The GP3 Series finale is upon us this weekend in Abu Dhabi, with the drivers’ title sit very much up for grabs, with just two points separating series leader Luca Ghiotto and Esteban Ocon.
GP3 made its debut in Bahrain last weekend, with the championship lead changing hands throughout, with ART Grand Prix driver Ocon originally taking the upper hand over the Italian to lead the championship for the first time since the opening round of the season in race one, before Trident Racing‘s Ghiotto swung the championship back into his favour in Race 2, taking the lead on lap two to restore the two point advantage he held as he entered the weekend.
Carlin’s Jann Mardenborough will miss this weekend’s event due to a pre-arranged GT test, with his seat at the team being filled by Adderly Fong, who returns to the series to line up alongside Antonio Fuoco and Mitch Gilbert.
Status Grand Prix‘s Seb Morris is the only driver carrying a penalty from the previous round after causing a collision via dangerous driving. His penalty will be applied to his qualifying position at the Yas Marina Circuit, and if he is unable to serve the entire penalty he will have to start from the pit lane.
Ahead of the weekend ART Grand Prix driver Marvin Kirchhöfer, who sits third in the championship having taken the feature race victory in Bahrain last weekend, said: “I’m really happy to be back in Abu Dhabi. I have really good memories from here last season. I had a very good qualifying as I took pole.
“I really love this track. I particularly like the first sector since there are pretty fast corners. It’s very smooth and flowing, especially when you have several fast corners in a row.
“We have a lot of big braking zones which should give us a lot of opportunities for passing in the race. It feels amazing when you go under the hotel bridge. It really is special.
“When I was younger and watched this race on TV, it was always my dream to race here one day. This dream became reality last year.
“The last sector is really difficult on tyres as there is a lot of braking and acceleration within the corners. It is quite tough on the tyres; especially if you are following another driver. It’s a modern but very specific track. I am really looking forward to the weekend.”
Fittingly for this weekend, the Sprint Race on Sunday marks the 100th GP3 race since its inaugural season back in 2010. It will be interesting to see just who comes out on top of the battle for the championship at the end of the day in the heat of the desert.
