Race Report

Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana 2017
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Barcelona (E), Length: 4.655 km, 13^th/14^th May 2017, Rounds 1 & 2
www.circuitcat.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2017:
Alessio Lorandi (I) and Arjun Maini (IND)

Sensational start at Barcelona:
Maini wins, Lorandi takes two podiums!

The GP3 Series teams met for the first event of the season as they ran as part of the Formula One programme at the Gran Premio de Espana 2017, held on the challenging Barcelona circuit in Spain. The sun shone throughout the weekend, and the pleasant conditions went a long way towards making it very obvious just how close the competition is within this highly competitive field.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 13/05/17, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 20°C

Free practice on Friday evening took place in dry and pleasant conditions. Our drivers gave their best with Arjun setting the second best time of all while Alessio had to contend with technical problems. The new DRS system refused to work at first and by the time it was working we had run out of time.
The track was dry for the first qualifying session of the new season and conditions were fine. Our drivers both ended up in good positions although the lap times were very close across the whole field, with 15 drivers finishing within a second of the best time.

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 13/05/17, 17.15, Weather: Sunny, 26°C

The start of the first race of the season went well. This year the GP3 season features as an innovation the DRS system, which can be used six times in the main race and four times in the sprint race. The rules are the same as in Formula 1. The car must be within a second of the man in front before it can be released, and you really need to be close enough to really profit from it; this was a task which required some practice. Arjun made a super start, with Alessio also making a perfect getaway. Both were soon directly behind each other, Arjun in 5^th and Alessio in 6^th. Some laps later Alessio, with the aid of DRS at the end of the straight, managed to attack Arjun and pass him. A few laps later Alessio targeted Boccolacci, putting pressure on him before making a successful overtaking move. Alessio set a super pace and improved further to set about the pursuit of Pulcini. Then Aitken, who had been running in 2^nd, had to retire. That meant Fukuzumi was leading from Pulcini and Alessio. Alessio got very close and put pressure on Pulcini, but opted not to risk his position, driving home to claim an excellent 3^rd place. Arjun was battling with Russell in the meantime and had gained a lot of experience of the DRS zone. At the end of an exciting race he took the chequered flag in a magnificent 7^th place. The team had performed extremely well at the start of the new season and had collected important points.

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)

Sunday, 14/05/17, 09.25, Weather: Sunny, 20°C

Arjun got a great start in the sprint race to take the lead from Boccolacci and Hyman. During the first few laps a tough and long running battle developed between Arjun and Boccolacci, as Boccolacci tried to get past Arjun with the help of the DRS. The two of them drove side by side for corner after corner, but Arjun hung on to the lead. While the two were battling it out Hubert got closer and Boccolacci came under pressure from behind. As a result Arjun managed to break away from Boccolacci and from then on steadily opened up an increasingly large gap. He set a relentless pace and made no mistakes and thus Arjun came home to claim his maiden win in the category with a clean start to finish win after a sensationally strong drive! Alessio improved by a place at the start and also set a convincing pace again as he closed in on Hyman at speed. It wasn’t long before he overtook Hyman without any hesitation. Now he took up the pursuit of Hubert, who was fighting for 2^nd with Boccolacci. Alessio closed the gap quickly and was again within reach of the podium. There was no stopping him and he overtook Hubert as soon he was in a position to use the DRS successfully. With that, despite the tough competition, Alessio made it onto the podium for the second time this weekend, again in an excellent 3^rd place.
We are very happy and congratulate our two drivers on their sensational start to the new season!

We are now looking forward to the next race at the Red Bull Ring at the start of July.

Championship standings after 2 out of 16 races:

1^st Nirei Fukuzumi (JPN), 29 points; 2^nd Alessio Lorandi (I), 25 points; 3^rd Arjun Maini (IND), 21 points; 4^th Dorian Boccolacci (F), 20 points; 4^th George Russell (GB), 20 points; 4^th Anthoine Hubert (F), 20 points

2017 GP3 Series

For more information:

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