Starting from third on the grid Arden International‘s Jake Dennis took full advantage of the battle going on between front row sitters Antonio Fuoco and Nirei Fukuzumi to dive up the inside of the pair to claim the lead.
The Arden driver kept his composure to romp away into the lead to take victory by three seconds to take his second win of the year. Fukuzumi came home in second place with Jack Aitken completing the podium.
From pole position, Ferrari Driver Academy‘s Fuoco maintained the lead from Fukuzumi – with the pair going wheel to wheel into Turn 1. However, the pair out-braked themselves, running wide and allowed Dennis the opportunity to head into the lead. The opening lap did not get much better for Fuoco who ran wide over one of the kerbs and lost two more positions.
Title rivals and ART team-mates Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon battled it out at the start, at one point running side-by-side with the Thai driver taking to the grass. Albon dropped to P11 while the Monegasque driver found himself in P7.
On lap two, Aitken passed Fuoco for third place as Dennis began to pull away out front.
Leclerc and Fuoco soon found themselves embroiled in a fierce battle for fifth place with the Series leader making the move on his fellow FDA protege. It was a race to forget for Fuoco who pitted for new tyres several laps later but eventually he retired.
Out front, Aitken began to put pressure on Fukuzumi, as behind Leclerc slowly began to reel in Koiranen GP‘s Matthew Parry for fourth. Albon, keen to not lose too much ground on Leclerc in the championship passed Alessio Lorandi for ninth before then overtaking Campos Racing‘s Steijn Schothorst for the final point on offer.
As the chequered flag dropped Dennis took his second win of the season, moving him up to fourth in the drivers’ standings. Fukuzumi held onto second with Aitken in third. Parry held off the pressure from Leclerc to take fourth with Nyck de Vries, Arjun Maini and Albon rounding off the top eight.
The GP3 Series returns to track action on November 25-26-27 for the final round of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit. The title battle is going down to the wire but it is Leclerc who is in prime position on 202 points, while Albon and Fuoco are on 173 and 157 respectively.
Sepang International Circuit Race 2 Results
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