Maini won for the first time
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| Written by: Fanni Váradi | Photo: GP3 Media |
Raoul Hyman had the opportunity to start from pole position on the sprint race in Barcelona owing to his 8th place on the main race. The Campos’ driver could not stay in the front, and lost the leadership right after the start, when both Maini and Boccalocci passed by him.
The sprint race was 17 laps long, and the drivers could use DRS four times during the race.
The French driver could keep pace with Maini, and used his DRS on the 5th lap for the first time. He got much closer and tried to attack him a lap later. It seemed to be a grueling task to overtake the Indian driver who was defending aggressively. He kept his car on the outer line of the track at Turn2 but they could not avoid a contact between the cars. Caused by this, Boccolacci lost speed and Anthoine Huber got closer. From this point, nothing could stop Maini, who gained a 6 seconds gap in front of others, and scored his first GP3 victory.
Boccolacci could save his second place, and acquired his first ever podium. Alessio Lorandi overtook Huber on final lap and finished third. The Mercedes junior, Geroge Russell finished fifth followed by his teammate, the main race winner Nirei Fukuzimi.
The poleman Hyman did not do too well. He lost several places during the race and ended up being only 8th. DAMS driver Santino Ferrucci, Kevin Jorg and Julien Falchero were quick enough to insinuate to top 10.
As it later turned out, a wrong sensor inflicted Aitken’s technical issue. The British talent had to start from the very back of the grid. He showed a good performance, and following several overtakes, the Renault driver finished on 13th place.
After one round, Nirei Fukuzumi leads the championship with 29 points, followed by Alessio Lorandi and Arjun Maini.
