GP3 Bahrain: Esteban Ocon takes points lead with pole position
Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon has moved back into the lead of the GP3 championship, after taking his second pole position of the year in Bahrain
Ocon claimed his maiden GP3 pole at Sochi last month, and started the penultimate round of the series - being held alongside the World Endurance Championship finale this weekend - just two points behind Luca Ghiotto.
With a time of 1m46.684s set with three minutes to go, Ocon claimed the four bonus points for pole, to reclaim the championship lead for the first time since the season opener at Barcelona in May.
Trident driver Ghiotto improved late on to take second, but he still finished the session 0.504 seconds off Ocon's benchmark.
Ghiotto set the early pace with a 1m47.677s effort and led as the session was red flagged when debutant Matevos Isaakyan - replacing Adderly Fong at Koiranen GP - stopped on track 10 minutes in.
Alex Palou then lowered the benchmark to 1m47.218s with six minutes to go, before Ocon's effort.
Palou finished the session fourth, with Kevin Ceccon jumping up to third late in the piece.
Ocon's ART Grand Prix team-mate Marvin Kirchhofer was fifth, ahead of Artur Janosz, Emil Bernstorff, Jann Mardenborough, Jimmy Eriksson and Antonio Fuoco.
QUALIFYING RESULT
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Esteban Ocon | ART Grand Prix | 1m46.684s | - | 10 |
2 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1m47.188s | 0.504s | 10 |
3 | Kevin Ceccon | Arden International | 1m47.197s | 0.513s | 13 |
4 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 1m47.218s | 0.534s | 12 |
5 | Marvin Kirchhofer | ART Grand Prix | 1m47.259s | 0.575s | 11 |
6 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 1m47.618s | 0.934s | 10 |
7 | Emil Bernstorff | Arden International | 1m47.663s | 0.979s | 10 |
8 | Jann Mardenborough | Carlin | 1m47.686s | 1.002s | 9 |
9 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | 1m47.713s | 1.029s | 10 |
10 | Antonio Fuoco | Carlin | 1m47.833s | 1.149s | 12 |
11 | Alex Fontana | Status Grand Prix | 1m47.944s | 1.260s | 13 |
12 | Ralph Boschung | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m47.947s | 1.263s | 13 |
13 | Mitch Gilbert | Carlin | 1m47.954s | 1.270s | 12 |
14 | Alfonso Celis | ART Grand Prix | 1m48.103s | 1.419s | 10 |
15 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m48.109s | 1.425s | 13 |
16 | Seb Morris | Status Grand Prix | 1m48.265s | 1.581s | 12 |
17 | Michele Beretta | Trident | 1m48.290s | 1.606s | 12 |
18 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | 1m48.304s | 1.620s | 10 |
19 | Matheo Tuscher | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m48.314s | 1.630s | 13 |
20 | Alex Bosak | Arden International | 1m48.359s | 1.675s | 11 |
21 | Matevos Isaakyan | Koiranen GP | 1m48.576s | 1.892s | 3 |
22 | Zaid Ashkanani | Campos Racing | 1m48.775s | 2.091s | 11 |
23 | Sandy Stuvik | Status Grand Prix | 1m48.815s | 2.131s | 13 |
24 | Konstantin Tereschenko | Campos Racing | 1m48.946s | 2.262s | 10 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments