Pedro Piquet came out on top of an exciting battle with Trident team-mate Giuliano Alesi to clinch his second GP3 Series victory of the season at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday morning.
Both drivers passed polesitter Richard Verschoor before the first turn before they fought for the win between them, although there was a very early safety car that interrupted the battle for a big crash between Juan Manuel Correa and Gabriel Aubry on the run down to the Ascari Chicane.
Alesi was making a move on Piquet when the safety car was deployed, so was forced to concede the place back to the Brazilian, but the duo fought until the chequered flag and switched places on a number of occasions, with the decisive move coming on the penultimate lap.
A locked brake at the first chicane from Alesi allowed Piquet to have the momentum heading around the Curva Grande before fighting his way through at the second chicane. Despite having DRS on the final lap, Alesi was unable to return the favour, and ultimately finished second, 0.419 seconds behind his team-mate, who now moves up to fourth in the championship standings as a result.
The drivers ahead of Piquet in the championship finished third, fourth and fifth, but it was Callum Ilott, second in the championship that finished ahead of ART Grand Prix team-mates Anthoine Hubert and Nikita Mazepin.
Ilott needed to start pulling back points on championship leader Hubert, and made the move for the final spot on the podium on the fourteenth lap at the first chicane, and although he could not shake off the attention of the Frenchman, he did what he needed to do to stay ahead until the chequered flag, while Mazepin shadowed them both to the line to finish fifth.
It could have been very different however for ART after Hubert hit the back of Mazepin at the first chicane on the opening lap, but luckily both escaped damage, although the Russian dropped to eighth before climbing back to fifth.
Sixth at the chequered flag, and only 2.841 seconds behind race winner Piquet was the fourth ART of Jake Hughes, who moved up the order from ninth on the grid, while race one winner David Beckmann took seventh for Trident.
The first non-Trident or ART Grand Prix driver was Tatiana Calderón, who stormed through the field from fifteenth on the grid to take her third points finish of the season for Jenzer Motorsport, with Leonardo Pulcini continuing his poor recent form in ninth ahead of Campos Racing team-mate Simo Laaksonen, who could not convert a top five starting place into any points on Sunday.
Polesitter Verschoor also dropped out of the points and finished eleventh ahead of MP Motorsport team-mate Niko Kari, who pitted at the end of the first lap after damaging his front wing when he clipped one of the ART Grand Prix drivers on the exit of the first chicane as the Hubert/Mazepin touch occurred.
Autodromo Nazionale Monza Race 2 Result
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