ART man leads race 2 from start to finish
Alexander Rossi was in a class of his own finishing 9.6 seconds ahead of his nearest rival to clinch his first GP3 Series victory.
The American driver kept his head and made the perfect start from pole position disappearing into the distance and leading home Lucas Foresti and teammate Esteban Gutierrez. Having qualified a lowly 28th on Saturday Rossi had powered his way through the field in Race 1 When Michael Christensen missed his grid spot it meant a second formation lap for Race 2, leaving Rossi with another long wait whilst the 30-strong field lined up behind him, but the American kept his cool and his race was won from the start.
Jean- track was trying to find a way past Foresti squeezing the Carlin driver off the tarmac. Vergne was later penalised with a drive-through for his over-exuberant moves. and , Varhaug had nowhere to go but the grass sending the young Norwegian spinning into a helpless Mirko Bortolotti. Meanwhile Rossi was still out in front leading a recovering Foresti, and Gutierrez made a lightening chaos from twelfth to seventh, a great start from the Brazilian. But before the pact had time to settle the safety car was out as a result of the Varhaug- Bortolloti tangle on the start finish straight. With 12 laps remaining Alexander Rossi powered away on the restart, with the rest of the field following cleaning into turn one. Gutierrez lined-up Foresti to take second, the two drivers wheel-to- wheel until the Mexican ended up going wide trying to pass the ragged Carlin driver on the outside and gifting the place to Vergne. Wickens then put a move on Smith moving himself up behind Tech 1 Racing driver was penalised with a drive-through penalty for his cheeky moves at the start. The penalty gifted the final point of the race to racy Pedro Nunes. The French driver left it until the last possible lap to come in allowing Wickens to close the gap on Gutierrez. Rossi continued putting in fastest lap after fastest lap, and the Wickens-Gutierrez battle continued right up until the final corner, allowing Dean Smith to move up behind the Status GP and ART drivers with just two laps remaining. Despite his best efforts James Jakes was unable to pinch the final point from Nunes who finished sixth after a solid drive.
