Race Report

GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Nürburgring (D), Length 5.148 km, 6^th/7^th July 2013, Rounds 7 & 8
www.nuerburgring.de

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

Final point to Niederhauser at the Nürburgring

The GP3 Series met up for their fifth race meeting of the season, racing as one of the support races for the Formel 1 Grosser Preis von Deutschland 2013 on the popular Nürburgring circuit in Germany. The weather in the Eifel region was not cool and rainy, as it so often is, but instead was nice and warm. A large crowd followed the action.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 06/07/13, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 19°C

In free practice on Friday it was already dry and warm. Alex and Patric tried a different tactic from most with their tyres, both saving a set for qualifying. Alex claimed 11^th place as a result, and Patric was 16^th. Samin used one set more than her team colleagues, as she wanted to get more accustomed to using new rubber. She drove very well on this circuit which was new to her and was 15^th, which was quicker than Patric.
In the qualifying session on Saturday morning the strategy paid off for Alex, and he was able to improve steadily to finish 3^rd, just 0.312 seconds of pole position. Patric tried hard to get similar results and may have pushed too hard as a result. With a gap of 0.903 seconds to pole position he finished in 15^th place. Samin was able to reproduce the exact same lap time as yesterday, but was not able to improve further, which put her 25^th on the grid for the first race.

GP3 Series

Race One (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 06/07/13, 17.20, Weather: Sunny, 23°C

The weather stayed nice and warm for the race too. Alex didn’t get the best start and lost a few places in the first few corners. Then Korjus left his braking too late and hit Alex, costing Alex his rear wing. He was able to drive back to the pits, but had to abandon the race and with it his hopes for a good result. Patric was 13^th after the first lap and it took him a while to establish his race rhythm. There was a short Safety Car phase and at the restart Patric was taken by surprise by Kujala and lost a place. After that his lap times improved and he was able to gain the position back. He was then closing in on Visoiu, but there was not enough time left for him to start an attack. Korjus was awarded a drive through penalty for what he did to Alex, so Patric moved up a place and crossed the finish line in 12^th. Samin was very unlucky. Her starter motor failed on the pre-grid, which meant she had to start from the pitlane. She did a very good job and was soon able to overtake her fellow-female driver Jorda, before closing in on Cullen. She knew him of old but this time it didn’t take long to overtake him in a very cool manoeuvre. Next she closed on Fumanelli, and was very close by the end. Samin, crossing the finish line in a good 18^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, 07/07/13, 09.25, Weather: Sunny, 21°C

The sun was still shining on Sunday morning. The start went well, but there were changes immediately. Patric got away well and came back in 9^th at the end of lap one. He set a hard pace in a group consisting of Zamparelli and Daly (in front of him) and Harvey (behind him). The gaps were very small with everyone waited for someone else to make a mistake. On the very last lap Patric managed to outwit Daly and finished 8^th, snatching the last available point from him! Samin started well and had overtaken Fumanelli, but Eriksson also got a super start and made up a few places, putting Samin back to her starting position in 18^th. Alex was behind her battling it out with Lichtenstein, whom he finally overtook, before also passing Samin, and then a few laps later Eriksson. That put Alex 17^th, following Kvyat, Korjus and Venturini, but he didn’t have time to improve his position any further. Samin set very good lap times from the start and showed very good pace, fighting with Fumanelli who desperately tried to overtake her. He did manage to get past, but a little later Samin gained her position back, which let her close on Eriksson. Again there was too little of the race remaining for her to launch an attack, so she took the flag in a respectable 19^th place. Samin again showed that she is a great fighter and that she can easily keep up with the mid-field lap times.
The next event will be part of the program of the F1 GP at the Hungaroring, Hungary, on the weekend of 28^th July 2013.

Championship standings after 8 out of 16 races:

1^st Tio Ellinas (CYP), 91 points; 2^nd Facu Regalia (ARG), 72 points; 3^rd Kevin Korjus (EST), 59 points; 4^th Jack Harvey (GB), 57 points; 5^th Conor Daly(USA), 52 points; 6^th Nick Yelloly (GB), 52 points; 10^th Patric Niederhauser (CH), 29 points; 15^th Alex Fontana (CH), 17 points

2013 GP3 Series

For more information:

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