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Race Report

2018 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Sochi (RUS), Length 5.848 km, 28th-30th September 2018, Rounds 15 & 16
sochiautodrom.ru

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2018:
Tatiana Calderon (COL), Juan Manuel Correa (USA) and Jannes Fittje (D)

Correa and Calderon collect points in Sochi

The GP3 Series met up at the intriguing Sochi (RUS) circuit, as ever in 2018, racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Competition was tough as usual, and everybody gave it their best shot to try and shine.

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Race One Qualifying

Friday, 28/09/18, 17.50 – 18.20, Weather: Overcast, 21°C

Free practice took place on Friday morning and Tatiana immediately set a very good rhythm and reached an excellent 7th place. Juan Manuel drove quite aggressively on this technical circuit and finished in 13th place, with Jannes in 19th.
Qualifying was run at the end of the afternoon, with twilight falling with ten minutes still to run. It was important for everything to work perfectly, and Juan Manuel did his best and was running very well until the final sector, which cost him what should have been his best lap. Tatiana was too cautious after that and ended up in 14th place. Jannes too was unable to improve enough and was 19th.
Nikita Mazepin, who set the pole time then had his fastest lap disallowed for not respecting track limits, meaning that Leonardo Pulcini inherited pole.

Race One Grid
1st Leonardo Pulcini (I) Campos 1:52.586
2nd Callum Ilott (GB) ART 1:52.655
3rd Giuliano Alesi (F) Trident 1:52.664
12th Juan Manuel Correa (USA) Jenzer Motorsport 1:53.362
14th Tatiana Calderon (COL) Jenzer Motorsport 1:53.661
19th Jannes Fittje (D) Jenzer Motorsport 1:54.846

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 29/09/18, 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

The start was clean and Juan Manuel came back in 11th at the end of a furious first lap, with Tatiana 13th and Jannes 18th As soon as the DRS system was enabled, Juan Manuel managed to pass Piquet to snatch 10th. Soon he made up another place, and then fought Ilott for the coveted 8th place that would give him pole for Race 2. Juan Manuel had already overtaken Ilott when he ran wide in one of the next corners and dropped back to 10th. By the end of the race, he had recovered to claim a very good 9th place. Tatiana was involved in battles with Tveter and Alesi, overtaking both of them to run in 11th. Soon she joined the persecution of Ilott and managed to get past before the end of the race to claim another point and 10th place. Jannes started well and drove carefully for the first few laps. When other drivers started to experience tyre degradation, Jannes felt his car was even better, and he managed to move forward lap by lap to come home in a very good 12th place.

The grid for the second race of the weekend was set by reversing the order of the first eight finishers in the first race, with the rest of the places set according to the finishing order in the first race.

Results Race One
1st Leonardo Pulcini (I) Campos 38:56.960  
2nd Nikita Mazepin (RUS) ART Rückstand 3.955
3rd Anthoine Hubert (F) ART Rückstand 7.037
9th Juan Manuel Correa (USA) Jenzer Motorsport    
10th Tatiana Calederon (COL) Jenzer Motorsport    
12th Jannes Fittje (D) Jenzer Motorsport    
Fastest lap: Nikita Mazepin (RUS) in 1:56.004

Race Two Grid
1st Joey Mawson (NZ) Arden  
2nd Jake Hughes (GB) ART  
3rd Simo Laaksonen (FIN) Campos  
4th David Beckmann (D) Trident  
5th Richard Verschoor (NL) MP  
6th Anthoine Hubert (F) ART  
9th Juan Manuel Correa (USA) Jenzer Motorsport  
10th Tatiana Calderon (COL) Jenzer Motorsport  
12th Jannes Fittje (D) Jenzer Motorsport  

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GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Suday, 30/09/18, 10.05, Weather: Cloudy, 22°C

The first lap was hectic, as always, but Juan Manuel was soon up in 7th place, Tatiana was 8th, and Jannes was 11th. Juan Manuel managed to slip past Aubry to advance to 6th place, while Tatiana could almost feel Saturday's winner, Pulcini, breathing down her neck, but she managed to keep him in check, defending her place and giving Pulcini no chance to get past. Jannes also set a very good pace and improved to 10th place, slowly and steadily closing the gap to Pulcini. Then Mazepin crashed, and the Virtual Safety Car was in action for a short time. The restart was only given at the beginning of the last lap. Tveter was ready and grabbed 9th place from Jannes, but Jannes finished his best race weekend so far in an excellent 10th place. Tatiana managed to keep Pulcini at bay all the way to the chequered flag and with an excellent 7th place finish earned points for the fifth time this season. Juan Manuel crossed the finish line in 5th place behind Hubert, achieving an excellent result once more.

The last race this season will be, as always, in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. On the weekend of November 25th, 2018, the last race event of the GP3 Series will take place.

Results Race Two
1st David Beckmann (D) Trident 29:43.318  
2nd Joey Mawson (NZ) Arden Rückstand 0.617
3rd Richard Verschoor (NL) MP Rückstand 1.056
5th Juan Manuel Correa (USA) Jenzer Motorsport    
7th Tatiana Calederon (COL) Jenzer Motorsport    
10th Jannes Fittje (D) Jenzer Motorsport    
Fastest lap: Jake Hughes (GB) in 1:55.087

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Championship standings after 16 out of 18 races:

1st Anthoine Hubert (F), 199 points; 2nd Nikita Mazepin (RUS), 167 points; 3rd Callum Ilott (GB), 147 points; 4th Leonardo Pulcini (I), 131 points; 5th David Beckmann (D), 119 points; 6th Pedro Piquet (BRA), 106 points; 13th Juan Manuel Correa (USA), 34 points; 16th Tatiana Calderon (COL), 9 points


Tatiana Calderon (COL)


Juan Manuel Correa (USA)


Jannes Fittje (D)

© Photo Pellegrini


2018 GP3 Series

11/12/13 May 2018 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Catalunya (E)
22/23/24 June 2018 Formula 1 French Grand Prix Le Castellet (F)
30 Jun, 1/2 July 2018 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix RedBull Ring (A)
6/7/8 July 2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix/td> Silverstone (GB)
27/28/29 July 2018 Formula 1 Ing Magyar Nagydij Hungaroring (HU)
24/25/26 August 2018 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps (B)
31 Aug, 1/2 September 2018 Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia Monza (I)
28/29/30 September 2018 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix Sochi (RUS)
23/24/25 November 2018 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Abu Dhabi (UEA)

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