Josef Newgarden took his first points-finish in the GP3 Series after an excellent drive in the first ofthe weekend’s two races at the Hungaroring. It was bitter sweet however, after a mechanical failurein race two denied the young American his first GP3 podium.

Newgarden had qualified in 17th position for the first race, however penalties handed out, to thosedrivers who had set their fastest times under yellows, promoted the Carlin driver to 14th on the grid.Newgarden drove a remarkable race, storming up to ninth place before putting in a stunning moveon fellow American Alexander Rossi (ART) to take eighth position. When Mirko Bortolotti (Addax)retired on the final lap, Newgarden was elevated to a superb seventh place.

The reverse grid regulations saw Newgarden line up in second for race two. As the lights went out,Newgarden made a fantastic start to challenge Rossi for the lead, however the ART driver pushedthe Carlin car wide at the first corner. But Newgarden retained second position and continued topush - setting the fastest lap on a circuit he had driven on for the first time only two days earlier.Newgarden’s performance was impressive all weekend and he thoroughly deserved a strong result,but a fuel pump failure with just three laps to go denied the 19 year-old American of second place.“We had a lot of pace,” said Newgarden, “but it’s just one of those things unfortunately. As a team,I think we put in a strong performance throughout the weekend despite not making it onto thepodium, and we have to focus on that.”

Carlin’s Racing Director, Trevor Carlin, added: “It is hugely disappointing to see Josef lose a secondplace through no fault of his own. Josef is improving with every race and to see how he handledhimself today, even compared to his performance in Hockenheim last weekend just shows the rateat which he is improving.”

Newgarden will be back in action on 28-29 August when the GP3 Series arrives at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, for the penultimate round of the 2010 championship.