Race Report
2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 SERIES
Circuit: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Length 5.554 km, 28th/29th November 2015, Rounds 17 + 18
www.yasmarinacircuit.com
JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Pal Varhaug (NOR), Mathéo Tuscher (CH) and Ralph Boschung (CH)
Final point for Varhaug in Abu Dhabi
Just one week after the last round in Bahrain (BRN), the ninth and final round of the season was held in the spectacular setting of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, on the same bill as F1 as usual. The championship had yet to be decided and exciting racing was scheduled. 24 drivers entered the event.
Race One Qualifying
Friday, 27/11/15, 10.00 – 10.45, Weather: Sunny, 27°C
Free practice took place on Friday morning and everybody was keen to show one last time what they were capable of. All our three drivers were placed in the top ten: Ralph was 7th, Pal was 9th and Mathéo 10th. The goal was to carry this excellent team performance through to the rest of the event.
The qualifying session took place in the heat of the day, a mere 2.5 hours after the end of free practice. Lap times were very tight, with 17 drivers within a second of the pole position time. Our drivers reached the following positions: Pal was 11th, Mathéo was 13th and Ralph was just behind him in 14th.
Race One Grid | |||
---|---|---|---|
1st | Esteban Ocon (COL) | ART | 1:55.491 |
2nd | Kevin Ceccon (I) | Arden | 1:55.507 |
3rd | Marvin Kirchhofer (D) | ART | 1:55.549 |
11th | Pal Varhaug (NOR) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:56.095 |
13th | Mathéo Tuscher (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:56.265 |
14th | Ralph Boschung (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:56.284 |
GP3 Series
Race One (40 Minutes)
Saturday, 28/11/15, 12.25, Weather: Sunny, 27°C
Considering that the championship was not yet decided, it promised to be an exciting race. However, there was tyre management to be done, and everybody had to be careful if they wanted to finish the long race of the weekend. However all that seemed to be forgotten at the start which was hectic, with Pal returned in 11th at the end of the first lap, Ralph in 13th and Mathéo 15th. The Safety Car had to be deployed for a short time to enable Fong’s car to be moved out of the way. At the restart Janosz snatched 11th rom Pal, and Morris got ahead of Mathéo. Later in the race the Virtual Safety Car had to be deployed for a while when Ceccon’s car was stranded out on track. The last few laps proved unspectacular with next to no position changes. Pal took the chequered flag in 11th, with Ralph right behind him in 12th and Mathéo finished the race in 16th. Ocon, who crossed the finishing line as the winner, was given a 5-second time penalty, which moved him back into 4th position and which handed victory to Kirchhofer.
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.
Results Race One | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Marvin Kirchhofer (D) | ART | 38:13.565 | |
2nd | Emil Bernstorff (GB) | Carlin | Gap | 0.618 |
3rd | Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) | Koiranen | Gap | 1.299 |
11th | Pal Varhaug (NOR) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
12th | Ralph Boschung (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
16th | Mathéo Tuscher (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
Fastest lap: Esteban Ocon (F) in 1:57.978 |
Race Two Grid | |||
---|---|---|---|
1st | Alex Palou (E) | Campos | |
2nd | Antonio Fuoco (I) | Carlin | |
3rd | Matthew Parry (GB) | Koiranen | |
11th | Pal Varhaug (NOR) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
12th | Ralph Boschung (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | |
16th | Mathéo Tuscher (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport |
GP3 Series
Race Two (30 Minutes)
Sunday, 29/11/15, 13.00, Weather: Sunny, 28°C
The final deciding race of the season started in the main heat of the day. Despite some heated action at the start and some interesting manoeuvres, the massive field made it through the first lap without any major incidents. Pal worked his way forward to 9th, Ralph was 12th and Mathéo 15th. Later Parry fell off, which moved all our drivers up the order. Pal managed to keep up with Kirchhofer and had a strong race for which he was rewarded with an excellent 8th place, collecting the last available point of the season as a result. Ralph closed the gap to Isaakyan and was quickly able to pass him in a clever move. That put him 10th, which he held unchallenged until the very last lap when Ceccon launched an attack. He had been able to save his tyres after dropping out of the race yesterday. In one of the very last corners Ceccon managed to overtake Ralph which left Ralph to cross the finish line in a good 11th place. Mathéo was battling for positions with Fontana, Morris and Stuvik, and finally took the flag in 14th.
The 2015 Championship title was handed to Esteban Ocon (F), who did a better job this weekend than Luca Ghiotto (I). Third place went to Marvin Kirchhofer (D).
That brought an exciting 2015 GP3 Series Season to an end.
Next week the team remains in Abu Dhabi where a number of new talents will get their chance to impress over the three official test days on 2nd/3rd/4th December 2015.
Next year the series continues with a new generation car which will make the GP3 Series more interesting and important once again.
The rollout of the new car is planned to be complete by the end of February 2016.
Results Race Two | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Alex Palou (E) | Campos | 27:46.982 | |
2nd | Antonio Fuoco (I) | Carlin | Gap | 4.429 |
3rd | Esteban Ocon (COL) | ART | Gap | 5.372 |
8th | Pal Varhaug (NOR) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
11th | Ralph Boschung (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
14th | Mathéo Tuscher (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
Fastest lap: Alex Palou (E) in 1:57.865 |
Championship final standings after 18 races:
1st Esteban Ocon (F), 253 points; 2nd Luca Ghiotto (I), 245 points; 3rd Marvin Kirchhofer (D), 200 points; 4th Emil Bernstorff (GB), 194 points; 5th Jimmy Eriksson (FIN), 118 points; 6th Antonio Fuoco (I), 88 points; 11th Ralph Boschung (CH), 28 points; 13th Mathéo Tuscher (CH), 22 points; 19th Pal Varhaug (NOR), 5 points
2015 GP3 Series
8th/10th May | 2015 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana | Catalunya (E) |
19th/21st June | 2015 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix | RedBullRing (A) |
3rd/5th July | 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix | Silverstone (GB) |
24th/26th July | 2015 Formula 1 Ing Magyar Nagydij | Budapest (HU) |
21st/23rd August | 2015 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps (B) |
4th/6th September | 2015 Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia | Monza (I) |
9th/11th October | 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix | Sochi (RUS) |
19th/21st November | Stand alone event together with GP2 | Bahrein (BRN) |
27th/29th November | 2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi (UEA) |
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