# 2010 Valencia GP2 Series round

The 2010 Valencia GP2 Series round was a GP2 Series motor race held on June 26 and June 27, 2010 at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. It was the fourth round of the 2010 GP2 Series. The race was used to support the 2010 European Grand Prix.

## Report
### Feature Race

Pastor Maldonado strengthened his championship aspirations after winning a bizarre feature race at Valencia. The Rapax driver got past ART's Jules Bianchi at the start to go into the first corner in second place behind polesitter Sergio Pérez, but a series of accidents behind him eliminated nearly half the field in the first four corners. A safety car was brought out while the mess was cleaned up and just 13 of the 24 cars were still on the track for the restart three laps later, although Ocean's Fabio Leimer and Trident's Adrian Zaugg were also able to rejoin after pitting for repairs. But there was more drama to come before the race returned to green. Maldonado went wide at the final corner and Bianchi, taking advantage of the fact that the safety car line is before the start-finish line, was able to take the Venezuelan by surprise and pass him for second. Bianchi made a successful move on Pérez for the lead not long afterwards, but Davide Valsecchi's attempt to follow him through resulted in contact with Pérez that spun the Addax car and left the Mexican at the back of the field. Valsecchi was later handed a drive-through penalty for his part in the incident. Maldonado piled the pressure on Bianchi until the ART driver ran wide, and then gradually pulled away to secure the win by 8.2s. Bianchi followed him for second and Sam Bird made it an ART 2-3 by finishing third; the Brit having started from 10th on the grid. Giedo van der Garde (Addax) and Dani Clos (Racing Engineering) had an uneventful run to fourth and fifth, while Charles Pic (Arden), Marcus Ericsson (Super Nova) and Michael Herck (DPR) chased each other around to complete the points. It was a particularly welcome result for Ericsson, whose efforts finally helped Super Nova to get its first points of the year. There was one more bit of drama awaiting Pérez when he went to leave the pits and found Coloni's Alberto Valerio pulling out ahead of him with the rear jack still attached. It flew off at turn 4, fortunately bouncing out of Pérez's path and instead wiping out a TV camera mounted on the catch fencing.

### Sprint Race

Marcus Ericsson took his first-ever GP2 win in the sprint race in Valencia. The Swede took the lead at the start by beating pole-sitter Michael Herck into the first corner, but faced a determined challenge from Giedo van der Garde over the last two laps. Despite van der Garde's apparent speed advantage, Ericsson did just enough to keep him at bay. While the win was a welcome change of form for the Super Nova team after a tough start to the season, there is also concern within the squad after Ericsson's teammate Josef Kral was taken to hospital following a huge accident on lap three. The Czech driver ran into the back of Arden's Rodolfo González and was launched skyward before landing on his gearbox and slamming into the Turn 17 barriers at high speed. He was taken to Hospital complaining of pain in his back and right arm, but was found to be unharmed seriously. He would return to GP2 at the last round of the season in Abu Dhabi. The accident prompted several laps behind the safety car, which eventually led to the race being flagged several laps before schedule due to time limitations. Herck held on to third, although he needed to shove Pastor Maldonado aside on the run to the finish line in order to do it, while Charles Pic and Davide Valsecchi scored the final points. Sergio Pérez endured another disastrous race; the Mexican being one of several victims of opening lap damage when he was hit by Alberto Valerio. He lost a lap but found himself out of sequence behind the safety car and spent the middle part of the race running fourth on the road ahead of title rival Maldonado. Pérez had just enough time to produce the fastest lap of the race - by a full second - before he was dealt a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Name | Team | Time | Grid |
| 1 | 4 | Sergio Pérez | Barwa Addax Team | 1:45.337 | 1 |
| 2 | 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax | 1:45.462 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Jules Bianchi | ART Grand Prix | 1:45.658 | 3 |
| 4 | 10 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | 1:45.898 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:45.995 | 5 |
| 6 | 26 | Michael Herck | DPR | 1:46.117 | 6 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Pic | Arden International Motorsport | 1:46.171 | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 1:46.263 | 8 |
| 9 | 27 | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | 1:46.358 | 9 |
| 10 | 2 | Sam Bird | ART Grand Prix | 1:46.362 | 10 |
| 11 | 7 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:46.478 | 11 |
| 12 | 24 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Trident Racing | 1:46.504 | 12 |
| 13 | 20 | Alberto Valerio | Scuderia Coloni | 1:46.508 | 13 |
| 14 | 14 | Luiz Razia | Rapax | 1:46.518 | 14 |
| 15 | 25 | Adrian Zaugg | Trident Racing | 1:46.532 | 15 |
| 16 | 9 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | 1:46.633 | 16 |
| 17 | 5 | Josef Král | Super Nova Racing | 1:46.709 | 17 |
| 18 | 11 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | DAMS | 1:46.743 | 18 |
| 19 | 6 | Marcus Ericsson | Super Nova Racing | 1:46.756 | 24 |
| 20 | 12 | Ho-Pin Tung | DAMS | 1:46.780 | 19 |
| 21 | 21 | Vladimir Arabadzhiev | Scuderia Coloni | 1:46.868 | 20 |
| 22 | 17 | Rodolfo González | Arden International Motorsport | 1:46.953 | 21 |
| 23 | 19 | Fabio Leimer | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:47.011 | 22 |
| 24 | 18 | Max Chilton | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:47.054 | 23 |
Notes
    1.^ - Marcus Ericsson received a ten-place grid penalty because of a collision with Adrian Zaugg in Istanbul.

### Feature Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax | 30 | 0:56:55.681 | 2 | 10 + 1 |
| 2 | 1 | Jules Bianchi | ART Grand Prix | 30 | +8.296 | 3 | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | Sam Bird | ART Grand Prix | 30 | +16.094 | 10 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 30 | +16.788 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 7 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 30 | +38.974 | 11 | 4 |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Pic | Arden International Motorsport | 30 | +42.415 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | 6 | Marcus Ericsson | Super Nova Racing | 30 | +42.914 | 24 | 2 |
| 8 | 26 | Michael Herck | DPR | 30 | +43.722 | 6 | 1 |
| 9 | 20 | Alberto Valerio | Scuderia Coloni | 30 | +48.508 | 13 | |
| 10 | 10 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | 30 | +50.411 | 4 | |
| 11 | 4 | Sergio Pérez | Barwa Addax Team | 30 | +51.308 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 30 | +55.338 | 8 | |
| 13 | 21 | Vladimir Arabadzhiev | Scuderia Coloni | 29 | +1 lap/DNF | 20 | |
| 14 | 25 | Adrian Zaugg | Trident Racing | 29 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| Ret | 19 | Fabio Leimer | Ocean Racing Technology | 25 | Retired | 22 | |
| Ret | 27 | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | 0 | Retired | 9 | |
| Ret | 24 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Trident Racing | 0 | Retired | 12 | |
| Ret | 14 | Luiz Razia | Rapax | 0 | Retired | 14 | |
| Ret | 9 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | 0 | Retired | 16 | |
| Ret | 5 | Josef Král | Super Nova Racing | 0 | Retired | 17 | |
| Ret | 11 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | DAMS | 0 | Retired | 18 | |
| Ret | 12 | Ho-Pin Tung | DAMS | 0 | Retired | 19 | |
| Ret | 17 | Rodolfo González | Arden International Motorsport | 0 | Retired | 21 | |
| Ret | 18 | Max Chilton | Ocean Racing Technology | 0 | Retired | 23 | |

### Sprint Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 6 | Marcus Ericsson | Super Nova Racing | 22 | 0:45:33.442 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 3 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 22 | +0.883 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | 26 | Michael Herck | DPR | 22 | +5.120 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Rapax | 22 | +5.292 | 8 | 3 + 1 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Pic | Arden International Motorsport | 22 | +9.233 | 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 10 | Davide Valsecchi | iSport International | 22 | +17.778 | 10 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 22 | +18.315 | 4 | |
| 8 | 11 | Jérôme d'Ambrosio | DAMS | 22 | +18.910 | 19 | |
| 9 | 21 | Vladimir Arabadzhiev | Scuderia Coloni | 22 | +21.318 | 23 | |
| 10 | 2 | Sam Bird | ART Grand Prix | 22 | +23.831 | 6 | |
| 11 | 18 | Max Chilton | Ocean Racing Technology | 22 | +25.997 | 22 | |
| 12 | 9 | Oliver Turvey | iSport International | 22 | +30.387 | 18 | |
| 13 | 12 | Ho-Pin Tung | DAMS | 22 | +32.713 | 20 | |
| 14 | 24 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Trident Racing | 22 | +33.394 | 16 | |
| 15 | 25 | Adrian Zaugg | Trident Racing | 21 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 16 | 4 | Sergio Pérez | Barwa Addax Team | 21 | +1 lap | 11 | |
| Ret | 14 | Luiz Razia | Rapax | 15 | Retired | 17 | |
| Ret | 17 | Rodolfo González | Arden International Motorsport | 1 | Retired | 21 | |
| Ret | 5 | Josef Král | Super Nova Racing | 1 | Retired | 24 | |
| Ret | 1 | Jules Bianchi | ART Grand Prix | 0 | Retired | 7 | |
| Ret | 20 | Alberto Valerio | Scuderia Coloni | 0 | Retired | 9 | |
| Ret | 8 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 0 | Retired | 12 | |
| Ret | 19 | Fabio Leimer | Ocean Racing Technology | 0 | Retired | 14 | |
| Ret | 27 | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | 0 | Retired | 15 | |

## Standings after the round

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Pastor Maldonado | 42 |
| 2 | Dani Clos | 27 |
| 3 | Giedo van der Garde | 27 |
| 4 | Luiz Razia | 20 |
| 5 | Sergio Pérez | 19 |
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Rapax | 62 |
| 2 | Barwa Addax Team | 46 |
| 3 | ART Grand Prix | 36 |
| 4 | Racing Engineering | 29 |
| 5 | iSport International | 20 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.