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Saturday, 12 May 2012 20:34 |
 GP3 Series report and result from Barcelona - It was the New Zealander Mitch Evans' day after he stormed to victory in the first round of the 2012 campaign at the Circuit de Catalunya, a circuit the MW Arden driver has a good record at his only other win in GP3 came here back in 2011.
The race was run in glorious weather as the temperatures rocketed up to 28 degrees as the green lights appeared to signify the 2012 year has begun!
The start of the race was eventful, with Daniel Abt making a lightning getaway from P7 on the grid to take the lead before turn one ahead of pole man Antonio Felix Da Costa.
However, stewards deemed that Abt, Felix Da Costa and Antonio Spavone all made jump starts, and therefore they all received drive through penalties.
There was drama on the first lap after Ethan Ringel and Alice Powell both retired from the race after chaos in the mid pack.
Before the penalties were given, Abt had a half second lead over the Portuguese pole sitter, while the Lotus GP duo of Conor Daly and Aaro Vainio dropped back from the front to P5 and P6.
Evans and Stockinger made good starts to move into third and fourth on the first lap.
When Abt made his way into the pits to serve his penalty, Carlin’s Felix Da Costa remained out for one further lap until he too lost time and places heading down the pit lane. Abt and Felix Da Costa eventually finished in 13th and 14th.
Evans took over the lead of the race, with Stockinger promoted to second and Vainio in third. Midway through the race, the safety car was deployed after Kevin Ceccon stopped on the circuit in what was deemed a dangerous place.
Several laps were run behind the safety car as the Ocean Racing Technology car was cleared away while the pack bunched up ready to go again.
When the race was restarted, there were intense battles further down the field. Aaro Vainio and Patric Niederhauser enjoyed a tussle for the final spot on the rostrum, with the two having some close wheel to wheel action, but the Finn was able to defend his place for the remainder of the race.
Conor Daly had to fight off a determined Tio Ellinas in the closing stages and maintained his position. The heat was on for the final points on offer in the top ten, with David Fumanelli and Alex Brundle enjoying a great scrap with the Italian driver managing to keep the Brit’ behind him.
It was MW Arden’s third win in the GP3 Series, with Evans making the best possible start to the racing year pocketing 25 points, finishing just over 2 and half seconds clear of the opposition. Stockinger (Status Grand Prix) in P2 achieved his first ever points in the GP3 Series as well as his first appearance on the podium.
Vainio made his second visit onto a GP3 rostrum, his previous time was also here in Spain, and Niederhauser in fourth set the fastest lap time of the race with 1'41.440 which earned him two extra points.
Matias Laine in P5 also got his first ever points in his GP3 career, ahead of Daly, Ellinas, Robert Visoiu, Fumanelli and Brundle.
Jenzer Motorsport’s Visoiu will start from reverse pole in Race 2 on Sunday.
Mitch Evans
“Practice was rather average, I was snared by yellow flags on three separate occasions, so couldn’t push for a while. When the track finally cleared, I pushed too hard and then encountered traffic, so I don’t think my sixth place reflected my potential and hoped those problems would not recur. The car felt good in qualifying, although there were more yellow flags during the first few laps. I was able to trade fastest times with da Costa once the track went green and I was on top halfway through the session. I didn’t make any set-up changes and thought I could get more from the car, but I made a couple of mistakes on what should have been my fastest lap and that cost me about two tenths, so I had to settle for fourth. My race plan was to make the best start I could and take things from there. I got away well and was third into Turn One, but both guys ahead had apparently jumped the start and ended up with penalties. That was fortunate from my perspective, but I felt very comfortable and the car was good, so I was able to control the pace once I was in the lead. The safety car then came out, another potential obstacle, but I restarted cleanly and was able to push for a couple of laps, which enabled me to build up a reasonable lead. The team worked really hard during the winter and the guys made my job reasonably easy by giving me such a good car. For tomorrow, I will press on from eighth on the grid and hopefully score a few points.”
Matias Laine
“I didn’t do too many laps in free practice, because the car felt fine and I saw no need to make major changes. I just wanted to make sure it was as good as it could possibly be. Most of my qualifying lap was reasonable, but I dropped three tenths in Turn One and that pushed me back to ninth. It was my error, though, so I have nobody else to blame. In the race, I made a fantastic start and the car felt good from start to finish, so i owe a vote of thanks to the team. I was happy to make good progress, which earned me good points and a better grid position for tomorrow.”
David Fumanelli
“It has been good to start the season like this. My car was set up very well and that put me in a confident frame of mind for qualifying. It was a tough session, though, with the top 10 drivers covered by five tenths. I had bad luck with yellow flags and traffic, otherwise, I’m sure I could have qualified in the top four. The race was tough, too. I had a chassis imbalance from the start and found it difficult to attack or defend. After the first few laps my pace improved, but the balance deteriorated slightly after the restart. With two laps to go, though, I was lying eighth when I made a mistake at the exit of the final chicane and one of the Jenzer cars passed me. That’s a shame, because it cost me pole position for race two, but I’m still pleased to score points on my GP3 debut. Tomorrow, I’m confident that we’ll be able to improve the balance and make good progress from ninth.”
2012 Spain - Barcelona Race 1 results:
| Pos. |
Driver |
Team |
| 1. |
Mitch Evans |
MW Arden |
| 2. |
Marlon Stockinger |
Status Grand Prix |
| 3. |
Aaro Vainio |
Lotus GP |
| 4. |
Patric Niederhauser |
Jenzer Motorsport |
| 5. |
Matias Laine |
MW Arden |
| 6. |
Conor Daly |
Lotus GP |
| 7. |
Tio Ellinas |
Marussia Manor Racing |
| 8. |
Robert Visoiu |
Jenzer Motorsport |
| 9. |
David Fumanelli |
MW Arden |
| 10. |
Alex Brundle |
Carlin |
| 11. |
Dmitry Suranovich |
Marussia Manor Racing |
| 12. |
Tamas Pal Kiss |
Atech CRS GP |
| 13. |
Daniel Abt |
Lotus GP |
| 14. |
Antonio Felix Da Costa |
Carlin |
| 15. |
Robert Cregan |
Ocean Racing Technology |
| 16. |
Fabiano Machado |
Marussia Manor Racing |
| 17. |
Antonio Spavone |
Trident Racing |
| 18. |
Kotaro Sakurai |
Status Grand Prix |
| 19. |
Jakub Klasterka |
Jenzer Motorsport |
| 20. |
Carmen Jorda |
Ocean Racing Technology |
| 21. |
John Wartique |
Atech CRS GP |
| 22. |
Vicky Piria |
Trident Racing |
| 23. |
William Buller |
Carlin |
| NC. |
Kevin Ceccon |
Ocean Racing Technology |
| NC. |
Alice Powell |
Status Grand Prix |
| NC. |
Ethan Ringel |
Atech CRS GP |
Fastest lap: Patric Niderhauser - Jenzer Motorsport: 1'41.440 on lap 5
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