Race 1 : Series leader Luca Ghiotto takes fourth win of the season
An unbelievable start and opening lap from Italian Luca Ghiotto: The Trident ace started from P6 on the grid after a poor qualifying by his exceptionally high standards, but by Turn One, the Series leader was up to second. He then pulled off a stunning move on title rival Esteban Ocon at Turn 13 for the lead of the race. The ART Grand Prix and Mercedes backed rookie finished 1.5s behind Ghiotto with Arden International’s Emil Bernstorff in third.
Ocon started from his first pole of the 2015 GP3 Series season with Jenzer Motorsport’s Matheo Tuscher starting from a career best second. The Frenchman made one of his traditional lightning getaway’s but unfortunately the Swiss alongside him bogged down and was very slow to get away. The same occurred for Kevin Ceccon starting from P3.
Charging through at the start was Ghiotto and Bernstorff, who from P6 and P7 respectively were up to second and third in the opening few turns. Ocon barely had time to look in his mirrors before he saw the Series leader hunting him down and at Turn 13, a place not normally known for passing; the Italian produced a fantastic manoeuvre on his French rival to snatch the lead.
The safety car was deployed following a final turn incident between Aleksander Bosak and Kevin Ceccon, putting both cars out of the cars. Two laps later, the safety car came in and the action resumed. At the re-start Carlin’s Jann Mardenborough passed his teammate and Ferrari Academy Driver Antonio Fuoco for P5. At this point, Ghiotto held a small margin of 0.6s over Ocon as the laps ticked down.
Title contender Marvin Kirchhöfer had qualified down in P16 and the German was busy carving his way through the pack. The ART Grand Prix star managed to get up to ninth but was unable to join the battle for reverse pole, running out of laps.
Meanwhile at the front, Ghiotto was busy posting fastest laps, extending his advantage at the front to 1.3s over Ocon. Campos Racing’s Alex Palou was on the rear of Bernstoff’s machine, eager to find his way onto the podium, whilst Ocon had a small moment running wide but he was able to maintain his second place.
In the closing stages, Mardenborough began to reel in Palou for fourth. The battle was on between the two Koiranen GP teammates of Matthew Parry in seventh and Jimmy Eriksson in eighth: the two locked in combat, but it was the Brit who edged out the Swede at the chequered flag.
On the penultimate lap, Ocon clocked the fastest lap of the race to earn himself two bonus points in the battle for the elusive GP3 crown. Ghiotto celebrated at the chequered flag, ahead of Ocon, Bernstorff, Palou, Mardenborough, Fuoco, Parry, Eriksson, Kirchhöfer and Artur Janosz.
Ghiotto now holds a 15 points advantage over Ocon, with Kirchhöfer and Bernstorff tied on third. ART Grand Prix continues to lead the Teams’ Standings on 341 points, ahead of Arden International and Trident.
Race 2 : Koiranen GP’s Jimmy Eriksson wins in RussiaThe super Swede was happy to be back on the top step after enduring some challenging times this season: The Koiranen GP ace started from reverse pole and saw off the advances of Antonio Fuoco who briefly held the lead on the opening lap. From then on, Eriksson drove a calm and confident race to the flag, which was somewhat fitting after losing the race win with technical gremlins at the previous event in Monza. ART Grand Prix’s Esteban Ocon recorded his ninth consecutive second place with some brave overtakes whilst Carlin’s Jann Mardenborough made a return to the rostrum in third.
It was a busy morning for the GP3 Series with the second race of Round 7 of the 2015 GP3 Series taking place just one and half hours after race one. It was a Koiranen GP front row with Eriksson and Matthew Parry, ahead of the Carlin duo of Fuoco and Mardenborough. Eriksson made a good start, but not as well as Fuoco who flew away from third.
The Italian edged past the Swede for a few moments but had to leave the Koiranen GP ace space going into Turn 1. Eriksson ran wide but maintained his lead, whilst Mardenborough nipped past Fuoco for third. Unfortunately for Parry, he was slow away from the front row and he pulled into the pits to retire early on.
Title contenders Ocon and Luca Ghiotto were up to P4 and P6 respectively, with Arden International’s Emil Bernstorff sandwiched between the pair. On lap four, Series leader Ghiotto attempted an overtake on the Brit for fourth, but ran wide over the kerbs; losing three places in the process and dropping outside of the points.
Eriksson led by 1.6s over Mardenborough, with Fuoco close behind his Carlin teammate. Ocon was soon hot on the tail of Fuoco and after several laps and an incredible wheel to wheel fight with the Ferrari Academy Driver, the Frenchman made a brave move stick for third place.
Bernstorff was right behind this tussle and saw his opportunity to pounce, but his move was denied by Fuoco. On lap ten, the Brit tried again, but ran wide at Turn 2, allowing Artur Janosz into fifth place. Eriksson began to extend his margin at the front of the field to over 3.4s over Mardenborough, whilst Ocon began to reel in the Brit.
The ART Grand Prix star was catching Mardenborough at a rapid rate and on the penultimate lap he made and impressive and bold pass on the Carlin driver at Turn 16 for second place. There was a gaggle of cars scrapping for Bernstorff’s P6, and on the final lap, Ghiotto overtook Campos Racing’s Alex Palou for the last point on offer in eighth.
At the chequered flag, Eriksson was pleased to enjoy his first win of the season, his third in the category. Ocon took yet another second place finish which has closed the gap considerably in the title battle. Mardenborough claimed his second podium finish of the year ahead of Fuoco, Janosz, Bernstorff, Kirchhöfer and Ghiotto.Ghiotto’s advantage in the Drivers’ Standings has been cut to just two points, with Ghiotto on 196 and Ocon on 194. Bernstorff has moved into third on 146, also just two points ahead of Kirchhöfer. ART Grand Prix have a mammoth lead in the Teams’ Standings: They sit pretty on 357, ahead of Arden International (227) and Trident (224) respectively.
Round 8 of the GP3 Series will take place at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain next month on 19-21 November 2015.
Press release GP3, pictures GP3, Jenzer Motorsport
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