page_title: 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round
section_title: Sprint race
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round / Report / Races / Sprint race
caption_attribution_description: English: Sam Bird at the 2012 Nürburgring World series by Renault round
context_page_description: The 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round was a pair of motor races held on 20 and 21 April 2013 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain as part of the GP2 Series. It was the second round of the 2013 GP2 Series and was run in support of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix. The first race, a 32-lap feature event, was won by Racing Engineering driver Fabio Leimer from pole position. Stefano Coletti finished second for Rapax and Caterham Racing driver Alexander Rossi took third. Sam Bird won the 30-lap sprint race for Russian Time held the following day, with Carlin's Felipe Nasr in second and Coletti third.
  Leimer held off the fast-starting Coletti to keep the lead and pulled out an significant laps in the following laps before ceding the lead to Adrian Quaife-Hobbs for ten laps after a mandatory pit stop for tyres. Leimer retook first place after Quaife-Hobbs made his pit stop and held the position to win the race. Tom Dillmann started from pole position in the sprint race but lost the lead to teammate Bird before the end of the first lap. Coletti and Nasr gained on Bird in the final two laps as his tyres were worn.
context_section_description: The second race began at 10:50 local time on 21 April. The weather t the start were dry and sunny with an air temperature of 30 °C (86 °F) and a track temperature at 42 °C (108 °F). On the grid, pole position starter Dillmann made a clean getaway to hold off Quaife-Hobbs and keep the lead into the first corner. Quaife-Hobbs attempted to steer onto the inside but ran wide which contributed to some contact within the field. Coletti made a fast start and moved from seventh to third by driving on the outside at turn one. Bird initially got away from his starting position slowly but Quaife-Hobbs's blocked Coletti and allowed him into second place on the inside. Rossi was clipped by Nasr going into the first corner and the latter broke Rossi's front wing. Leimer was on the inside into turn one and Rossi's nose cone made contact with the sidepod and the turning vane of Leimer's car. This affected Leimer for the rest of the event as debris was lodged in his car's sidepod. Haryanto and Ericsson both sustained damage after they hit each other and went to the pit lane before resuming.
  Bird drew close to teammate Dillmann and overtook him for the lead exiting the final corner. Dillmann fought back against Bird driving towards the first turn and the two went alongside each other. The two made minor contact in turns one and two which enabled Coletti to get a run on Dillmann and passed him to move into second. On the next lap, Nasr went down the inside of Dillmann going into the first corner and the latter lost third to Nasr. Calado was overtaken by Palmer for seventh place on the fourth lap and then held off an attack from teammate Abt. The field settled down as drivers looked to conserve their tyres, and the top three pulled away from Dillmann. On the sixth lap, Bird came upon a large chunk of debris driving towards the first corner and locked his tyres in an attempt to avoid running over it. He appeared to escape unhindered and the debris was then removed by a trackside marshal. Further down the field, a battle for fifth place involved Quaife-Hobbs, Leimer and Palmer. By lap seven, one second covered the trio and Leimer looked for a way past Quaife-Hobbs but was cautious not to allow Palmer to take advantage of the situation. Further back, Berthon lost two positions after Evans and Leal overtook him.
  The damage to Ericsson's car became too problematic for him and became the race's sole retirement at its midway point while Binder visited the pit lane twice, putting him a lap behind the leader. Tyres began to show signs of degradation during this period and more action was observed: Ceccon passed Rosenzweig for 11th and caught Cecotto. Canamasas battled with Trummer over who would be the first driver to pass the ailing Berthon who elected to make a pit stop for new tyres. Frijns appeared to falter and fell behind Richelmi, Evans and Leal in quick succession to 16th. Quaife-Hobbs was inexperienced in tyre management in GP2 and him delaying Leimer meant the latter came under pressure. On the 19th lap, Palmer overtook Leimer on the inside at turn one for sixth after the latter ran wide in an attempt to defend position. Calado followed through for seventh at the fourth corner. Quaife-Hobbs's tyres were heavily worn and fell to eighth position when Calado, Palmer and Abt overtook him.
  As the race entered its final two laps, Coletti and Nasr gained on Bird whose tyres were worn out. The pressure on Bird was temporarily relieved when Coletti locked his tyres heading towards the tenth corner and then braked deep for the final turn. He overshot the corner and allowed Nasr through to second. Coletti appeared to have flat-spotted his tyres as a consequence and could not remain on the track and his chances for the victory were over. Nasr appeared to manage his tyre life better than other drivers and quickly drew close to Bird on the final lap and pulled alongside him under braking for the final turn. Bird went defensive and controlled the wheelspin in his tyres. Nasr got out of Bird's slipstream but could not overhaul Bird who held on to win the 
caption: Sam Bird (pictured in 2012) took the lead on the second lap and held off Felipe Nasr to take Russian Time's first GP2 Series victory.
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