Renn Report

Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana 2012
GP3 SERIES

Circuit: Barcelona (E), Length 4.655 km, 12^th/13^th May 2012, Rounds 1 & 2
www.circuitcat.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2012:
Robert Visoiu (ROM), Patric Niederhauser (CH), Jakub Klasterka (CZ)

First podium for Visoiu in Barcelona

The GP3 Series teams met for the first event of the season as part of the Formula One program at the Gran Premio de Espana 2012, held on the challenging Barcelona circuit in Spain. The sun shone throughout the weekend, and the pleasant conditions made it even more obvious just how close the competition is within the 26-strong field.

Race One Qualifying

Saturday, 12/05/12, 09.45 – 10.15, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

The first qualifying session of the season began in pleasantly warm temperatures, and the season got off to a flying start with the names of the drivers in the top ten changing constantly. Patric set a very good lap with his second set of tyres, which left him only 0.346 seconds adrift of the pole time and put him 7^th on the grid. Robert was 14^th and Jakub 22^nd. Jakub had experienced his first outing in the GP3 race car in free practice yesterday and improved steadily from then on, taking another big step when he improved by over a second between yesterday and today.

GP3 Series

Race One (30 Minutes

Saturday, 12/05/12, 17.20, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

The start of the first race of the season was on time and Patric was 7^th at the end of the first lap, while Robert was 13^th and Jakub was 19^th. Daly dropped back allowing Patric to move up to 6^th place, then a number of drive through penalties were awarded for jump starts, including those handed out to Daniel Abt, Antonio Felix da Costa and Antonio Spavone. Abt and da Costa dived into the pitlane, and that moved Patric into 4^th place. Robert had overtaken Brundle and was in 12^th, and then moved up to 10^th as a result of the penalties. Jakub drove very well and held 16^th for a long time. but when another car was stranded in a dangerous position on the track, the Safety Car took the field over for two laps. After the restart things got heated quite quickly. Patric defended 4^th place effectively, despite Laine and Daly pushing from behind quite hard. Later Patric started to pressure Vainio for 3^rd place, but decided to back off and not risk his first good result in the series. He came home in an excellent 4^th place, as well as setting the fastest lap of the race, and collecting additional points for that. Robert also kept getting quicker, overtaking Fumanelli after the restart. When Buller fell back Robert moved up to 8^th place. Despite a couple of mistakes in the final laps he defended this position well all the way to the finishing line, and that meant that he would start from pole position in race two on Sunday! Jakub had a tough time in the pack, moving up to 15^th place at one point but then falling back to 19^th shortly before the end of the race. He didn’t take any silly chances and brought the car back in one piece, which was his goal for this first race. We were very satisfied with the team performance in this first race of the season.

The grid for the second race of the weekend was set by reversing the order of the first eight finishers in the first race, with the rest of the places set according to finishing order in the first race.

GP3 Series

Race Two (30 Minutes)

Sonntag, 13.05.12, 09.25 Uhr, Wetter: Wolkig, 20°C

Robert was surprised by Ellinas at the start, as he shot into the lead. Daly was also able to get past Robert, leaving our driver in 3^rd position. Patric was 7^th by the end of the first lap and Jakub, who had completely messed up the start, was 20^th. However there was then a big accident in the midfield, when Kiss shot across the track after a spin and caught out three other drivers, landing all of them in the gravel. Ellinas was then handed a drive through penalty for jumping the start and once he served the penalty, all our drivers moved up one place. Robert was now 2^nd behind Daly, and he continued to drive flawlessly, despite Laine increasing the pressure on him. Patric was in a tight group which included Laine, Fumanelli and Vainio just behind the lead pair. To attempt to overtake meant taking quite a risk, and Patric preferred to stay put. When Fumanelli was also awarded a drive through penalty for disregarding yellow flags, Patric moved up to 5^th. He came home in that position after a determined but sensible run. Jakub had his hands full in the midfield but managed to avoid any problems and crossed the finish line in a respectable 14^th place. We were pleased with the overall team performance and are now looking forward excitedly to the prestigious Monaco event in just two weeks time.

Championship standings after 2 out of 16 races:

1^st Mitch Evans (NZ), 25 points; 2^nd Conor Daly (USA), 23 points; 3^rd Aaro Vainio (FIN), 23 points; 4^th Matias Laine (FIN), 20 points; 4^th Patric Niederhauser (CH), 20 points; 6^th Marlon Stockinger (PHI), 18 points; 7^th Robert Visoiu (ROM), 16 points; 8^th Antonio Felix da Costa (P), 6 points; 9^th Tio Ellinas (CYP), 6 points; 10^th Daniel Abt (D), 4 points

2011 GP3 Series

For more information:

• www.gp3series.com
• www.italiaracing.net