GP3 Spa: Points leader Charles Leclerc secures lights-to-flag win
Charles Leclerc extended his GP3 lead with a lights-to-flag Spa victory, as Jake Dennis surged from 13th to second but title contender Alexander Albon could only reach ninth
A messy tangle on the exit of La Source on the opening lap shaped the race, as slow-starting front row man Jake Hughes came together with Arjun Maini and Matt Parry as they tried to go around him.
The rest of the pack split in avoidance, with Arden driver Dennis one of those who gained most as he chose the correct side of the chaos and instantly went from 13th to fourth behind the ART cars of Leclerc and Nyck de Vries and Trident's Antonio Fuoco.
Following a lengthy safety car period to clear the damaged machines from the hill down to Eau Rouge, Leclerc controlled the race throughout, easing away from de Vries after some early pressure.
The ART drivers had been concerned about high tyre wear in the hot temperatures and de Vries' pace faded in the closing stages.
But Dennis still had performance to spare in the final laps and was able to rapidly overtake Fuoco then de Vries before cutting Leclerc's lead from five seconds to 2.3s at the flag.
De Vries retained third from Fuoco, who came under late pressure from Dennis's flying Arden team-mate Jack Aitken.
Aitken had not fared so well as the first-corner tangle unfolded and had to hack through a busy midfield to reach the top five.
Steijn Schothorst and Santino Ferrucci were in the thick of those battles as they came home sixth and seventh.
Albon struggled to get off the line and came out the other side of the first-lap crash in 15th. He followed Aitken through the pack but could not make up as much ground late on and had to settle for a few points in ninth behind Matevos Isaakyan.
That result drops Albon to third in the championship behind Fuoco and 32 points adrift of Leclerc.
Giuliano Alesi jumped from 19th to eighth on the opening lap and then held on to score his first GP3 point in 10th.
RESULTS - 17 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles Leclerc | ART Grand Prix | 40m06.695s |
2 | Jake Dennis | Arden International | 2.305s |
3 | Nyck de Vries | ART Grand Prix | 15.402s |
4 | Antonio Fuoco | Trident | 19.427s |
5 | Jack Aitken | Arden International | 19.837s |
6 | Steijn Schothorst | Campos Racing | 21.419s |
7 | Santino Ferrucci | DAMS | 24.337s |
8 | Matevos Isaakyan | Koiranen GP | 28.856s |
9 | Alexander Albon | ART Grand Prix | 30.076s |
10 | Giuliano Alesi | Trident | 31.045s |
11 | Kevin Jorg | DAMS | 39.185s |
12 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 42.364s |
13 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 48.122s |
14 | Tatiana Calderon | Arden International | 51.121s |
15 | Oscar Tunjo | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m09.185s |
16 | Akash Nandy | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m15.690s |
17 | Konstantin Tereschenko | Campos Racing | 1m22.750s |
- | Sandy Stuvik | Trident | Retirement |
- | Niko Kari | Koiranen GP | Retirement |
- | Nirei Fukuzumi | ART Grand Prix | Retirement |
- | Arjun Maini | Jenzer Motorsport | Retirement |
- | Jake Hughes | DAMS | Retirement |
- | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | Retirement |
RACE TWO STARTING GRID
Pos | Driver | Team |
---|---|---|
1 | Matevos Isaakyan | Koiranen GP |
2 | Santino Ferrucci | DAMS |
3 | Steijn Schothorst | Campos Racing |
4 | Jack Aitken | Arden International |
5 | Antonio Fuoco | Trident |
6 | Nyck de Vries | ART Grand Prix |
7 | Jake Dennis | Arden International |
8 | Charles Leclerc | ART Grand Prix |
9 | Alexander Albon | ART Grand Prix |
10 | Giuliano Alesi | Trident |
11 | Kevin Jorg | DAMS |
12 | Artur Janosz | Trident |
13 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing |
14 | Tatiana Calderon | Arden International |
15 | Oscar Tunjo | Jenzer Motorsport |
16 | Akash Nandy | Jenzer Motorsport |
17 | Konstantin Tereschenko | Campos Racing |
18 | Sandy Stuvik | Trident |
19 | Niko Kari | Koiranen GP |
20 | Nirei Fukuzumi | ART Grand Prix |
21 | Jake Hughes | DAMS |
22 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP |
23 | Arjun Maini | Jenzer Motorsport |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments