Valtteri Bottas clinches 2011 GP3 title with race one victory at Monza
Valtteri Bottas sealed the GP3 title by winning the first race at Monza after a head-to-head fight with title rival James Calado in the closing laps
The ART Grand Prix pair fought their way to the front over the course of the race, and then had an exclusive battle for the win for the final three laps following a safety car period.
Calado needed to beat the Finn to keep his title hopes alive, but he could not find a way through to delay Bottas's title celebrations.
Bottas had jumped from fifth to third at the start, but he spent the opening six laps of the race fighting with Manor's Rio Haryanto for that position. He finally broke free and took second from polesitter and early race leader Adrian Quaife-Hobbs on lap seven, and took the lead for the first time two laps later by deposing Nico Muller (Jenzer).
Muller fought back a couple of times but could never hold the lead, and he then lost second to Calado just before the safety car came out when Quaife-Hobbs crashed his Manor car at Ascari.
It took Calado two laps to launch an attack, meaning that Bottas only had to start defending on the final lap. He blocked the Briton into the first chicane, and then sealed the race by running his rival wide at the second chicane. That left Calado with too much ground to make up, so he had to settle for second place.
There was more action behind, as Haryanto and Muller swapped places five times in the final three laps with the Indonesian grabbing the final podium place.
Behind them, Simon Trummer put in an impressive drive to take fifth for MW Arden, with Conor Daly (Carlin), Antonio Felix da Costa (Status) and Mitch Evans (MW Arden) completing the points.
Results - 16 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Valtteri Bottas ART 30m03.132s
2. James Calado ART + 0.378s
3. Rio Haryanto Manor + 1.513s
4. Nico Muller Jenzer + 2.121s
5. Simon Trummer MW Arden + 4.297s
6. Conor Daly Carlin + 4.375s
7. Antonio Felix da Costa Status + 4.816s
8. Mitch Evans MW Arden + 5.937s
9. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke + 5.986s
10. Richie Stanaway ART + 8.572s
11. Callum Macleod Carlin + 12.440s
12. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke + 12.880s
13. Leonardo Cordeiro Carlin + 13.230s
14. Thomas Hylkema Tech 1 + 17.130s
15. Daniel Mancinelli RSC Mucke + 17.310s
16. Christophe Hurni Jenzer + 24.470s
17. Gabby Chaves Addax + 25.220s
18. Lewis Williamson MW Arden + 25.940s
19. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS + 38.990s
20. Mattias Laine Manor + 40.120s
Retirements:
Alexander Sims Status 15 laps
Aaro Vainio Tech 1 14 laps
Tom Dillmann Addax 13 laps
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 10 laps
Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 9 laps
Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 8 laps
Ivan Lukashevich Status 2 laps
Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 0 laps
Vittorio Ghirelli Addax 0 laps
Maxim Zimin Jenzer 0 laps
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