2016 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round
# 2016 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round

The 2016 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round was a GP2 Series motor race held on 27 and 28 August 2016 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. It was the eighth round of the 2016 GP2 Series. The race weekend supported the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.

## Background

Sergio Canamasas announced his return to Carlin for the round, replacing René Binder

## Report

### Qualifying

Antonio Giovinazzi led a Prema Racing 1-2 in qualifying, once again showcasing Prema's run of dominance in GP2 as of late. Gustav Malja proved the surprise candidate for third, albeit half a second adrift of Giovinazzi.

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Grid |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Prema Racing | 1:56.607 | – | 1 |
| 2 | 21 | Pierre Gasly | Prema Racing | 1:56.768 | +0.161 | 2 |
| 3 | 11 | Gustav Malja | Rapax | 1:57.124 | +0.517 | 3 |
| 4 | 3 | Norman Nato | Racing Engineering | 1:57.211 | +0.604 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1:57.411 | +0.804 | 5 |
| 6 | 12 | Arthur Pic | Rapax | 1:57.462 | +0.855 | 6 |
| 7 | 9 | Raffaele Marciello | Russian Time | 1:57.512 | +0.905 | 7 |
| 8 | 5 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1:57.658 | +1.051 | 8 |
| 9 | 1 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1:57.665 | +1.058 | 9 |
| 10 | 19 | Marvin Kirchhöfer | Carlin | 1:57.750 | +1.143 | 10 |
| 11 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1:57.768 | +1.161 | 11 |
| 12 | 10 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 1:57.906 | +1.299 | 12 |
| 13 | 2 | Sergey Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | 1:57.927 | +1.320 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1:57.964 | +1.357 | 14 |
| 15 | 22 | Oliver Rowland | MP Motorsport | 1:57.987 | +1.380 | 15 |
| 16 | 18 | Sergio Canamasas | Carlin | 1:58.165 | +1.558 | 16 |
| 17 | 8 | Sean Gelael | Campos Racing | 1:58.252 | +1.645 | 17 |
| 18 | 23 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:58.342 | +1.735 | 18 |
| 19 | 7 | Mitch Evans | Campos Racing | 1:58.386 | +1.779 | 19 |
| 20 | 25 | Jimmy Eriksson | Arden International | 1:58.674 | +2.067 | 20 |
| 21 | 24 | Nabil Jeffri | Arden International | 1:59.292 | +2.685 | 22 |
| 22 | 14 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 1:59.577 | +2.970 | 21 |
| Source: |||||||

**Notes**


    1.^ – Jeffri was given a grid penalty from the previous round in Hockenheim, after having been deemed to have caused a collision.

### Feature Race

Pierre Gasly took another win with a dominant performance and with rival Sergey Sirotkin absent from the podium, he stretched his lead in the standings. Brits Jordan King and Alex Lynn took second and third respectively, comfortably ahead of the Russian Time pair of Raffaele Marciello and Artem Markelov

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 21 | Pierre Gasly | Prema Racing | 25 | 53:00.853 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 4 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 25 | +11.262 | 5 | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 25 | +15.519 | 8 | 15 |
| 4 | 9 | Raffaele Marciello | Russian Time | 25 | +19.163 | 7 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 25 | +20.723 | 12 | 10 (2) |
| 6 | 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Prema Racing | 25 | +24.616 | 1 | 8 (4) |
| 7 | 15 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 25 | +28.703 | 14 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Gustav Malja | Rapax | 25 | +32.404 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 | Sergey Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | 25 | +35.778 | 13 | 2 |
| 10 | 22 | Oliver Rowland | MP Motorsport | 25 | +36.489 | 15 | 1 |
| 11 | 1 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 25 | +36.620 | 9 | |
| 12 | 18 | Sergio Canamasas | Carlin | 25 | +36.819 | 16 | |
| 13 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 25 | +41.909 | 11 | |
| 14 | 12 | Arthur Pic | Rapax | 25 | +46.297 | 6 | |
| 15 | 25 | Jimmy Eriksson | Arden International | 25 | +47.842 | 20 | |
| 16 | 7 | Mitch Evans | Campos Racing | 25 | +51.263 | 19 | |
| 17 | 23 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 25 | +59.821 | 18 | |
| 18 | 8 | Sean Gelael | Campos Racing | 25 | +1:10.120 | 17 | |
| 19 | 24 | Nabil Jeffri | Arden International | 25 | +1:11.915 | 22 | |
| 20 | 14 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 25 | +1:35.380 | 21 | |
| Ret | 3 | Norman Nato | Racing Engineering | 18 | Collision damage | 4 | |
| Ret | 19 | Marvin Kirchhöfer | Carlin | 1 | Collision damage | 10 | |
| Fastest lap: Artem Markelov (Russian Time) – 2:01.187 (on lap 24) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

### Sprint Race

Antonio Giovinazzi took the sprint race win to complete a dominant weekend for the Prema Racing outfit. Gustav Malja finished in second to record his best finish in GP2 and Luca Ghiotto achieved third for the Trident team.

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Prema Racing | 18 | 36:48.422 | 3 | 15 (2) |
| 2 | 11 | Gustav Malja | Rapax | 18 | +2.359 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | 15 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 18 | +3.921 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | 21 | Pierre Gasly | Prema Racing | 18 | +4.479 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | 9 | Raffaele Marciello | Russian Time | 18 | +6.634 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 22 | Oliver Rowland | MP Motorsport | 18 | +13.133 | 10 | 4 |
| 7 | 18 | Sergio Canamasas | Carlin | 18 | +16.274 | 12 | 2 |
| 8 | 3 | Norman Nato | Racing Engineering | 18 | +17.011 | 21 | 1 |
| 9 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 18 | +18.821 | 13 | |
| 10 | 5 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 18 | +19.045 | 6 | |
| 11 | 1 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 18 | +20.170 | 11 | |
| 12 | 4 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 18 | +20.458 | 7 | |
| 13 | 7 | Mitch Evans | Campos Racing | 18 | +20.713 | 16 | |
| 14 | 19 | Marvin Kirchhöfer | Carlin | 18 | +24.657 | 22 | |
| 15 | 8 | Sean Gelael | Campos Racing | 18 | +34.203 | 18 | |
| 16 | 2 | Sergey Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | 18 | +35.557 | 9 | |
| 17 | 23 | Daniël de Jong | MP Motorsport | 18 | +35.989 | 17 | |
| 18 | 24 | Nabil Jeffri | Arden International | 18 | +41.645 | 19 | |
| 19 | 14 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 18 | +43.500 | 20 | |
| 20 | 25 | Jimmy Eriksson | Arden International | 18 | +1:36.962 | 15 | |
| 21 | 12 | Arthur Pic | Rapax | 17 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| NC | 10 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 17 | Collision | 4 | |
| Fastest lap: Antonio Giovinazzi (Prema Racing) – 2:01.329 (on lap 2) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

**Notes**


    1.^ – Lynn, King, Pic, de Jong, Jeffri, Erikkson and Sirotkin were all given ten-second penalties after being found guilty of using their DRS on lap one.

## Standings after the round

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Pierre Gasly | 144 |
| 2 | 2 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 129 |
| | 3 | Raffaele Marciello | 120 |
| 3 | 4 | Sergey Sirotkin | 115 |
| | 5 | Oliver Rowland | 104 |
| | Pos. | Team | Points |
| | 1 | Prema Racing | 273 |
| 1 | 2 | Russian Time | 199 |
| 1 | 3 | Racing Engineering | 180 |
| 2 | 4 | ART Grand Prix | 173 |
| | 5 | MP Motorsport | 110 |

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
