GP2: Haryanto claims first win in Bahrain sprint

Campos Racing's Rio Haryanto claimed his first GP2 victory on his 70th start in the category in the Bahrain sprint race.

The Indonesian lined up seventh on the reversed grid after finishing second in Saturday's feature race, making a good start to move up to third on the opening lap. Haryanto passed Mitch Evans for second on the approach to Turn 1 on lap four with the assistance of the new-for-2015 DRS. He then reeled in Carlin driver Julian Leal, who had started on pole position, taking the lead at the end of the start/finish straight on lap eight.

Haryanto was able to extend his lead thereafter while a fierce battle raged behind him, taking care to manage his medium-compound Pirellis to win by three seconds.

Stoffel Vandoorne, who won the feature race, came through from eighth to finish second. The Belgian took a cautious approach to the early stages of the race in traffic in order to preserve his tires and drove intelligently to work his way up the order as others fell back.

Having moved past ART Grand Prix team-mate Nobuharu Matsushita to take second on lap 17 with the assistance of the DRS on the main straight, it initially seemed Vandoorne had the pace to reel in Haryanto. But the Indonesian had managed his Pirellis to perfection and was able to stabilize the gap.

Nathanael Berthon, who started on the front row of the grid but made a poor start and was shuffled back to eighth on the first lap, drove a canny race to take third for the Lazarus team. The Frenchman sat back but was able to make rapid progress in the closing stages as others struggled for grip on fading rubber, eventually passing Alexander Rossi on the start/finish straight for the final podium slot on the final lap.

With Rossi fourth, early race leader Leal came back to take fifth, passing Matsushita on the final lap as the Japanese rookie struggled with his tires.

Robert Visoiu claimed seventh place after running as high as second before he too dropped back while struggling for grip, prevailing in a battle with Andre Negrao for the final two points positions.

Jordan King finished ninth after a clash early in the race with Sergio Canamasas, with Arthur Pic, who started 21st after being eliminated from the feature race, coming through to 10th.

Evans, who was in the thick of the battle for the podium early on, finished 17th after suffering a puncture in a clash with Leal.

RESULTS - 23 LAPS:

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Originally on Autosport.com