Pal wins GP3 race 2 in Spain

Tamás Pál Kiss gave Tech 1 Racing their first long awaited win in incident filled race at Circuit de Catalunya.

Today Pál Kiss showed that Tech 1 Racing will be a force to be reckoned with this season. After finishing eighth in yesterday’s feature race, the twenty-year-old Hungarian started from pole and kept his cool to take a lights to flag victory, despite the ensuing chaos behind him off the line. Pál Kiss gave Tech 1 their first GP3 race victory and third podium of the season.

When the lights went out, the top three drivers found their way off the line, but Nico Müller struggled to get away from fourth on the grid. As the rest of the grid weaved to avoid his stranded Jenzer car Atech CRS GP’s, Marlon Stockinger found himself out of track and hit the Swiss driver from behind – Stockinger then collected Alexander Sims as he spun helplessly, and the safety car was deployed. All three drivers were uninjured, but the incident marked a premature end to their race weekends.

The restart came four laps later, with Pál Kiss leading from RSC Mücke Motorsport’s Nigel Melker and Addax Team’s Dean Smith. The Tech 1 Racing duo of Aaro Vainio and Andrea Caldarelli were running fourth and fifth, putting all three cars from the French outfit in the points, until Vainio, Lotus ART’s James Calado and Marussia Manor Racing’s Adrian Quaife-Hobbs were all given drive-through penalties for jumping the start.

Although the positions remained static through the mid-section of the race, there was no breathing space for the front runners. Pál Kiss was just 0.8 seconds ahead of Melker, who in turn was 0.8 ahead of Smith. Caldarelli found himself just shy of a podium spot once again in fourth, and the Italian pushed Smith hard for the remainder of the race, putting in a succession of quickest laps. At the front Melker kept Pál Kiss honest to the line, but the Series leader was unable to find a way past and had to settle for the runner-up spot. 2.5 seconds down the road, and despite his obvious speed, Caldarelli had to settle for fourth behind a strong Smith.

Yesterday’s race winner MW Arden’s Mitch Evans improved his Series campaign by battling his way up into fifth, and Lotus ART’s Valtteri Bottas snatched the final available point in sixth. But the real celebrations were saved for the Tech 1 Racing team who now sit at the top of the teams’ standings four points clear of RSC Mücke Motorsport.

GP3 Series will be back on track 01-02 June at Hungaroring for the first of two mid-season tests.

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