Arden's Luiz Razia claimed victory in the opening race of the 2012 GP2 season in Malaysia this morning, taking advantage of pole-sitter Davide Valsecchi's poor getaway at the start of the 30-lap race. The latter ultimately wound up in second place, while Britain's Max Chilton earned Carlin its first podium finish in the series.
After his slow launch, Valsecchi slipped back to fourth, but was able to carve his way back through the field and set about attacking leader Razia. However, the latter soon replied and put any chance of a position change to bed, with Valsecchi having to settle for the runner-up spot. Behind Chilton, Fabio Leimer held off Stefano Coletti for fourth.
The title of best rookie went to Felipe Nasr who guided his DAMS machine to sixth place, ahead of a much improved Esteban Gutiérrez and Britain's James Calado. Giedo van der Garde and Fabrizio Crestani rounded out the top ten, while strong starter Jolyon Palmer missed out on points after stalling on the grid.
Sunday's Sprint Race begins at 2.15pm local time (BST +8)
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Luiz Razia
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Razia | Arden | 50:00.250 |
| 2. | D. Valsecchi | DAMS | +7.817 |
| 3. | M. Chilton | Carlin | +27.366 |
| 4. | F. Leimer | Racing Engin. | +28.291 |
| 5. | S. Coletti | Coloni | +0.217 |
| 6. | F. Nasr | DAMS | +33.378 |
| 7. | E. Gutiérrez | Lotus | +33.679 |
| 8. | J. Calado | Lotus | +36.449 |
| 9. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | +41.519 |
| 10. | F. Crestani | Lazarus | +43.240 |
| Full results | |||
| Luiz Razia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Luiz Razia photos | |||
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