Sims dominates GP3 race two

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