Race Report

2010 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Pri
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Istanbul (TK), Length 5,333 km, 7^th / 8^th May 2011, Rounds 1 & 2
www.istanbulparkcircuit.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2011:
Nico Müller (CH), Maxim Zimin (RUS) and Vittorio Ghirelli (I)

GP3 kicks off in Istanbul

The GP3 Series met up at the beautifully designed Istanbul Park circuit for their first event as part of the 2011 Grand Prix Programme, featuring as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix. The first free practice on Friday morning was wet, but the second in the afternoon was dry. Immediately the 30-strong field ran each other very close as they battled to set the fastest lap times.

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Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 07/05/11, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 18°C

The first qualifying session of the season got under way in sunny weather, and the top positions changed repeatedly, as the lap times again proved to be very close indeed. Nico would start the first race from 10^th, a mere 0.281 seconds shy of the pole position man’s lap time. Maxim had a brief off track excursion while on his first set of tyres and then couldn’t find enough of an improvement with his second set. Meanwhile, Vittorio did his best, and although he was only 1 second off the pole time, ended up just in front of Maxim in 26^th. The first 16 cars were covered by half a second, and a total of 27 cars were within a second of the best lap time.

GP3 Series

Race One (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 07/05/11, 17.20, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

At the start of the first race the sun was shining brightly and Melker and Caldarelli soon dealt with the rookie Dillmann, the top three remaining in that order all the way to the flag. Further back, the rest of the field was very close, and it proved very difficult to find overtaking opportunities. Nico got off to a really good start, but then had to avoid another driver who had stalled his engine. As a result he ended up going off and damaging the floor, thus losing several places. It wasn’t long before the Safety Car took over the field, and at the restart, a fierce fight for positions broke out. Nico, on whose car the downforce was not working properly any more, still attempted to improve his position, but Haryanto proved no easy target. Also, pressure started to build up from drivers pushing from behind. Nico launched an attack, but then lost the floor entirely and fell back even more. Despite his difficulties, a determined effort saw him cross the finish line in 11^th. Vittorio and Maxim, for their parts, both started very well and were making progress, at least until Vittorio, now up in 15^th, picked up some debris and had to pit to have a tyre changed. That dropped him back to 25^th. Maxim, meanwhile, was awarded a drive through penalty for not respecting the track limits and finished the race in 23^rd.
The grid for the second race of the weekend was set by reversing the order of the first eight finishers in the first race.

GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Sunday, 08/05/11, 10.25, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

The second race didn’t work out much better than the first for Nico and he only managed to get started once most of the rest of the field had gone. That put an end to his chances of a top ten position, though he did still put in quite a fight as he charged through the order from 25^th to 15^th, thus proving he’s capable of delivering fast lap times, even if the weekend’s result was less than satisfying for him. Maxim and Vittorio both started very well and again made up places, but much as in yesterday’s race the fierce level of competition in the midfield, with the resulting demanding racing, proved hard work. Maxim, who had already made it up to 14^th, had no choice but to give way to some uncompromisingly hard driving by his fellow competitors and finished the race in 17^th. Vittorio was 18^th when, around the middle point of the race, he had to retire when he suddenly found he had no oil pressure. All in all it was a disappointing weekend for Jenzer Motorsport and we will want to ensure that everything goes better in two weeks time in Barcelona.

Championship standings after 2 out of 16 races:

1^st Nigel Melker (NED), 14 points; 2^nd Andrea Caldarelli (I), 11 points; 3^rd Alexander Sims (GB), 8 points; 4^th Tom Dillmann (F), 8 points; 5^th Michael Christensen (DK), 7 points; 6^th Antonio Felix da Costa (P), 7 points

2011 GP3 Series

For more information:

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