Race Report

Formula 1 Ing Magyar Nagydij Grand Prix 2015
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Hungaroring (HU), Length 4,381 km, 25^th/26^th July 2015, Rounds 7 & 8
www.hungaroring.hu

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

Points for the Jenzer trio in Budapest

The GP3 Series met up for their fourth race event on the fluid and demanding Hungaroring Circuit near Budapest, racing as one of the support races for the Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydij 2015. The temperature was hot, and the drivers faced a major challenge around tyre-management.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 25/07/15, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 28°C

The free practice session on Friday evening took place with the temperature at a blistering 32°C. As has been the case all season it was the tyres which were everyone’s biggest concern for the races. Also in free practice it was obvious that lap times would be close again. Pal was 6th and Mathéo and Ralph were in 15^th and 16^th places respectively.
When the big field took to the track for the qualifying session in the morning temperatures had already risen again. The session was fiercely competitive with no stoppages and in the end 18 drivers were within a single second of the pole time. Pal was 10^th, Mathéo 12^th and Ralph 14^th.

GP3 Series

Race One (40 Minutes)

Saturday, 25/07/15, 17.20, Weather: Cloudy, 32°C

Dark clouds were looming as the race started at the end of a sweltering afternoon. Since the first race of the season at Barcelona it has become abundantly clear that the different tyre compounds have to be treated with the right care to make them last the distance of a 40 minute race. Additionally the Hungaroring is not the easiest circuit for overtaking without taking a big risk due to its many fluid corners.
Pal started well and held onto 9^th place while Mathéo was taken by surprise by Morris, who also caught Gilbert in the same move. Ralph meanwhile was immediately behind Mathéo in 13^th. Mardenborough got hit by Ashkanani which meant the Saftety Car had to be deployed while Mardenborough’s car was moved to a safe place. At the restart there were some changes, and Ralph began looking for a way past Mathéo. It didn’t work on the first attempt, but when Morris went off and raised a cloud of dust, Mathéo approached it with caution which was enough to enable Ralph to get past. Mathéo ended up behind Morris which put Ralph 11^th and Mathéo 13^th. Mathéo did soon fight his way back past Morris into 12^th behind Ralph, and after a hair-raising manoeuvre that took several corners to complete he went past. Ralph lost a little momentum as a result and now he was the one behind Morris. Mathéo, however, wasn’t finished yet and set about trying to relieve Gilbert of the final available point, eventually getting past to finish 10^th. Pal had no problem holding onto 9^th place throughout the course of the race and he came home in that position to claim his first points of the season. After an action packed race Ralph crossed the finish line in 13^th, completing a good performance for the team.

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, 26/07/15, 09.25, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

On Sunday morning conditions were entirely different for the drivers. Temperatures were 14°C cooler than on Saturday and it was cloudy. That meant tyres could be treated a little more aggressively and drivers were able to take more risks. The start had to be aborted, and a second green flag lap was run but at the start Fuoco and Bernstorff crashed at the chicane, and the Safety Car was promptly deployed. Pal was now 6^th, Ralph was 8^th and Mathéo was 10^th. At the restart Kirchhofer managed to overtake Pal, and Morris pushed Mathéo off track for a brief moment. Mathéo dropped back to 12^th as a result and then began a ferocious recovery drive to retrieve the lost positions. He overtook Morris, Fong and Gilbert all within a period of just four laps which put him right behind Ralph in 9^th place. Pal and Ralph were doing very well in 7^th and 8^th respectively and Shortly before the end Mathéo launched an attack on Ralph, who was holding the last points position. Ralph defended his place successfully, and Pal, Ralph and Mathéo crossed the finishing line in consecutive places. That meant all three of our drivers finished in the Top Ten, Pal and Mathéo already for the second time this weekend.
After the race Jimmy Eriksson was handed a time penalty and fell back from 3^rd to 6^th place. With that Matthew Parry was promoted to 3^rd place.

We are now looking forward to the next race in four weeks time at Spa-Francorchamps.

Championship standings after 8 out of 16 races:

1^st Luca Ghiotto (I), 121 Punkte; 2^nd Marvin Kirchhofer (D), 98 Punkte; 3^rd Esteban Ocon (F), 96 Punkte; 4^th Emil Bernstorff (GB), 75 Punkte; 5^th Kevin Ceccon (I), 54 Punkte; 6^th Jimmy Eriksson (FIN), 50 Punkte; 10^th Ralph Boschung (CH), 20 Punkte; 15^th Pal Varhaug (NOR), 4 Punkte; 16^th Mathéo Tuscher (CH), 2 Punkte

2015 GP3 Series

For more information:

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