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Rio Haryanto storms to Race 2 GP3 victory

Rio Haryanto celebrates

Rio Haryanto took his second GP3 victory of the 2011 season in a rain affected race at Hungaroring today. The Marussia Manor Racing driver finished just ahead of the charging Lotus ART pair of Valtteri Bottas and James Calado.

RSC Mücke Motorsport’s Nigel Melker started from pole in the wet Race 2 conditions and held onto the lead when the lights went out ahead of Addax Team’s Tom Dillmann. MW Arden’s Lewis Williamson and Jenzer Motorsport’s Nico Müller were locked in battle for third, with Tech 1 Racing’s Aaro Vainio and Haryanto slotting in behind. Meanwhile at the back Calado made his way up from twenty-fifth to eleventh in the first lap.

Lap 2 saw Williamson spin out the race, and it also saw the first of two safety cars when Jenzer Motorsport’s Vittorio Ghirelli crashed out. Haryanto took Müller for third on the re-start, with Bottas now in seventh and Calado behind Maxim Zimin in ninth.

Melker had his lead up to 7.9 seconds by the second safety car period on Lap 12, after Thomas Hylkema crashed his Tech 1 Racing car. Haryanto attacked Melker straight away at the re-start to take the lead, and by the end of the lap the Dutchman had lost two more spots to Bottas and Dillmann.

With the checkered flag in sight Calado continued his excellent race effort to work his way through the field and in to the points. One final push saw him take Dillmann and Müller for the final podium spot behind Haryanto and teammate Bottas. Melker had to settle for fourth followed by Dillmann in fifth and Antonio Felix Da Costa in the final points paying position for Status Grand Prix. After starting last on the grid due to a penalty Alexander Sims drove his way up to eleventh, but the former Series leader came away with no points from the weekend.

Bottas now leads the GP3 Series™ driver standings by seven points ahead of Alexander Sims.

Race 2 results:

Pos No. DRIVER NAT TEAM LAPS TIME GAP
1 11 R. HARYANTO INA Marussia Manor Racing 14 30:06.456 0.000s
2 2 V. BOTTAS FIN Lotus ART 14 30:07.800 1.344
3 3 J. CALADO GBR Lotus ART 14 30:10.255 3.799
4 31 N. MELKER NED RSC Mucke Motorsport 14 30:11.720 5.264
5 7 N. MULLER SUI Jenzer Motorsport 14 30:13.614 7.158
6 23 T. DILLMANN FRA Addax Team 14 30:15.264 8.808
7 5 A. FELIX DA COSTA POR Status Grand Prix 14 30:16.447 9.991
8 17 A. VAINIO FIN Tech 1 Racing 14 30:17.197 10.741
9 8 M. ZIMIN RUS Jenzer Motorsport 14 30:17.792 11.336
10 4 A. SIMS GBR Status Grand Prix 14 30:19.515 13.059
11 10 A. QUAIFE-HOBBS GBR Marussia Manor Racing 14 30:19.795 13.339
12 14 C. DALY USA Carlin 14 30:21.513 15.057
13 27 S. TRUMMER SUI MW Arden 14 30:23.405 16.949
14 30 M. CHRISTENSEN DEN RSC Mucke Motorsport 14 30:24.527 18.071
15 1 P. NUNES BRA Lotus ART 14 30:25.531 19.075
16 16 L. CORDEIRO BRA Carlin 14 30:26.442 19.986
17 22 Z. AMBERG SUI Atech CRS GP 14 30:27.570 21.114
18 20 M. STOCKINGER PHI Atech CRS GP 14 30:28.092 21.636
19 15 C. MACLEOD GBR Carlin 14 30:29.007 22.551
20 25 D. SMITH GBR Addax Team 14 30:29.301 22.845
21 19 T. PAL KISS HUN Tech 1 Racing 14 30:31.914 25.458
22 12 M. LAINE FIN Marussia Manor Racing 14 30:33.670 27.214
23 6 I. LUKASHEVICH RUS Status Grand Prix 14 30:49.319 42.863
24 26 M. EVANS NZL MW Arden 12 26:12.345 DNF
25 18 T. HYLKEMA NED Tech 1 Racing 9 20:01.065 DNF
26 29 L. BACHETA GBR RSC Mucke Motorsport 8 22:18.328 DNF
27 21 N. YELLOLY GBR Atech CRS GP 2 4:35.155 DNF
28 28 L. WILLIAMSON GBR MW Arden 1 2:10.689 DNF
29 9 V. GHIRELLI ITA Jenzer Motorsport 1 2:20.264 DNF
30 24 G. CHAVES COL Addax Team 0 – DNF
FL 31 N .MELKER NED RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:59.057 LAP 8 .