Kamui Kobayashi clinched the GP2 Asia title with fourth place in the first race of the weekend in Bahrain today.
The Toyota Formula 1 test driver made a poor start from pole position but recovered his way to the front by making an early pitstop and running out of sequence with his rivals.
With Davide Valsecchi, his only real title threat, outside the top 10 all afternoon, Kobayashi was all but assured of the title, while Piquet GP drivers Diego Nunes and Roldan Rodriguez scored a dominant 1-2 for the team up front.
Kobayashi ran third after the pitstops had shaken out, but his DAMS team-mate Jerome D'Ambrosio was flying, recovering from a 10-place grid penalty after setting the fastest time in qualifying yesterday.
D'Ambrosio ran down and passed Giedo van der Garde, Luiz Razia then caught Kobayashi himself to squabble over the final spot on the podium. Kobayashi had the title in mind and put up little resistance as his team-mate blasted by on the main straight.
Sakon Yamamoto led several laps by making his pitstop later than his rivals and then charged through the pack in the second half of the race on his fresher rubber.
He demoted Sergio Perez, Karun Chandhok and Razia on his way up to fifth, where he came across van der Garde, but he could not find a way by the Dutchman in the closing stages.
David Rigon also made a late surge, passing Chandhok and Razia to finish seventh and give Razia the reverse grid pole position for Sunday's race.
Pos Driver Team
1. Diego Nunes Piquet GP
2. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP
3. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS
4. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS
5. Giedo van der Garde iSport
6. Sakon Yamamoto ART
7 Davide Rigon Trident
8. Luiz Razia Arden
9. Karun Chandhok Ocean
10. James Jakes Super Nova
11. Giacomo Ricci DPR
12. Sergio Perez Barwa
13. Michael Herck DPR
14. Marco Bonanomi Meritus
15. Javier Villa Super Nova
16. Davide Valsecchi Durango
17. Ricardo Teixeira Trident
18. Fabrizio Crestani Ocean
19. Vitaly Petrov Barwa
Retirements
Rodolfo Gonzalez FMS
Edoardo Mortara Arden
Alvaro Parente Meritus
Kevin Nai Chia Chen FMS
Hamad Al Fardan iSport
Pastor Maldonado ART
Michael Dalle Stelle Durango
Fastest lap, D'Ambrosio 1m46.954s on lap 23