Race Report

Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2018
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Le Castellet (F), Length 5.821 km, 22^nd – 24^th June 2018, Rounds 3 & 4
www.circuitpaulricard.com

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

Correa and Beckmann in the Top Ten at Le Castellet

The GP3 Series teams met for the second event of the season as they ran as part of the Formula One programme at the French Grand Prix 2018, held at Le Castellet on the historic Paul Ricard Circuit. The sun shone for most of the weekend, only vanishing briefly as a heavy thunderstorm passed over the area on Saturday afternoon. In great conditions it was very obvious just how close the competition is within the highly competitive GP3 Series field.

Race One Qualifying

Friday, 22/06/18, 18.50 – 19.20, Weather: Sunny, 26°C

In the morning there was a free practice session, and after a six-week break since the last race, our drivers gave it their best shot. For Juan Manuel, the session did not last long, because a sensor on the clutch failed, and he had to abandon his vehicle. Tatiana was fastest of the team, reaching 13^th place. David was 15^th.
Qualification followed late in the afternoon and Tatiana again finished in 13^th place despite having reduced the gap to the top to 0.723 seconds. David was 14^th and Juan Manuel finished 16^th. The times were very close across the field, with 18 drivers within a second of the best time.

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 12/05/18, 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

The start went well though Tatiana initially lost a place to Tveter, though she got it back almost immediately with a solid overtaking manoeuvre to defend her 13^th place. A few laps later, she made it past Lundgaard, which put her in 12^th and was soon on the tail of the hard-battling pair of Hughes and Ilott, who were in pursuit of Mawson and his 9^th place. Juan Manuel was also on his way to the front, when he too managed to pass Tveter and Lundgaard, and was thus right behind Tatiana in 13^th place. David made contact with another competitor shortly after the start, damaging his front wing and had to come into the pits to have the part replaced. By the time he re-joined he was a long way behind the rest of the field. He then drove lap after lap setting virtually identical times to the leaders Boccolacci and Hubert and set the third fastest lap time of the race. However, that did not alter the fact that he was last at the finish. The heated fight between Ilott and Hughes continued, and they were closely followed by Tatiana in 12^th and Juan Manuel in 13^th. For lap after lap, the gap between each of the four vehicles varied between 0.2 and 0.7 seconds. In a careless moment, Juan Manuel hit the rear of Tatiana’s car, pitching her into a spin. She was able to continue, but had lost a lot of time, and ended up crossing the finish line in 19^th place. Juan Manuel managed to catch Hughes shortly before the finish line and was thus 11^th. The incident with Tatiana was judged to be a racing incident and Juan Manuel was not penalised.
Later in scrutineering Boccolacci, who won the race, and Kari, who finished 5^th, were disqualified for not having enough fuel left in their cars for a sample to be verified, that moved everyone up two places and meant Juan Manuel scored 2 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, 24/06/18, 10.50, Weather: Sunny, 23°C

Juan Manuel held onto his 9^th place for several laps after a good start until he came under pressure from Hughes and Tveter, while David also started very well from 18^th place, determined to gain as many places as he could. He was soon up to 13^th, right behind the charging pair of Hughes and Tveter. The two tangled and Hughes dropped back, but Tveter had plenty of momentum to get past Juan Manuel, who had been forced to the outside, which meant David, who was following immediately behind, was able to go through. Juan Manuel was also caught by Laaksonen, but then he regained control and managed to finish 12^th, even though Boccolacci and Lundgaard were pushing hard from behind. David managed to come home in a good 10^th place. Tatiana started well and was already 14^th, but then made contact with another driver and damaged her front wing. She came back to the pits for a replacement, and re-joined the race, setting some very quick lap times, as she fought her way back to 16^th place.

We are looking forward to the next race in just one week’s time at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Championship standings after 4 out of 18 races:

1^st Anthoine Hubert (F), 63 points; 2^nd Nikita Mazepin (RUS), 49 points; 3^rd Giuliano Alesi (F), 42 points; 4^th Callum Ilott (GB), 36 points; 5^th Leonardo Pulcini (I), 29 points; 6^th. Pedro Piquet (BRA), 22 points; 10^th Juan Manuel Correa (USA), 14 points; 12^th David Beckmann (D), 8 points

2018 GP3 Series

For more information:

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