Tunjo, Kirchhofer and Ocon talk through their race
GP3 Series: Congratulations Oscar! Your first race win in GP3 – how are the emotions right now?
Oscar Tunjo: “Yes after a tough weekend it’s really good to finish with a win. In Free Practice I couldn’t run as we had a hydraulic problem. In qualifying I had a gearbox problem and started P17. Yesterday I finished P9 and today I came from ninth to P1! This is really good!”
GP3 Series: Tell us more about the moves you made, from ninth or the win is very impressive…
Oscar: “My start was ok, I tried to go in the outside in the second corner and there was a big crash. I lost some places there. I just stayed calm and then gained some places. It’s hard here as there isn’t much tyre degradation but in the corners you can feel the rears going. In the race I had that, but not as the others around me did. I was able to always have a good exit and be able to overtake on the straight and the second corner. At one point I thought the podium was possible but I never thought the win was up for grabs. I think in the last 6-7 laps I could see I had the potential to try and get to Marvin and pass him for the victory.”
GP3 Series: How difficult was the pass on Marvin; On the outside nonetheless?
Oscar: “I wasn’t really sure if he was going to be easy to pass. I tried to go to the inside and he closed me off. In the outside, I knew if I had a good exit and good traction I could manage overtaking. I tried it and it worked. I also did this with my teammate Luca. With Esteban, I moved to the inside. It was really clean driving which was really good. I’m just so happy with win and for the team and everyone.”
GP3 Series: Yes tell us about Trident’s performance here, a win with Luca yesterday and a win for you today?
Oscar: I think we have a really strong car and a great team of people around. Unfortunately I had some mechanical issues earlier on, but Luca has been really strong since the beginning of the year. I hope we start something good now and until the end of the year.
GP3 Series: You will have made your Colombian fans very happy with this result, a word for your fans as our Twitter account is going crazy!
Ocscar: “Yes it’s so nice to hear the national anthem and see the flag. A lot of people were watching today and of course my family and friends. They will have all been up early today to see this race so it’s a nice feeling to give them this result.”
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GP3 Series: Marvin P2 today: another podium but I am guessing you are a little disappointed not to win the race today?
Marvin Kirchhofer: “No I’m not too happy. When you are leading more than half of the race it is quite hard to lose it in the final stages. Today it was just not possible. We struggled a lot like we did yesterday. We did make some set-up changes but the issues were still there in the race. We just need to find out exactly what happened, so we need to work hard. Our quali pace was good. I’m just disappointed to miss out on the victory.”
GP3 Series: How was it was the tyres, as it looked like you were struggling towards the end after initial good pace at the start?
Marvin: “Our pace was good at the beginning. But then the tyres were going crazy. I really did everything I could to try and look after my tyres but no matter what I did I just couldn’t keep them.”
GP3 Series: On a positive note, you made a great start and had a good battle with Ralph Boschung, tell us about that?
Marvin: “My start wasn’t too bad. Last year I was always the guy who was weak at starts and this season I have definitely improved. It was a hard fight with Boschung. He pushed me in Turn 2, maybe it was too close. But overall it was nice, cool racing but unfortunately you don’t get points for that.”
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GP3 Series: Another podium for you today, but maybe a harder race for you. Talk us through the race?
Esteban Ocon: "The start was quite difficult. Antonio touched into turn one. So I lost a few places there. Following the crash in turn two I gained some positions back. The pace was quite good at the beginning and I overtook two drivers. After that I was a bit hard with the tyres. We struggled still to manage them. We did improve on that quite a bit compared t yesterday which is the most important thing so we need to keep working in that way."
GP3 Series: Did you feel your third place was under threat in the final few laps as there was a tasty battle behind you?
Esteban: "Yes it was definitely getting a bit crazier at the end. Me and Marvin were struggling more than the others. It wasn't an easy race. Neither race this week has been easy so we need to improve to get back to our form of Barcelona."
GP3 Series: What do you put the set-up issues down too? Difficulties with the Red Bull Ring or something else?
Esteban: "I don't know if it is the track or not. Probably it is. Maybe it's not good for us. Honestly we will have to see in Silverstone. But I think we understood quite a lot of things this weekend so we will improve for the next round."
