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Pau GP: Derlot holds off Besson

Renaud Derlot held off a challenge from Bruno Besson to deliver the Signature team's third Pau Formula 3 Grand Prix success in four years today (Monday)

The street race got off to a dramatic start when poleman Tristan Gommendy stalled on the grid and was hit by Stefan de Groot and Julien Pressac. That left Derlot in the lead, with Besson and British series regular James Courtney behind him.

The safety car was brought into play after 13 laps when Shinay Hosokawa and Kevin Nadin clashed at Foch.

From the restart, Japanese Kousuke Matsuura was the man on the move, passing Yuji Ide and Bernhard Auinger to go fourth. He closed in on Courtney to begin an entertaining duel that would last until the end of the race. After much wheel banging, Courtney just held on to his podium position by four hundredths of a second.

Meanwhile, Derlot fought off the advances of Besson to claim victory in the first blue-riband F3 race of the season.

Ulsterman Derek Hayes finished ninth, ahead of Carlin Motorsport pair Alan van der Merwe and Michael Keohane in 12th and 13th.

Renaud Derlot Signature Dallara-Renault 46m33.484s
Bruno Besson Saulnier Dallara-Renault +0.856s
James Courtney Carlin Dallara-Mugen Honda +3.392s
Kousuke Matsuura Prema Powerteam Dallara-Opel +3.436s
Bernhard Auinger BSR Dallara-Opel +4.411s
Yuji Ide Signature Dallara-Renault +9.815s

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