Arthur Pic played a dominant role in the third round of the 2016 GP2 Series at the Baku City Circuit (June 17-19) as he carved his way through the field to secure a points finish from a back-of-the-grid start.
Following an early exit from the Feature Race, the Frenchman started 20th on the grid for Sunday’s Sprint event on the brand-new temporary circuit in Azerbaijan’s capital, but immediately set about climbing the order at the 6.003km venue.
By half-distance he had brought his Rapax car up to 10th after keeping a cool head while many of his rivals lost theirs. Staying clear of more melee in the second half of the race, Pic finished eighth to make it back-to-back points finishes at street circuits after scoring in Monaco.
Pic’s Feature Race had ended prematurely. After starting 16th, he was powerless to avoid becoming involved in a mid-pack multi-car incident at the first corner of the race in which seven cars were eliminated.
Damaging his car’s nose in the incident, Pic was forced to pit for a replacement and fell to the tail of the field. He had climbed as high as third during the pitstop cycle, but retired from the race following contact with Russian driver Artem Markelov.
The next round of the GP2 Series takes place at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on July 1-3. The event kicks off a run of four rounds in five weekends in which Pic, a race winner and five-time podium finisher in GP2, is keen to begin his championship charge.
Arthur Pic said: “Sunday’s race was absolutely crazy. There was contact everywhere and two or three safety-car periods, so it was very difficult to get into a rhythm. Our pace was good in the Sprint Race and scoring points after starting 20th is definitely something to be pleased with. The circuit was good too, but didn’t give up much grip due to the new track surface, so it was difficult for everyone, which showed with how many incidents there were.
"Now we move on to circuits like the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone, which are the more traditional circuits that we know. We have to improve over the next rounds to make up some ground in the championship, but I’m sure we will.”
