Tio Ellinas Fends Off Patric Niederhauser For GP3 Victory At Spain

Tio Ellinas has continued from where he left off last season in the GP3 Series with a stunning victory at the opening race of the season around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, fending off the charging Jenzer Motorsport of Patric Niederhauser. American ace Conor Daly finished a close 3rd, in a race utterly dominated by tyres.

Although Kevin Korjus initially secured pole position earlier in the day, the Estonian driver was subsequently issued with a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in the practice session. This meant Tio Ellinas started the race from pole alongside Patric Niederhauser, and the duo led away at the front at the start as the field negotiated the tight opening few turns. After the opening lap, the 21-year-old Cypriot had already opened up a one second lead to Patric Niederhauser, whereas further back many battles ensued for position.

Towards the rear of the pack Marussia Manor Racing debutant Ryan Cullen ran extensively wide at the final corner and skipped deep into the gravel trap but managed to continue circulating. British rising star Josh Webster became the first retirement of the race on Lap 6, after the Status Grand Prix driver returned to the pits with an issue on his car. As the race progressed, Daniil Kvyat’s tyres began to seriously wear as the Russian driver plummeted through the order.

Facu Regalia was forced to take avoiding action through Turn 10 after Kevin Korjus out-broke himself, as the field bunched up as tyre wear gripped the pack. Finnish debutant Patrick Kujala became the next retirement of Lap 11, as more drivers began to suffer greatly due to tyre wear. As the race entered its closing stages, almost the entire field began to suffer from tyre wear including race leader Tio Ellinas who was coming under serious pressure from the Jenzer Motorsport of Patric Niederhauser.

Dino Zamparelli crashed out of the race on Lap 14, after the Briton slammed into the rear of Kevin Korjus at Turn 5. This saw Zamparelli damage the front-right of his car and bury himself deep within the retaining gravel trap. Facu Regalia was also forced into retirement after returning to the pits, as both Tio Ellinas and Patric Niederhauser came under pressure from Conor Daly’s ART Grand Prix.

Despite a late surge towards the latter stages of the race, Tio Ellinas managed to fend off both Patric Niederhauser and Conor Daly to secure his second victory in the Series and the first in the new GP3/13 machine. After loosing pole position due to the grid penalty for the first race, Kevin Korjus managed to secure the reverse grid pole and will start tomorrow’s race alongside David Fumanelli. With tyre wear clearly the name of the game in the new era of the GP3 Series, expect further freneticism as the season progresses.

Results - 17 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team          Time/Gap
 1.  Tio Ellinas          Manor       28m06.022s
 2.  Patric Niederhauser  Jenzer        + 0.428s
 3.  Conor Daly           ART           + 0.940s
 4.  Nick Yelloly         Carlin        + 9.726s
 5.  Aaro Vainio          Koiranen     + 16.925s
 6.  Jack Harvey          ART          + 23.006s
 7.  David Fumanelli      Trident      + 23.572s
 8.  Kevin Korjus         Koiranen     + 28.615s
 9.  Robert Visoiu        MW Arden     + 29.053s
10.  Alex Fontana         Jenzer       + 29.426s
11.  Lewis Williamson     Bamboo       + 29.669s
12.  Giovanni Venturini   Trident      + 30.832s
13.  Luis Sa Silva        Carlin       + 37.044s
14.  Melville McKee       Bamboo       + 37.277s
15.  Carlos Sainz Jr      MW Arden     + 51.669s
16.  Samin Gomez          Jenzer       + 51.949s
17.  Emanuele Zonzini     Trident      + 52.325s
18.  Eric Lichtenstein    Carlin       + 52.759s
19.  Jimmy Eriksson       Status       + 53.858s
20.  Daniil Kvyat         MW Arden   + 1m08.691s
21.  Ryan Cullen          Manor      + 1m09.967s
22.  Carmen Jorda         Bamboo     + 1m10.626s
23.  Adderly Fong         Status     + 1m14.398s
24.  Facu Regalia         ART           + 2 laps

Retirements:

        Driver           Team              Laps
        Dino Zamparelli  Manor               14
        Patrick Kujala   Koiranen            10
        Josh Webster     Status               6

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP3 Series Media Service