Pierre Gasly moved back into the lead of the GP2 drivers’ standings by taking a dominant victory in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, setting up a title showdown with Prema Racing teammate Antonio Giovinazzi.
Giovinazzi entered the weekend leading the championship by seven points, only to see his lead whittled down to three after Gasly picked up pole at Yas Marina on Saturday.
Gasly made a clean getaway from pole before perfecting his strategy to romp to his fourth victory of the season, finishing over five seconds clear of Nobuharu Matsushita in second place.
Giovinazzi struggled in the early part of the race, suffering with severe tire wear as cars on the medium compound streamed past, but ultimately crossed the line fifth following a penalty for Norman Nato.
Artem Markelov finished third ahead of Sergey Sirotkin, with Nato eventually being classified sixth behind Giovinazzi. Johnny Cecotto Jr. was seventh ahead of Alex Lynn and Nicholas Latifi, while Raffaele Marciello rounded out the top 10.
Lynn will start Sunday’s feature race from reverse grid pole, with Giovinazzi third and Gasly eighth. Gasly enters the final race holding a 12-point advantage, with just 17 on offer.