Red Bull Ring GP3: Hughes victorious after start drama
Jake Hughes outduelled Pedro Piquet for victory in the Red Bull Ring GP3 sprint race, as the top three drivers on the grid collided at Turn 1.
Jake Hughes, ART Grand Prix
GP3 Series Media Service
Ryan Tveter and Giuliano Alesi both had better starts than polesitter David Beckmann, moving to the inside and the outside of the German driver respectively.
But Tveter slightly moving towards the outside resulted in the trio colliding.
Hughes and Piquet went side-by-side into Remus, now fighting for the lead, with the Briton claiming the lead by having the inside line into the right-hander.
The start crash prompted a short virtual safety car stint, and Hughes had a 1.2s lead when the race went back to green, as Piquet had to defend from the charging Leonardo Pulcini.
But Piquet held off Pulcini and was soon all over Hughes and took the lead into Schlossgold with the help of DRS, only for Hughes to fight back and make an identical move two laps later.
Piquet had no more uses of DRS left, as regulations only allow the device to be used in four laps in GP3 sprint races, and the Brazilian couldn't challenge Hughes for the win again.
Hughes eventually finished the race with a 0.8s gap over Piquet.
Pulcini and Callum Ilott spent the race in third and fourth but Dorian Boccolacci saved his DRS uses for the last two laps.
He moved past Ilott on the penultimate lap but his attempt on Pulcini at Remus resulted in both drivers going wide - while Pulcini ran through the escape zone, Boccolacci turned on the kerbs and his exit was compromised.
That allowed Alessio Lorandi, who gained two places on the last lap, to sneak past Boccolacci and finish fourth behind Pulcini.
Boccolacci ended up fifth ahead of Ilott, Nikita Mazepin and Niko Kari.
Anthoine Hubert gained eighth places from 17th on the grid to take ninth with Joey Mawson completing the top 10 after starting last.
Race 2 results
Cla | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jake Hughes | ART Grand Prix | 18 | LAP |
2 | Pedro Piquet | Trident | 18 | 0.8 |
3 | Leonardo Pulcini | Campos Racing | 18 | 1.7 |
4 | Alessio Lorandi | Trident | 18 | 2.2 |
5 | Dorian Boccolacci | MP Motorsport | 18 | 2.9 |
6 | Callum Ilott | ART Grand Prix | 18 | 3.4 |
7 | Nikita Mazepin | ART Grand Prix | 18 | 5.0 |
8 | Niko Kari | MP Motorsport | 18 | 6.1 |
9 | Anthoine Hubert | ART Grand Prix | 18 | 6.6 |
10 | Joey Mawson | Arden International | 18 | 7.6 |
11 | Devlin DeFrancesco | MP Motorsport | 18 | 9.0 |
12 | Tatiana Calderon | Jenzer Motorsport | 18 | 12.3 |
13 | Juan Manuel Correa | Jenzer Motorsport | 18 | 16.3 |
14 | Julien Falchero | Arden International | 18 | 16.9 |
15 | Simo Laaksonen | Campos Racing | 18 | 18.4 |
16 | Diego Menchaca | Campos Racing | 18 | 22.6 |
Gabriel Aubry | Arden International | 2 | 16 laps | |
David Beckmann | Jenzer Motorsport | 0 | 18 laps | |
Ryan Tveter | Trident | 0 | 18 laps | |
Giuliano Alesi | Trident | 0 | 18 laps |
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