Atech CRS GP finished 11th in the weekend’s second GP3 race in Istanbul on Sunday with Briton Nick Yelloly narrowly avoiding a stalled car off the line to finish top of the trio. Zoel Amberg had another strong race, despite being hit by another car which damaged his suspension, to finish 14th while Marlon Stockinger, eliminated in Saturday’s opening round, moved up seven places to bring his car home 23rd.
The grid saw Amberg line up 12th, Yelloly 13th and Stockinger dead last in 30th, having been an early retirement in the first race. At the lights Yelloly was lucky to avoid the stalled car of Nico Muller immediately in front of him, and get a run alongside Amberg into the first corner, passing his team-mate later in the lap.
Stockinger made a good start to gain five places in the opening three laps while Yelloly and Amberg were trading places just outside the top ten. Amberg’s bid for a top ten finish ended when he was hit by another car damaging his suspension dropping him to 14th, while Yelloly chasing tenth held on to take 11th at the flag, and Stockinger made up two more places to finish 23rd.
Nick Yelloly: “I got a good start and just managed to avoid Muller who had stalled in front of me. Then I got past Zoel on the opening lap, but the trouble is if anyone makes a mistake the whole field bunches up behind and in amongst the traffic it’s hard to show your true pace. Towards the end of the race I changed my driving style, which worked and gave me better pace so I know it’s really important to qualify higher. I was pretty happy with the race pace, and so now I’m pretty confident ahead of the next rounds, but to be running around the top ten for a rookie, isn’t bad.”
Zoel Amberg: “In the beginning it wasn’t bad and I had a good fight with Nick which was cool! But then I was hit by another car, which damaged mine, and I lost a lot of grip as a result. The team did a great job all weekend though and I really enjoyed my first GP3 outing. It was a pretty good weekend all round and I’m now really looking forward to the next rounds in Spain.”
Team Principal David Hayle: “It wasn’t a bad start to the season really considering we have three GP3 rookies in the team. We will take what we’ve learnt this weekend and build on it for the next rounds and keep improving.”
The next rounds of the 2011 GP3 Series take place at the Catalunya circuit in Barcelona, Spain over the weekend of 20-22 May.
