MW Arden rookie Daniil Kvyat has taken the first GP3 victory in Abu Dhabi and the championship as he gets ready for his move into the big time with Toro Rosso in F1.
Starting from pole position, the Russian was unstoppable in his domination of the 14 lap race showing critics that he is deserving of his 2014 seat.
One man who definitely did not have the rub of the green was Kevin Korjus, stalling on the grid after qualifying an excellent second place he was avoided by the rest of the grid but got going again in last place.
Also suffering from bad luck was series new comer Alice Powell, racing for Bamboo Engineering, Powell had her times deleted and was sent to the back of the grid after qualifying having crossed the start/finish line twice after the end of qualifying. She eventually recovered to a good 20th place.
It was Bamboo team mate Carmen Jorda that also brought out the only safety car of the race, spinning on track and failing to get restarted.
Even that didn’t phase Kvyat who made a controlled restart – even managing to regain a small advantage over the chasing pack – safe in the knowledge that nearest rival, ART Grand Prix‘s Facu Regalia, was only tenth and was struggling for pace.
“I’m really, really happy and I’m proud of myself, the team and everyone involved this year. It’s a strong result and to be going to Formula One like this, it could not be better than that!” Commented Kvyat.
Another team that should have been proud of their achievements today was Carlin, scoring a podium with both Alexander Sims and Nick Yelloly. Although Conor Daly was keen to stop that from happening putting up a strong attack towards the end of the race, but in the end he had to settle for fourth place.
That result – and a fifth place for Jack Harvey – was enough for ART to claim the GP3 teams title with one race to spare.
Having won the title at the first attempt Kvyat was all praise for GP3: “You know, GP3 is a really good place to be for young drivers: we race at the same tracks as Formula One, in the same conditions all the time and also, the tyres are really similar. I think it’s a better preparation than what people think. I’m really looking forward to the next step, but right now, I also want to enjoy this and celebrate. We worked hard for it. We deserve to enjoy it!”
www.TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk would like to congratulate Daniil on his title and wish him the best of luck alongside Jean-Eric Vergne at Torro Rosso next year.
