Stanaway caps off GP3 season with 8th place, Niederhauser wins

Autosport

Patric Niederhauser scored victory in the final GP3 Series race of the year in Abu Dhabi.

As usual, the Arden International driver made a lightning start and although poleman Nick Yelloly tried to squeeze him out of coming through, the Swiss made it stick into Turn 1.

There was a brief safety car, caused by Ryan Cullen being stranded after a collision with Luis Sa Silva, but Niederhauser made a strong restart and gradually extended his lead to win by five seconds.

Status GP driver Yelloly was similarly untroubled in second, while newly-crowned champion Alex Lynn (Carlin) completed the podium.

Lynn was one of many to jump ahead of third-on-the-grid Alex Fontana in the opening moments, with Fontana dropping to seventh.

Ahead of him, Saturday winner Dean Stoneman backed out a move on Dino Zamparelli for fifth into the downhill chicane, and as he retook the racing line he was hit by Fontana.

The collision tore Stoneman’s rear wing loose and sent Fontana to the pits for a new front wing.

Luckily for Stoneman, the man he was leading in the fight for second in the championship, Marvin Kirchhofer, had already struck disaster. The German was unable to get his car into gear on the green-flag lap and started from the pitlane, and was only able to recover to 12th by the finish.

Emil Bernstorff took fourth behind Carlin team-mate Lynn, while Zamparelli completed a British 2-3-4-5 in his ART Grand Prix car. Next up were Kevin Ceccon and Jimmy Eriksson, while Richie Stanaway pulled off a nice move on Jann Mardenborough to take the year’s final point for eighth.

Mardenborough subsequently dropped out of a scrap with Robert Visoiu and Pal Varhaug when his left-rear tyre went flat, sending him off the road.

RESULTS – 14 LAPS:

PosDriverTeamGap
1Patric NiederhauserArden International28m24.119s
2Nick YellolyStatus Grand Prix4.920s
3Alex LynnCarlin7.698s
4Emil BernstorffCarlin8.411s
5Dino ZamparelliART Grand Prix10.454s
6Kevin CecconJenzer Motorsport13.180s
7Jimmy ErikssonKoiranen GP15.134s
8Richie StanawayStatus Grand Prix17.898s
9Robert VisoiuArden International18.472s
10Pal VarhaugJenzer Motorsport22.214s
11Matheo TuscherJenzer Motorsport23.927s
12Marvin KirchhoferART Grand Prix24.505s
13Santiago UrrutiaKoiranen GP30.809s
14Riccardo AgostiniHilmer Motorsport31.159s
15Patrick KujalaTrident31.883s
16Alex FontanaART Grand Prix32.473s
17Kang LingTrident43.279s
18Luis Jorge Sa SilvaCarlin1m03.133s
19Nelson MasonHilmer Motorsport1 Lap
Jann MardenboroughArden InternationalRetirement
Alfonso CelisStatus Grand PrixRetirement
Ryan CullenTridentRetirement
Dean StonemanKoiranen GPRetirement

Stanaway caps off GP3 season with 8th place, Niederhauser wins

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