2009–10 Bahrain 1st GP2 Asia round
| Round details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Round 3 of 4 in the 2009-10 GP2 Asia Series. | ||
 Bahrain International Circuit |
||
| Location | Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.554 km (3.451 mi) |
|
| Feature Race | ||
| Date | 26 February 2010 | |
| Laps | 34 | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |
 Jules Bianchi
|
ART Grand Prix |
| Time | 1:43.474 | |
| Podium | ||
| First |
 Davide Valsecchi
|
iSport International |
| Second |
Luca Filippi
|
MalaysiaQi-Meritus.com |
| Third |
 Javier Villa
|
Arden International |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |
Javier Villa
|
Arden International |
| Time | 1:47.035 (on lap 10) | |
| Sprint Race | ||
| Date | 27 February 2010 | |
| Laps | 23 | |
| Podium | ||
| First |
Charles Pic
|
Arden International |
| Second |
Giacomo Ricci
|
DPR |
| Third |
Javier Villa
|
Arden International |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |
Jules Bianchi
|
ART Grand Prix |
| Time | 1:46.499 (on lap 9) | |
The 2009–10 Bahrain 1st GP2 Asia round was the third round of the 2009-10 GP2 Asia Series season. It was held on February 26 and 27, 2009 at Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir, Bahrain, together with 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series' Desert 400. It was the first of two rounds to be held at the circuit, the other being the 2009-10 Bahrain 2nd GP2 Asia round. The layout used for this Race will not be used for the following event, as it acts as a F1 Support race.
Race 1
Despite Jules Bianchi starting on Pole, Davide Valsecchi clinched the GP2 Asia title with three rounds to spare by winning in the Bahrain feature race. The iSport driver lurked in third for most of the distance, before mounting another late surge which has become his characteristic this year, to overcome Arden's Javier Villa and Meritus' Luca Filippi and claim his third victory in five rounds. With Valsecchi's nearest rival and team-mate Oliver Turvey delayed in the pits and unable to score, the win gave Valsecchi an insurmountable points lead. Filippi and Villa burst from the second row into the lead at the start, while polesitter Jules Bianchi (ART) immediately fell out of contention for victory for a very poor start. Villa looked faster than Filippi in the opening laps, but with no way past on track, he dived in for an early stop. The extra speed on fresh tyres paid dividends for Villa, and by the time the pitstops were complete he was in the lead ahead of Filippi and Valsecchi.
As has been the case throughout the championship, Valsecchi got quicker and quicker as the race progressed. An initial dive-bomb move on Filippi for second saw him skitter over the run-off at the Turn 10 hairpin, but he quickly regrouped and passed his countryman into Turn 1 with six laps to go. He then caught Villa in just one lap and took the lead with a straightforward outbraking move - only to then run wide at Turn 10 later in the lap and hand first place back again. It was only a brief respite for Villa though, as Valsecchi soon repassed him into the first corner and pulled away to secure victory. Villa lost more pace as his tyres faded, allowing Filippi to drive around the outside of him and take second. DPR's Giacomo Ricci came within 0.2 seconds of depriving Villa of third too as they diced on the final lap. Charles Pic took the second Arden car to fifth ahead of Coloni's returnee Alvaro Parente and Addax's Sergio Pérez. Adrian Zaugg got quicker throughout the race on his return with Trident, charging past Turvey and Bianchi in the closing stages to claim eighth and pole for race two. Turvey had lost several places in his pitstop with a wheelgun problem while Bianchi never got up to speed after dropping down the order at the start.
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