Conor Daly Takes Maiden GP3 Victory In Spain

American driver Conor Daly has taken his maiden race victory in GP3, after a splendid drive during the sprint race at the Circuit de Catalunya. Pole man from the reverse grid Robert Visoiu came home in 2nd place, with Finnish driver Matias Laine 3rd just over four seconds from the eventual winner.

After a night of heavy rain, the tracks grip levels were exceedingly diminished in comparison to yesterdays feature race. With only minutes until the start of the race, Lotus GP were taking no chances with the threatening weather and began preparing wet tyres for any rain that might interfere with the race.

At the start, Series rookie Tio Ellinas got a stunning getaway, and sprinted off into the lead. However, question marks quickly arose over whether the Cypriot jumped the start, and sure enough several laps later he was penalized with a drive through penalty.

Further down the order, carnage ensued as Tamas Pal Kiss made slight contact with William Buller. This forced the Hungarian driver off the track and onto the still damp grass, resulting in Pal Kiss collecting several other cars as he slid across the track at turn 4. These unfortunate drivers’ were Dmitry Suranovich, Antonio Spavone and Robert Cregan, all of which were forced to retire from the race.

After a magnificent race yesterday, feature race winner Mitch Evans suffered a frustrating start to the sprint race, as the Kiwi picked up a left rear puncture which forced an unscheduled pit-stop. However, upon returning to the track the MW Arden driver proceeded to make up lost ground. He eventually finished the race a distant 20th, just under a minute from winner Daly.

It wasn’t until lap 5 that race leader Ellinas eventually took his drive-through penalty, and when he did so Conor Daly assumed the lead for Lotus. Upon taking the lead, Conor Daly never looked back as he stormed away at the front, leaving pole man Visoiu in 2nd place.

As if MW Arden’s race hadn’t already been hampered by the puncture on Evans’ car, his team-mate David Fumanelli was issued a drive-through penalty for setting a fast sector time during yellow flag conditions, a penalty which demoted the Italian down to 17th. Rookie Fabiano Machado also suffered an unsatisfactory end to his race, after spinning all by himself as Japanese driver Kotaro Sakurai passed the Brazilian.

Alice Powell had a fantastic race in comparison to yesterday, when she was taken out after only two corners on her GP3 debut. After starting from 25th on the grid, the former Formula Renault BARC Champion stormed through the field to finish 11th in only her second ever race for the team.

As the checkered flag emerged, it was Conor Daly who stormed across the line with his fist the air, taking his maiden GP3 victory as he enters his second season in the Series.

Picture Copyright © Daniel Kalisz/GP3 Series Media Service