Callum Ilott overcame the early challenge from Pedro Piquet to claim his maiden GP3 Series victory in race two at the Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday morning.
The British racer started from pole position but found Piquet sweep around him at the exit of turn two, but before the end of the lap, the ART Grand Prix racer was back ahead of the Trident ace, and from then on, Ilott was in firm control, winning by 3.491 seconds.
Piquet had a relatively quiet race beyond the opening lap to claim his maiden podium finish in GP3, as did Joey Mawson in third, with the Australian able to keep his Arden International car clear of the battle behind him for fourth between Alessio Lorandi and Nikita Mazepin.
Mazepin had made an early pass on Giuliano Alesi for fifth but could not make a move on Lorandi for fourth, despite the Russian being on his tail. He was also compromised as for the second day running, the Drag Reduction System (DRS) was inactive in GP3 as problems continued with its application.
Anthoine Hubert will be happy to claim seventh after falling to tenth on the opening lap, although he was lucky to avoid a puncture after being clipped by ART Grand Prix team-mate Jake Hughes while running outside the points. The Frenchman passing Leonardo Pulcini for seventh, and set the fastest lap in the final laps to claim the bonus points on offer for that.
Pulcini survived a late race attack from Trident’s Ryan Tveter for the final point, with David Beckmann completing the top ten for Jenzer Motorsport ahead of Simo Laaksonen and Juan Manuel Correa.
After his disqualification after winning on Saturday, Dorian Boccolacci was only able to finish fourteenth on Sunday, and finished behind his rookie MP Motorsport team-mate Christian Lundgaard as the two battled each other and with Correa for twelfth.
Hughes contact with Hubert caused the British race to suffer a broken front wing that needed replacing, while Niko Kari was eliminated early with a puncture after contact with Tatiana Calderon, who required a new nose cone herself as a result. There were also opening lap retirements for both Gabriel Aubry, who took air after hitting the outside kerbs at turn two, and Diego Menchaca, who retired in the pit lane.
Circuit Paul Ricard Race 2 Result
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