Race Report

2017 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps (B), Length 7,003 km, 25^th/27^th August 2017, Rounds 9 & 10
www.spa-francorchamps.be

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2017:
Alessio Lorandi (I), Juan Manuel Correa (USA) and Arjun Maini (IND)

Maini shines at Spa

The GP3 Series met up at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps (B) circuit, as ever racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. This was their fifth outing out of a total of eight meetings supporting the 2017 Grand Prix Programme. We were pleased to welcome Juan Manuel Correa (USA) into our team, to drive our third car. As a rookie coming from FIA Formula 4 he faced a big challenge in his GP3 debut.

Race One Qualifying

Friday, 25/08/17, 17.10 – 17.40, Weather: Overcast, 18°C

The free practice session took place on Friday, early in the morning, and saw rookie Juan Manuel perform very well. He finished in a very good 9^th place in his first ever GP3 practice session, while Alessio was 10^th and Arjun 17^th.

The qualifying session this time took place on Friday afternoon. Shortly before the session there was a heavy downpour which passed over the circuit quite quickly, before the sun came out again, while the track remained extremely wet. Everyone started on wet weather tyres and stayed on them until the end of the session. This proved a tough test for our rookie, but Juan Manuel improved steadily, and despite the difficult circumstances, he ended up 20^th. Arjun managed to keep his cool and achieved an excellent 3^rd place on the grid. Alessio might have taken a few too many risks, which were not rewarded in the end and he finished 11^th on the grid.

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 26/08/17, 17.35, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

The track was dry for race one, and Arjun made a decent start, but at La Source Aitken overtook him, pushing him down to 4^th place. He saw the way the trio in front of him were battling it out and stayed close, biding his time. Arjun was in a good position for an attack several times, but in the end he didn’t manage to regain his place. That meant he came home in an excellent 4^th after a trouble free race. Alessio was up to 8^th after the start and drove very well. He was involved in some battling for positions and in the end took the chequered flag in 12^th place. Juan Manuel experienced his first ever race in the GP3 Series and did very well. He managed to fight for positions and to gain places and in the end he crossed the finish line in a very respectable 15^th 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 finishing order in the first race.

GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Sunday, 27/08/16, 09.00, Weather: Sunny, 18°C

Blue covered the sky over Spa on Sunday morning and there was some tough racing going on at the top, where Arjun was fighting for positions. During the race Aitken and Boccolacci clashed and fell back, while Russell and Fukuzumi battled their way forward. Arjun kept calm and held his pace to come home in an excellent 6^th place to score more valuable points. Alessio started powerfully and was on his way to a top ten finish when he bounced over the kerbs and lost momentum, along with several places. In the end he battled his way back up to 14^th place. Juan Manuel made a good start and began working his way forward. He managed two great overtaking manoeuvres and just as he'd edged up into a great position for a further attack, his engine broke down, bringing his race to a premature end with no mistakes from him.

We are now looking forward to the next race at Monza (I), which is up next weekend (3rd September 2017).

Championship standings after 10 out of 16 races:

1^st George Russell (GB), 137 points; 2^nd Jack Aitken (GB), 101 points; 3^rd Nirei Fukuzumi (JPN), 95 points; 4^th Giuliano Alesi (F), 87 points; 5^th Anthoine Hubert (F), 80 points; 6^th Alessio Lorandi (I), 63 points; 8^th Arjun Maini (IND), 53 points

2017 GP3 Series

For more information:

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