Race Report

Formula 1 Grosser Preis von Oesterreich 2015
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: RedBull Ring (A), Length 4,326 km, 20^th/21^st June 2015, Rounds 3 & 4
www.projekt-spielberg.at/aktuelles

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Pal Varhaug (NOR), Mathéo Tuscher (CH) and Ralph Boschung (CH)

Points for Boschung at the RedBull Ring

The GP3 Series teams met for the first event of the season as part of the Formula One programme at the Grosser Preis von Oesterreich 2015, on the RedBull Ring circuit near Zeltweg. Already in free practice on Friday it was clear that the 24-car strong field would produce a very close fight for positions.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 20/05/15, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Overcast, 10°C

Dark clouds loomed overhead but the track stayed dry for the free practice session on Friday evening. 18 cars were classified within one second of the fastest time. Mathéo was 5^th at the end with a small gap of 0.170 seconds, while Pal was 10^th, and Ralph was 15^th.
Despite an overcast sky and very cool morning temperatures the track stayed dry for the qualifying as well and the resulting lap times were very quick. The pole time was 1.1 seconds quicker than the fastest lap time in free practice on Friday and the times were also very close again with 19 drivers within a second of pole. Ralph improved steadily through the session and ended up 11^th. Mathéo on the other hand struggled to find his rhythm and ended up back in 13^th. Pal‘s best time was 1.081 seconds slower than the fastest time which put him 19^th.

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 20/05/15, 17.20, Weather: Overcast, 15°C

After the Barcelona race event it was no secret that the key to success lay in tyre management. Ralph made a very good start and was already up to 8th, with Mathéo staying 13^th and Pal 19^th. Gilbert stalled and Ceccon and Gomez couldn’t avoid him, which led to a massive accident. The Safety Car took the field over for several laps until the damaged cars were cleared away. At the restart Ralph moved up to 7^th, and when Parry dropped back he was promoted to 6^th. Ralph drove well and was able to keep pace with his group. Around the middle of the race Fuoco and Mardenborough pushed their way to the front, and Ralph dropped back to 8^th. He put in a steady drive to come home in an excellent 8^th place. That secured him pole position for race two, as well as his first points in the series. Mathéo fell back to 14^th for a while but then managed to overtake Tunjo and Celis, to claim 11^th. Pal improved lap by lap and worked his way forward, overtaking Mathéo for 11^th in the closing stages of the race. That left Mathéo to finish 12^th.

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.

<tr>12^thMathéo Tuscher (CH)Jenzer Motorsport  

GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Sunday, 10/05/15, 09.25, Weather: Sunny, 12°C

When the field returned from the green flag lap, Pal turned straight into the pit lane. The team found that the hydraulic pump wasn’t working which meant Pal couldn’t change gear. Needless to say it meant that Pal was unable to take the start.
Ralph had some wheelspin at the start, but he managed to take the lead, making good use of his pole position. At the second corner there was an accident which involved three cars which meant the Safety Car had to be deployed immediately. Kirchhofer piled on the pressure at the restart and soon managed to slip past Ralph. After Ocon and Ghiotto also managed to get past, which put Ralph 4^th. Despite driving carefully, his tyres were now very worn. Mathéo managed to completely avoid the accident at the start and moved up the order to 6^th. He was under pressure from Tunjo and Morris, and they both quickly found a way past. That meant Mathéo was in 8^th place. Later on Ralph fell back place by place, finally coming home just inside the top ten in 10^th place. Mathéo regained 6^th on the penultimate lap with a great pass on Morris to gain his best result of the season, as well as points in today’s race.
In post-race scrutineering penalties were handed out. The undertray on Esteban Ocon’s car was too low, as was the one on Mathéo’s car. Both drivers were disqualified and lost their good results.

We are now looking forward to the next race in two weeks time at Silverstone.

Championship standings after 4 out of 16 races:

1^st Luca Ghiotto (I), 64 points; 2^nd Esteban Ocon (F), 54 points; 3^rd Marvin Kirchhofer (D), 47 points; 4^th Emil Bernstorff (GB), 39 points; 5^th Jann Mardenborough (GB) 32 points; 6^th Antonio Fuoco (I), 30 points; 11^th Ralph Boschung (CH), 5 points

2015 GP3 Series

For more information:

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