Race Report

2016 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Length 5.554 km, 25^th – 27^th November 2016, Rounds 17 & 18
www.yasmarinacircuit.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2016:
Akash Nandy (MAS), Arjun Maini (IND) and Alessio Lorandi (I)

GP3 final at Abu Dhabi

The GP3 Series met up for their ninth and final round of the season which was held in the spectacular setting of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, on the same bill as F1 as usual. The championship had yet to be decided, with three drivers all in with a chance of claiming the title: Leclerc was leading with 25 points from Albon, and Fuoco also had a theoretical title chance. This was a guarantee of exciting racing ahead.

Race One Qualifying

Friday, 25/11/16, 15.10 – 15.40, Weather: Sunny, 28°C

Free practice took place on Friday morning. Our drivers saved their new tyres to use in Race One because it was very clear that tyre degradation of the new Pirelli Super Soft compound, which was used here for the first time, was going to play a big role in the races. This meant Arjun was 16^th, Alessio 18^th and Akash 20^th at the end.
The last qualifying session of the season took place in the heat of the afternoon. The lap times were all very close, with the top 15 drivers covered by one second. Arjun did a great job and claimed an excellent 7^th place on the grid, while Akash finished in a very good 19^th. Alessio, who was hoping for best performance yet, fell victim to a technical fault. The gearbox potentiometer was not working and Alessio had no choice but to come straight back to the pit lane because he couldn’t change gears. That meant he failed to set a lap time and would have to start from last place at the back of the grid!

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 26/11/16, 12.25, Weather: Sunny, 30°C

The race was run in the heat of the day. Arjun started on the outside and got shoved off by Fuoco, starting from further back, who was trying everything to get to the front and wasn’t shy to make contact. As a result Arjun returned in 10^th at the end of the first lap, a position he held for many laps, until the Safety Car briefly deployed to enable Calderon’s car to be cleared from the danger zone. Alessio also made a good start and immediately gained several places. By the third lap he was already 13^th after some great moves, and there he stayed until the Safety Car phase. Akash was involved in several changes of position during the early laps and by then was 17^th. At the front of the race the fighting was fierce, and several cars changed positions. At the restart, Tereshenko overtook Arjun, who tried to fight the Russian off. It didn’t work, and shortly afterwards three more drivers went past him, one of them being Alessio, who had now moved up to 12^th place. Arjun was 13^th and Akash 16^th.

Later in the race the fight was still raging. Albon crashed after a fight with Aitken, and shortly afterwards Leclerc speared off track after an attack by Ferrucci. However, because Fuoco also failed to score points in the race the first three championship positions were decided and Leclerc was duly crowned 2016 GP3 Series Champion, with Albon as runner up and Fuoco third overall. The places after third had still to be decided.
Our drivers crossed the finish line after a very eventful race in line astern. Akash, notably, had worked his way forward in the end and got between Alessio and Arjun and they were classified 12^th (Alessio), 13^th (Akash) and 14^th (Arjun).

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 finishing order in the first race.

GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 27/11/16, 13.00, Weather: Sunny, 28°C

With the championship decided it was clear that everybody would be on the attack in the final race of the season. To no-one’s surprise there was an accident just after the start and the Safety Car had to be deployed. Alessio made a super start and was already up in 9^th, Arjun was 12^th and Akash 15^th, but then the race director hung out the black and orange flag for Alessio, because of damage to his front wing caused by Ferrucci, who had gone off and then shot straight back on track, hitting Alessio. Alessio came in to the pit lane, where the team changed his front wing and a damaged tyre. He drove on, but was now at the back of the field. He set some very good lap times, but of course it wasn’t much help now. Meanwhile Arjun came back in 17^th after the restart and then worked his way forward place by place during the race. He took the chequered flag just behind Akash in 14^th position. Akash, who was having an excellent race, crossed the finishing line in 13^th.

That brought an exciting 2016 GP3 Series season to an end.
Next week the team remains in Abu Dhabi where a number of new talents will get their chance to impress over the three official test days on 30^th November and 1^st/2^nd December 2016.
The 2017 season will start in March with the first tests of the year.

Championship final standings after 18 races:

1^st Charles Leclerc (F), 202 points; 2^nd Alexander Albon (THA), 177 points; 3^rd Antonio Fuoco (I), 157 points; 4^th Jake Dennis (GB), 149 points; 5^th Jack Aitken (GB), 146 points; 6^th Nick de Vries (NL), 133 points; 10^th Arjun Maini, 50 points; 16^th Oscar Tunjo (COL), 18 points

2016 GP3 Series

For more information:

• www.gp3series.com
• www.italiaracing.net