Sims dominates GP3 race two
Alexander Sims took a commanding victory in the second GP3 race of the weekend at Istanbul on Sunday
The Status GP driver made a strong start from pole and was unchallenged in the early laps. He initially had team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa keeping him reasonably honest in the early laps, but the Portuguese driver started dropping back just after half distance.
From then on Sims was alone out front, but there was plenty of action behind him. Da Costa, who had gone from fourth to second at the start, lost two places on lap 12, when a quick spin at Turn 8 let Mucke duo Michael Christensen and race one winner Nigel Melker pick him off.
Da Costa appeared to be a sitting duck, but he recovered from his struggles to hang on to fourth place despite the advances of Tech 1's Andrea Caldarelli.
Melker's rise from eighth on the grid to a podium finish was impressive, as he picked his way through the field. The majority of his passes came at Turn 12, where he was able to hang on around the outside on multiple occasions to gain a place.
Mitch Evans ran a solid third for Arden in the early part of the race, but he started to fade later on. He lost out to Christensen and Melker on lap seven, while Calderelli passed him for fifth a lap later.
He spent the last few laps fending off Addax's Dean Smith for the final point, but the Briton got the upper hand at the penultimate corner on the final lap to snatch the place.
Results - 15 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Alexander Sims Status 27m03.624s
2. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke + 7.406s
3. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke + 13.983s
4. Antonio Felix da Costa Status + 17.667s
5. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 + 17.876s
6. Dean Smith Addax + 18.760s
7. Mitch Evans MW Arden + 18.948s
8. Valtteri Bottas ART + 22.792s
9. Tom Dillmann Carlin + 22.951s
10. Rio Haryanto Manor + 27.212s
11. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS + 31.637s
12. Gabby Chaves Addax + 32.829s
13. James Calado ART + 34.111s
14. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS + 35.985s
15. Nico Muller Jenzer + 36.315s
16. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor + 36.883s
17. Maxim Zimin Jenzer + 37.400s
18. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 + 37.804s
19. Luciano Bacheta RSC Mucke + 38.419s
20. Lewis Williamson MW Arden + 38.692s
21. Simon Trummer MW Arden + 39.477s
22. Leonardo Cordeiro Carlin + 40.348s
23. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS + 47.122s
24. Ivan Lukashevich Status + 55.843s
25. Conor Daly Carlin + 57.717s
26. Pedro Nunes ART + 1 lap
Retirements:
Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 7 laps
Aaro Vainio Tech 1 0 laps
Matias Laine Manor 0 laps
Dominic Storey Addax 0 laps
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