Race Report

2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES

Circuit Sochi (RUS), Length 5.848 km, 11^th/12^th October 2014, Rounds 15 & 16
sochiautodrom.ru

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2014:
Pal Varhaug (NOR), Mathéo Tuscher (CH) and Kevin Ceccon (I)

Ceccon takes excellent 5^th place in Sochi

The GP3 Series met up at the new and interesting Sochi (RUS) circuit, as ever in 2014 racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The weather was good, temperatures were warm and it stayed dry.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 11/10/14, 09.30 – 10.00, Weather: Sunny, 19°C

The free practice session took place late on Friday afternoon. It was clear that everyone would improve lap after lap on this new circuit that no one had raced on before. Mathéo was 10^th in the end, Pal was 14^th and Kevin reached 16^th. The drivers liked the new circuit, which reminded them a bit of the Valencia street circuit.

The qualifying session was held in ideal conditions. Kevin managed a very good 7^th place for the grid of the first race, while Mathéo pushed hard to reach 13^th. Pal had been at the top of the list earlier in the session but in the end couldn’t string his best sector times together, which meant he would start 17^th. After the session Stanaway was given a penalty for missing the weigh in, which moved all of our drivers up a place.

GP3 Series

Race One (30 Minutes)

Saturday, 11/10/14, 13.40, Weather: Sunny, 20°C

The first ever start of a GP3 Series race at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi went well. Kevin managed to move up a place and was 5^th after the first lap, behind Stoneman, Kirchhofer, Fontana and Eriksson. Pal had a hectic first lap but was able to improve to go 10^th. Mathéo also started well, gained a place and was now in 11^th place. He drove very aggressively and abused his tyres terribly which meant that a few laps later he had to park his car with a damaged tyre. Kevin delivered a strong race and withstood the pressure from Mardenborough for a long time, bringing it home in an excellent 5^th place. Pal also drove well, first to defend his position from attack by Zampieri, then by Agostini. He came home in a good 10^th place to claim the last available point.

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)

Sunday, 12/10/14, 11.00, Weather: Sunny, 20°C

Shortly after the start there was a big accident involving four cars. Eriksson caused the accident with Fontana, but was able continue, though he was handed a 10 second Stop & Go penalty for his actions. There was massive damage to the other cars, but fortunately the drivers were unhurt. Through no fault of his own, Pal got sandwiched and ended up involved in the crash. The remaining cars drove back to the pitlane, where they waited until the damage was cleaned away. After that they were led out on track again but behind the Safety Car. After a lap behind the Safety Car the restart was finally announced: Kevin was in 6^th and Mathéo was 12^th. A few laps later Kevin’s lap times suddenly slowed and he started to drop back, pulling into the pit lane on lap 9 with a clutch failure. That unfortunately just left Mathéo still in the race for us. There was another Safety Car phase, when Martsenko stopped in a dangerous position and the race restarted with just two laps left. Mathéo finally came home in 11^th place with no further damage.

The last race of the GP3 Series in 2014 takes place in 6 weeks at Abu Dhabi (UAE).

Championship standings after 16 out of 18 races:

1^st Alex Lynn (GB), 185 points; 2^nd Dean Stoneman (GB), 138 points; 3^rd Marvin Kirchhofer (D), 137 points; 4^th Jimmy Eriksson (SWE), 127 points; 5^th Richie Stanaway (NZ), 123 points; 6^th Emil Bernstorff (GB), 112 points; 12^th Mathéo Tuscher (CH), 29 points; 16^th Kevin Ceccon (I), 14 points; 17^th Pal Varhaug (NOR), 12 points

2014 GP3 Series

For more information:

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