Sorensen claims first GP2 victory

Marco Sorensen scored his first GP2 Series victory at Sochi in Russia on Sunday, keeping his cool despite a late-race safety car.

Making only his 12th start in the series after joining MP Motorsport mid-season, Sorensen made a great start from reversed-grid pole position, which he inherited from the penalized Julian Leal after they clashed in Saturday's feature race.

ART's Vandoorne grabbed second, but straightlined Turn 3, and felt compelled to give a position back to front row starter Sergio Canamasas to avoid the same penalty that Felipe Nasr was given on Saturday.

Vandoorne tracked Canamasas's every move over the first 12 laps, but didn't have the straightline speed to line up a move into Turn 2. Canamasas was then forced to retire on lap 13 with a mechanical failure on his Trident car, which promoted Vandoorne to the runner-up spot.

Mitch Evans inherited third for the Russian Time team, after Leal was again penalized, this time for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Turn 2 on the opening lap after a rocket-like start had promoted him from ninth to fourth.

Despite the late safety car, which led to a two-lap dash to the finish, Vandoorne could do nothing to challenge Sorensen. But the safety car, which was called out to retrieve Raffaele Marciello's car that had hit the wall after contact with Artem Markelov had given him a puncture, proved costly for Evans. He lost a podium spot at the restart as Nasr, who started way back in 17th, charged past him with a great move through the opening corners.

Behind Evans, Arthur Pic claimed fifth, ahead of Andre Negrao, Kimiya Sato and Stefano Coletti, who finished eighth from 25th on the grid.

New champion Jolyon Palmer also mounted a superb recovery drive after he was punted into a half spin at the second corner. He charged through to 10th from last place.

RESULTS - 21 LAPS: