Race Report

2018 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Sochi (RUS), Length 5.848 km, 28^th-30^th 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.

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 7^th place. Juan Manuel drove quite aggressively on this technical circuit and finished in 13^th place, with Jannes in 19^th.
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 14^th place. Jannes too was unable to improve enough and was 19^th.
Nikita Mazepin, who set the pole time then had his fastest lap disallowed for not respecting track limits, meaning that Leonardo Pulcini inherited pole.

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 11^th at the end of a furious first lap, with Tatiana 13^th and Jannes 18^th As soon as the DRS system was enabled, Juan Manuel managed to pass Piquet to snatch 10^th. 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 10^th. By the end of the race, he had recovered to claim a very good 9^th place. Tatiana was involved in battles with Tveter and Alesi, overtaking both of them to run in 11^th. Soon she joined the persecution of Ilott and managed to get past before the end of the race to claim another point and 10^th 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 12^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 the finishing order in the first race.

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 7^th place, Tatiana was 8^th, and Jannes was 11^th. Juan Manuel managed to slip past Aubry to advance to 6^th 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 10^th 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 9^th place from Jannes, but Jannes finished his best race weekend so far in an excellent 10^th place. Tatiana managed to keep Pulcini at bay all the way to the chequered flag and with an excellent 7^th place finish earned points for the fifth time this season. Juan Manuel crossed the finish line in 5^th 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 25^th, 2018, the last race event of the GP3 Series will take place.

Championship standings after 16 out of 18 races:

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

Tatiana Calderon (COL)

Juan Manuel Correa (USA)

Jannes Fittje (D)

© Photo Pellegrini

2018 GP3 Series

For more information:

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