardan who waited until lap 18 to pit. At that point, Nunes got back into the lead and cruised to his first GP2 victory.
In second place, Kobayashi held on his position, under constant pressure from Jakes, but the Super Nova race pilot never found a way past the Japanese sriver. A late pitstop allowed Roldan Rodriguez in the second Piquet GP car to grab fourth place, ahead of Buurman, the Dutch driving scoring Ocean Racing Technology's first GP2 points.
The GP2 Asia Series resumes on April 5, with the Sprint race in Malaysia. Durango's Davide Valsecchi, having finished eight in the Features race will start from the pole position.
GP2 Asia Series
Round #9 - Race Results
April 4, 2009
Sepang International Circuit - Sepang, Malaysia
| Pos. | Driver | Team| 1. | Diego Nunes | Piquet GP | | 2. | Kamui Kobayashi | Dams | | 3. | James Jakes | Super Nova Racing | | 4. | Roldan Rodriguez | Piquet GP | | 5. | Yelmer Buurman | Ocean Racing Technology | | 6. | Vitaly Petrov | Barwa International Campos Team | | 7. | Pastor Maldonado | ART Grand Prix | | 8. | Davide Valsecchi | Durango | | 9. | Hamad Al Fardan | GFH Team iSport | | 10. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Fisichella Motor Sport International | | 11. | Alvaro Parente | My Qi-Meritus.Mahara | | 12. | Sakon Yamamoto | ART Grand Prix | | 13. | Michael Herck | DPR | | 14. | Giedo van der Garde | GFH Team iSport | | 15. | Fabrizio Crestani | Ocean Racing Technology | | 16. | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | | 17. | Ricardo Teixeira | Trident Racing | | 18. | Michael Dalle Stelle | Durango | | 19. | Javier Villa | Super Nova Racing | | 20. | Kevin Nai Chia Chen | Fisichella Motor Sport International | | DNF | Marco Bonanomi | My Qi-Meritus.Mahara | | DNF | Sergio Perez | Barwa International Campos Team | | DNF | Luiz Razia | Arden International Motorsport | | DNF | Edoardo Mortara | Arden International Motorsport | | DNF | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | Dams | | DNF | Davide Rigon | Trident Racing | |
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