Dorian Boccolacci had done his part during the opening race of the GP3 Series weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard, but the Frenchman was disqualified post-race after his MP Motorsport machine failed to provide the required one litre of fuel.
The victory was therefore handed to his countryman Anthoine Hubert, who extended his lead in the championship standings, with the ART Grand Prix driver taking his maiden series win after two runner-up spots in the opening round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last month.
Boccolacci had started on pole position after a storming Qualifying session on Friday afternoon, and on the debut of the GP3 Series in France, it looked as though he had done enough to take his second career win in the category, despite a slow get away on the dummy grid that almost saw him lose his spot on the front of the grid, with the Frenchman managing to get away before the final car on the grid passed him.
He kept the lead into turn one and was able to edge away from Hubert in the opening phase of the race, although the ART Grand Prix closed in on Boccolacci in the final laps to finish just 0.673 seconds behind.
ART Grand Prix ultimately claimed a one-two finish at Paul Ricard once Boccolacci was removed from the results, with Nikita Mazepin able to make an early pass on Trident’s Giuliano Alesi, but ultimately both drivers were able to stand on the podium.
Unfortunately for MP Motorsport, Niko Kari, who had finished fifth on the road, suffered the same fate as team-mate Boccolacci, with the Finn being disqualified from the results, promoting Campos Racing’s Leonardo Pulcini into fourth, while Trident duo Alessio Lorandi and Pedro Piquet move up to fifth and sixth, with the latter losing the reverse grid pole position as a result.
Joey Mawson scored his first points of the season for Arden International, finishing ninth on the road but being promoted to seventh thanks to the penalties to Boccolacci and Kari, while Callum Ilott ultimately claimed the reverse grid pole position despite dropping three positions on the opening lap.
Juan Manuel Correa gave Jenzer Motorsport a points finish by being classified in ninth having made a final lap pass on ART Grand Prix’s Jake Hughes, who claimed the final point, but Correa will not have made friends in the team after tipping team-mate Tatiana Calderon into a spin at the chicane midway down the Mistral Straight, relegating her to the back of the field.
Circuit Paul Ricard Race 1 Result
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