THE BEST STATS AND FACTS AHEAD OF THIS WEEK'S EVENTSchedule:Thursday 19th November: Free Practice 09.35 – 10.20Thursday 19th November: Qualifying: 12.40 – 13.10Friday 20th November: Race 1: 13:20 – 14.05Saturday 21st November: Race 2: 09.00 – 09.35
Warm Up: Zaid Ashkanani – Campos Racing“The first time I ever drove was at the Sakhir circuit. I have driven a lot there. My favourite part of the track is the S’s as that’s a quick part. It is really nice to drive through that particular section. The track is mainly made up of medium speed corners which I feel suit me. I know it will be very tough on tyres there too. This season I have had to learn so many new tracks, so I will feel much more confident when arriving to Sakhir as I have a lot of experience there. I really like the place and the people there are great. It will really help to motivate me with my friends and family there to support me. I can’t wait!”
The Stakes
Following a six week break, the action is back on track for the penultimate round of the 2015 season at a brand new venue! GP3 makes its maiden visit to the Bahrain International Circuit which marks the third flyaway event on this year’s calendar.
Firstly, let’s rewind to Round 7 in Sochi: ART Grand Prix’s Esteban Ocon claimed his debut pole position in the category but it was Series leader Luca Ghiotto from the third row who produced a mesmerising opening lap to finish lap one leading the pack. The Italian from Trident romped home to his fourth victory of 2015, ahead of the Frenchman. In Race 2, Swede Jimmy Eriksson ditched the black cat off his back to rocket himself and Koiranen GP to their first win of the season, ahead of Ocon.
With two rounds remaining, the title battle is on the edge with just two points separating Ghiotto and Ocon. Arden International’s Emil Bernstorff has moved up to third in the drivers’ standings, demoting Marvin Kirchhöfer to fourth. Again there are just two points separating Bernstorff and Kirchhöfer in another mouth-watering tussle.
ART Grand Prix have one hand on the Teams’ Champions’ trophy with a mammoth 130 points’ advantage in the standings. The French squad are on course for their fifth winners’ trophy from six seasons.
With so much to play for, a brand new track on the calendar can only further spice up the action and the intrigue in a hotly contested Series. A handful of drivers have experience of driving in Bahrain, but for many they will be facing a fresh new challenge to learn the track and deal with the climatic change. The Sakhir circuit is known for being tough on tyres with the medium Pirelli compound nominated for this flowing, medium-speed track.
Season stats
1 Luca Ghiotto, Esteban Ocon and Marvin Kirchhöfer have failed to score points in just one race this season.
2 Ocon has reduced the deficit to Series leader Ghiotto to just 2 points in the Drivers’ Standings following Sochi.
130 ART Grand Prix’s points advantage over Arden International in the Teams’ Standings.
9 Ocon continues his impressive podium streak to make it nine consecutive second places.
Noteworthy:
Russian rookie Matevos Isaakyan will make his debut in the Series replacing Adderly Fong at this event in the #10 Koiranen GP machine.
Esteban Ocon has broken yet another record – this time for total number of podiums achieved. The Frenchman has achieved 11 in total in his rookie season.
There have been seven different winners from the first 14 races: Luca Ghiotto (4), Marvin Kirchhöfer (3), Kevin Ceccon (2), Emil Bernstorff (2), Esteban Ocon (1), Oscar Tunjo (1) and Jimmy Eriksson (1).
Ghiotto leads the Drivers’ Standings on 196 points ahead of Esteban Ocon (194), Emil Bernstorff (146) and Marvin Kirchhöfer (144).
ART Grand Prix leads the way in the Teams’ Standings on 357 points. In second is Arden International on 227 with Trident on 224 points.
Pirelli
Pirelli's Racing Manager Mario Isola commented:
“We come back to a venue that ourselves and the team know very well, in Bahrain, both through testing and racing, earlier this year. So although this weekend was a relatively late addition to the GP2 calendar, everyone is still very well-prepared due to the previous data we have collected here. We can expect quite a high degree of track evolution in the first sessions and also high temperatures. However, with the season coming towards an end and the drivers benefitting from previous experience, their tyre management skills should ensure that they get the best out of their allocation this weekend. For the GP3 drivers, the situation is much more uncertain as they come here for the first time. This means that they will have to go through the whole process of learning the track and how the tyres interact with it, in order to formulate the best tyre mangement strategy in what are sure to be very challenging conditions.”
FUN WITH FIGURES:
2.33 – Luca Ghiotto’s average finishing result in Race 1.
15 – The number of podiums achieved by Koiranen GP since they joined the Series.
62 – The highest number of laps led this year is from Esteban Ocon. The ART Grand Prix driver has led one more lap than his title rival Ghiotto.
5 – Average Race 2 Result for Arden International’s Kevin Ceccon.
6 – Average qualifying position for Campos Racing’s Alex Palou in his debut season.
33 – Jann Mardenborough’s rostrum in Russia was the 33rd podium for Carlin.
9 – The number of places that Jimmy Eriksson made up from his starting position in Sochi Race 1.
