DPR return to victory as Ricci wins finale

Giacomo Ricci has secured DPR's first GP2 win since the 2005 campaign with victory in the final round of the Asia Series season in Bahrain.

Ricci started fourth on the grid for the sprint race and took the lead on the run to turn one, remaining out front for the remainder of the race as he took honours ahead of ART driver Sam Bird.

The podium was decided in the first corner with Ricci taking the lead ahead of Bird and Coloni's Alvaro Parente. The trio did not change for the remainder of the twenty-lap race while the action happened behind.

Championship winner Davide Valsecchi climbed from seventh to fourth place ahead Meritus team-mates Alexander Rossi and Luca Filippi and Arden duo Charles Pic and Javier Villa.

Fighting against DPR for second and third places in the teams' standings, the four drivers started an impressive battle in the early stages of the race.

Villa had a poor start and lost the advantage of starting from the front row with poleman Edoardo Piscopo failing to make it to the grid. While Rossi overtook his slower teammate Filippi, Villa was busy with trying to surprise the Italian but also had to try and fend off his teammate's attacks.

Eventually, Pic passed both Villa and Filippi in a bold move into turn two, but he had to pit on lap nine following a puncture and dropped out of the points.

All race-long, Rossi was after Valsecchi and eventually got ahead at turn one only to run wide in turn two and lose the place again. Villa finished sixth and added another precious point to Arden's total to take second in the Series standings.

As Ricci crossed the finish line Filippi lost seventh place to Yelmer Buurman in the last corner could only think about one thing: both Italians on 29 points with Ricci's win, only the bonus point for fastest lap could see the Meritus man lose second place in the Series.

However, Ricci's failure to secure fastest lap ensured second in the standings for Filippi.