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Melker triumphs in GP3 opener

Nigel Melker took victory in the GP3 season opener at Istanbul Park after going from third to first with an impressive opening lap

The RSC Mucke driver picked off slow-starting polesitter Tom Dillmann (Carlin) at the first corner, and instantly picked up the chase of race leader Andrea Caldarelli (Tech 1).

Melker grabbed the lead by passing Caldarelli around the outside of Turn 12 at the end of the backstraight, and would hold on to the lead until the finish.

Caldarelli failed to capitalise on a mid-race safety car period - caused after Lewis Williamson collided with Leonardo Cordeiro and rolled at Turn 12. Williamson had been recovering from an early spin when he tried to pass MW Arden team-mate Mitch Evans for sixth on the opening lap, but he and Cordeiro clashed under braking at the end of the backstraight and the Briton's car rolled at relatively low speed when it reached the gravel.

But the bunching up of the field did not cause Melker any problems, as he made a good restart and crossed the line with a gap of 1.2 seconds to the snoozing Caldarelli.

The Italian then closed up again in the final laps, but Melker held his nerve to take victory.

Behind them, Dillmann spent the whole race defending from ART's Valtteri Bottas, and he held on to take third.

Antonio Felix da Costa (Status) climbed from 10th to fifth on the first lap and stayed there until the end, while behind him there was a bit more action.

Evans lost sixth place to Alexander Sims after the restart, but he got the place back on the penultimate lap as Sims's pace dropped.

The Briton then had his hands full defending from Addax driver Dean Smith on the final lap, and as the pair scrapped into Turn 12, Mucke's Michael Christensen was able to get past them both to take seventh.

Results - 15 laps:

Pos  Driver                  Team          Time/Gap
 1.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke   28m13.773s
 2.  Andrea Caldarelli       Tech 1        + 0.605s
 3.  Tom Dillmann            Carlin        + 2.942s
 4.  Valtteri Bottas         ART           + 3.840s
 5.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status        + 4.410s
 6.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden      + 7.214s
 7.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke    + 10.608s
 8.  Alexander Sims          Status       + 11.713s
 9.  Dean Smith              Addax        + 11.928s
10.  Gabby Chaves            Addax        + 19.559s
11.  Nico Muller             Jenzer       + 23.673s
12.  Zoel Amberg             Atech CRS    + 24.192s
13.  Nick Yelloly            Atech CRS    + 24.977s
14.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status       + 26.180s
15.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1       + 26.354s
16.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1       + 27.239s
17.  James Calado            ART          + 27.507s
18.  Matias Laine            Manor        + 29.871s
19.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden     + 30.222s
20.  Dominic Storey          Addax        + 30.644s
21.  Conor Daly              Carlin       + 31.336s
22.  Pedro Nunes             ART          + 32.066s
23.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer       + 53.931s
24.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      + 1m03.096s
25.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Jenzer         + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Rio Haryanto            Manor          13 laps
     Luciano Bacheta         RSC Mucke       8 laps
     Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin          3 laps
     Lewis Williamson        MW Arden        3 laps
     Marlon Stockinger       Atech CRS       1 laps

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