2012 GP3 Series Season Review: Part 1

After the first two season’s of GP3 racing, the Series had already become renowned for its unpredictability, excitement and pure entertainment. The 2012 season was expected to be yet another thrilling edition of GP3 action, as the stars of tomorrow began their journey up the motor sport ladder.

As pre-season testing got underway in preparation for the new season, the Championship contenders’ were already rising to the top. With the likes of Mitch Evans, Antonio Felix da Costa and Aaro Vainio visibly quick in testing, it was obvious the 2012 Championship was set to be a hard fought battle at the top. With the Series welcoming three female drivers for the first time in its history [Vicky Piria, Carmen Jorda and Alice Powell], the new season had all the ingredients to be highly competitive throughout the field.

Nico Muller was fastest once pre-season testing began, but instead raced in the World Series by Renault throughout 2012.

Pre-season testing got underway back in February at the Autodromo do Estoril in Portugal, as Ocean Racing Technology announced plans to enter the Series after successfully competing in the GP2 Series since its inception in 2005. Nico Muller topped the timing sheets after the opening day, however the Swiss driver incidentally failed to find a full-time drive in the Series. The 20-year-old instead drove for International Draco Racing in the World Series by Renault, regardless of the fact Muller enjoyed two highly competitive seasons in GP3 beforehand. Aaro Vainio was fastest on day two, as the paddock moved on to Barcelona for the second pre-season test.

Championship favorites Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix da Costa topped the timing sheets respectively during testing around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. Pre-season testing was brought to a conclusion the following month, after a further two-day test at Silverstone. Female driver Alice Powell made her debut racing GP3 machinery at the test, which Mitch Evans once again ended fastest as the paddock prepared for the season opener at Spain.

In traditional GP3 fashion, the opening round of the new season was a support race for the first round of the Formula 1 European season at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. Matias Laine was fastest in practice for MW Arden, however it was the Carlin of Antonio Felix da Costa who took the first pole of the season. The opening feature race of the season began with fireworks on track, as Daniel Abt, Antonio Felix da Costa and Antonio Spavone jumped the start whereas rookies Alice Powell and Ethan Ringel collided at the back of the pack. The safety car was eventually brought out after Kevin Ceccon spun for Ocean Racing Technology, as Abt, da Costa and Spavone served their penalties.

This left Mitch Evans to take the lead, and eventually the first race win of the season. The Status Grand Prix of Marlon Stockinger finished the race 2nd, with Aaro Vainio 3rd for Lotus. This victory enabled Mitch Evans to take the lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

The following morning’s sprint race saw Series rookie Robert Visoiu start from the reverse grid pole, after finishing the feature race in 8th. Tio Ellinas jumped the start for Marussia Manor Racing, as carnage ensued further back through turn 4 as Tamas Pal Kiss and William Buller made contact, collecting the unsuspecting Dmitry Suranovich, Antonio Spavone and Robert Cregan. Amazingly, the safety car was not called upon, and the race continued under green flag conditions.

Conor Daly took his first ever GP3 victory during the sprint race at Spain.

Feature race winner, Mitch Evans, suffered a highly uncompetitive sprint race for MW Arden. After starting the race from 8th, the Kiwi picked up a puncture in the early stages of the race and subsequently finished a lowly 20th. Once Tio Ellinas served his drive-thru penalty for jumping the start, Series rookie Conor Daly took his maiden victory for Lotus, just over three seconds ahead of fellow Series rookie Robert Visoiu. The MW Arden of Matias Laine finished 3rd, whilst Alice Powell was able to finish 11th in only her second race in the Series after starting 26th and last.

The second round of the Championship took place around the Streets of Monte-Carlo for the first time in the history of the Series, in support of the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. Mitch Evans was fastest in practice, which ran relatively incident free apart from a spin by William Buller towards the end of the session. Just like GP2, the qualifying format for the Monaco event was split into a slightly complicated two group format, which consisted of a Group A [consisting of even numbered cars], and a Group B [consisting of the odd numbered cars].

The fastest overall driver from the two groups would start the feature race on pole, with the fastest driver from the other group starting from 2nd on the grid. The remaining drivers would start behind the fastest driver from their respective group. The Lotus of Aaro Vainio secured pole position, after setting the overall fastest time in Group B, whereas Kevin Ceccon qualified 2nd after setting the fastest time in Group A.

Aaro Vainio took his first victory of the season around the streets of Monte-Carlo.

At the start of the feature race, previous race winner Conor Daly began proceedings in an embarrassing style as he jumped the start only moments before then stalling his car. This dropped him through the order, however he was eventually able to continue racing as team-mate Aaro Vainio led at the front. Ethan Ringel tapped the barrier on the eighth lap, and became one of the first retirements of the race. Patric Niederhauser also retired several laps later due to suspension issues, however the race remained under green flag conditions with the Monaco marshals once again excelling at clearing the stricken vehicles.

After the earlier incidents, Aaro Vainio stormed to his first career GP3 victory, just under two seconds ahead of the Atech CRS Grand Prix car of Tamas Pal Kiss. Kevin Ceccon was able to finish a distant 3rd, after initially starting the race from the front row of the grid. Marlon Stockinger finished the race in 8th, which in turn would see him start the sprint race the following day from the reverse grid pole alongside the Carlin of Antonio Felix da Costa.

The sprint race turned out to be a shortened affair, with various incidents plaguing the running of what turned out to be only a 13 lap race.The race started with a huge incident between the Carlin team-mates of William Buller and Alex Brundle, with the former being tipped upside down and into the armco-barriers. This naturally saw the safety car deployed, as the ever-efficient Monaco marshals began to clear Buller’s machine. Luckily Buller was uninjured in the incident, which also saw Alex Brundle subsequently retire.

Marlon Stockinger took his maiden victory in the shortened sprint race at Monaco.

Once the safety car had returned to the pits, Marlon Stockinger led away at the front as Conor Daly became locked in a grueling fight for 11th position with the Marussia Manor Racing of Dmitry Suranovich. This led to light contact between the two, which saw Suranovich loose his rear-wing. However, the Russian driver continued to circulate out on track, despite his lack of rear-wing with Conor Daly still swarming around the rear of his car.

As the race progressed, disaster struck as Conor Daly tried desperately to overtake Dmitry Suranovich on the exit of the tunnel. This saw Daly fly over the back of Suranovich’s car, and slam into the retaining catch-fencing which lined the circuit. Daly was miraculously uninjured in this utterly terrifying incident, which initially brought out the safety car before eventually prematurely ending the race with a red flag.

This saw Marlon Stockinger take his first ever victory in GP3, ahead of the sole remaining Carlin of Antonio Felix da Costa with Daniel Abt in 3rd. As the GP3 Series prepared to head to the Valencia Street Circuit for the third round of the Championship, Aaro Vainio held an 11 point advantage over Mitch Evans at the front of the Drivers’ Championship, with Marlon Stockinger 3rd.

Click here for part two!

Picture(s) Copyright © Daniel Kalisz/Glenn Dunbar/GP3 Series Media Service