Abu Dhabi, 29th November 2015 - Sean Gelael’s season ended in spectacular fashion in the final round of the GP2 Series supporting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when he was unavoidably caught up in a massive crash that resulted in the race being abandoned.
The Indonesian had finally been given a new engine after struggling with power the previous weekend in Bahrain and through qualifying and the first race on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.
But when front-runner Pierre Gasly spun at Turn 2, it set off a chain reaction as others tried to avoid the Frenchman. Finally he was hit by Norman Nato, and this in turn meant that Rene Binder, Daniel de Jong and Gelael were all triggered heavily into the barriers.
Sean’s Jagonya Ayam-backed Carlin car mounted the barriers so that the front end was pointing towards the sky, and there were licks of flame, but luckily he was able to climb out uninjured and join the other drivers on the track.
Due to the extensive damage to the barriers, and the time that would have been necessary to repair them, the race was not restarted as it would have meant a late running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
That was a great shame for Gelael, who was finally in a position where he would have been able to show his level of competitiveness after his engine difficulties. He had made a great start in race one to jump ahead of Gustav Malja and Nathanael Berthon on the first lap – indeed, Berthon would come through to score points.
But over the opening stages Sean was repassed by these two drivers. He was up to 18th position when he made his pit stop, but unfortunately with his replacement tyres not yet warmed up he had no grip in the pit lane exit where it tunnels under the track and was unable to avoid hitting the wall, putting him out of the race.
“This was a very difficult and disappointing end to the season,” said Gelael. “Just as in Bahrain, I struggled a lot with an uncompetitive engine that hampered me for three races. Finally I thought I was going to be able to fight in the second race with a new engine, but an unavoidable accident happened. That was a bit scary, and I ended up looking at the sky! But I have learned a lot this year and will put the lessons to good use in 2016.”
Indeed, with the 2015 season now over, the 2016 campaign, for which GP2 looks very likely to be renamed the FIA Formula 2 Championship, begins almost immediately. Sean will remain in Abu Dhabi for three days of GP2 testing this coming Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, for which he will switch to the very strong Campos Racing team from Spain. (ms/arl)
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