Gutierrez dominates in Istanbul
ART's Esteban Gutierrez was in a class apart in the first of this weekend's GP3 races at Istanbul Park, although the Mexican's win remains provisional due to an investigation into a possible jump-start
Gutierrez capitalised on slow-starting polesitter Nigel Melker to lead into the first corner and he extended his lead with every lap, eventually crossing the line 10.5s clear of closest rival James Jakes of Manor Racing.
Addax's Felipe Guimaraes had a fairly sedate drive to third, while ART's Alexander Rossi's fourth owed a lot to a nice move up the inside of Daniel Morad at Turn 2.
As was the case in Barcelona earlier in the month, it was a tough afternoon for some of the star qualifiers. Melker made an awful start and fell almost to the back of the field, the Mucke driver's misery being compounded by a drive-through penalty for starting out of position.
Second-row starter Dean Smith also made a poor getaway, but looked like he had recovered most of the lost ground with a strong final phase of the race, only to drop back through the field with a problem on the final lap. That left Morad, Jenzer's Nico Muller, Arden's Miki Monras and Manor's Rio Haryanto to complete the points.
The race was sprinkled with a few incidents, one of which accounted for Mucke's Renger van der Zande, who had worked his way up to 15th from the back of the grid before being involved in a clash with Mikael Aleshin. The latter was able to continue, only to be eliminated in a later shunt with Stefano Coletti.
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Esteban Gutierrez ART 26m56.811s
2. James Jakes Manor + 10.513s
3. Felipe Guimaraes Addax + 16.321s
4. Alexander Rossi ART + 19.423s
5. Daniel Morad Status + 22.02 s
6. Nico Muller Jenzer + 25.416s
7. Miki Monras MW Arden + 25.586s
8. Rio Haryanto Manor + 26.615s
9. Doru Sechelariu Tech 1 + 28.042s
10. Josef Newgarden Carlin + 29.953s
11. Robert Wickens Status + 37.592s
12. Oliver Oakes Atech CRS + 39.103s
13. Michael Christensen MW Arden + 41.188s
14. Patrick Reiterer Atech CRS + 48.641s
15. Pal Varhaug Jenzer + 49.132s
16. Tobias Hegewald RSC Mucke + 49.441s
17. Vittorio Ghirelli Atech CRS + 49.765s
18. Leornardo Cordeiro MW Arden + 53.262s
19. Ivan Lukashevich Status + 56.154s
20. Simon Trummer Jenzer + 1m08.306s
21. Pablo Sanchez Lopez Addax + 1m12.048s
22. Dean Smith Carlin + 1 lap
23. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke + 1 lap
24. Stefano Coletti Tech 1 + 2 laps
25. Mirko Bortolotti Addax + 2 laps
Retirements:
Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 12 laps
Renger van der Zande RSC Mucke 9 laps
Jim Pla Tech 1 2 laps
Pedro Nunes ART 2 laps
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 0 laps
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