Race Report

GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Monza (I), Length 5.793 km, 7^th/8^th September 2013, Rounds 13 & 14
www.monzanet.it

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2013:
Samin Gomez (VEN), Patric Niederhauser (CH) and Alex Fontana (CH)

Hard times at Monza

The GP3 Series met up at the very fast Monza (I) circuit, as ever racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia 2013. This was their seventh and penultimate outing supporting the 2013 Grand Prix Programme. The weather played the role it should, and temperatures were high once more.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 07/09/13, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

In free practice on Friday Alex claimed 7^th place, Patric was 17^th and Samin was 22^nd. Some more aerodynamic changes were made for qualifying and everybody was optimistic that we would have a good session.
The session began well and all seemed to be going according to plan, but at the tyre change the emergency clutch was accidentally switched on in Alex‘s car, and it took some time to find the problem and reset the clutch. That cost precious time and there were only a few laps left before the end of the session by then. To add to our misery, yellow flags were waved during the last minutes of the session, which made any improvements impossible. That left Alex back in 19^th on the grid for race one. Patric also started well, but after the tyre change he damaged a push rod and his car didn’t handle properly after that. He ended up in 13^th. This time out, Samin just couldn’t find her rhythm and she had to be satisfied with 25^th place on the grid.

GP3 Series

Race One (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 07/09/13, 17.20, Weather: Sunny, 30°C

As is always the case at Monza, the key part of the first lap is the first Chicane. Today, as ever, there were several incidents, although at least the Safety Car was not deployed. Patric got away well and was able to get through the chicane without any problems, putting him 8^th after the first lap. Alex also made up several places and was already 12^th when he got a bit too enthusiastic and tried to make up more places too quickly. He was too fast into the Parabolica and promptly lost the rear of his car, hitting the tyre wall at high speed and damaging the car – but thankfully not himself – very badly. Samin got sandwiched at the start and the nose of her car was damaged, but she avoided any further accidents during the race, putting in a respectable drive on this ultra fast circuit. After an off track moment with two wheels on the gravel through the Parabolica she got the car back on track and crossed the finish line in 17^th place. Harvey had overtaken Patric, and then also caught Kujala, but now Patric was on a mission to get 8^th place back, because this would mean pole position on the reverse grid on Sunday. Venturini, McKee and Sainz were all pushing to the front from behind, but it was Patric who overtook Kujala in a clean manoeuvre and was then able to open a gap, coming home safery in 8^th and scoring a handful of points as well.

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, 08/09/13, 09.25, Weather: Overcast, 26°C

The sky was overcast and temperatures were slightly cooler. Patric was stationery at the start when his teammate Alex collected him from behind. Both cars were heavily damaged and out of the race immediately. Samin got away well and was able to avoid all the incidents. The Safety Car was deployed, but the restart followed soon. Fong was close behind Samin and put pressure on her for a long time. He eventually pulled alongside her, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Later he pulled out alongside her again, this time on the straight, but then seemed to feel the need to pull over and hit her. He was now in front, but Samin soon took the place back. A few laps before the end Fong made another attempt, aiming to pass her on the straight, first on the left, then on the right, but he hit her again and went up over her rear wheel. Samin was able to finish the race in 15^th in spite of this.

The next event will be part of the programme of the F1 GP at Abu Dhabi, on the weekend of 3rd November 2013.

Championship standings after 14 out of 16 races:

1^st Facu Regalia (ARG), 138 points; 2^nd Daniil Kvyat (RUS), 131 points; 3^rd Kevin Korjus (EST), 107 points; 4^th Conor Daly (USA), 104 points; 5^th Jack Harvey (GB), 96 points; 6^th Tio Ellinas (CYP), 95 points; 13^th Patric Niederhauser (CH), 33 points; 16^th Alex Fontana (CH), 18 points

2013 GP3 Series

For more information:

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