Abu Dhabi GP3: Tio Ellinas holds off Dean Stoneman for win
Tio Ellinas won the final GP3 race of 2013 in Abu Dhabi, fending off single-seater returnee Dean Stoneman
Ellinas's repeat of his 2012 season finale win for Manor meant he bookended his season with only his second victory of the year, having won the Barcelona opener too.
He grabbed the lead at the start as poleman Patrick Kujala made a slow getaway.
By lap five Ellinas had extended a 3.4-second lead over Stoneman, who leapt up to second at the start in his Koiranen car.
But Ellinas's early-race charge took most of the life out of his tyres, and Stoneman caught him with two laps to go.
Despite struggling with severe tyre degradation in the closing laps, Ellinas clung on to his lead, crossing the line just a fifth of a second ahead of Stoneman, who was making his first single-seater start after his return from beating cancer.
From the AUTOSPORT archive: Stoneman back from the brink of death
Conor Daly just held off ART team-mate Jack Harvey for third, Daly having passed Kujala off the start and Harvey battling past him at Turn 2 on lap two.
Daniil Kvyat produced a champion's drive to charge from eighth to fifth, passing Nick Yelloly at Turn 7 on lap three and then pulling a great move on Kujala at Turn 11 two laps later.
Yelloly got stuck behind Kujala for six laps, as his Carlin car appeared to lack the top speed of the Koiranen machine, but got past with a brilliantly improvised move at Turn 14, and team-mate Alexander Sims also took the opportunity to leap past too. They finished sixth and seventh.
Dino Zamparelli made it two Manor cars in the points in eighth, as Kujala tumbled to 19th.
Erstwhile title contender Facu Regalia had a few off-track adventures on the way to a subdued 16th, with the penalised Carlos Sainz Jr also struggling from the back of the grid, finishing 18th.
Results - 14 laps: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Tio Ellinas Manor 27m59.709s 2. Dean Stoneman Koiranen +0.293s 3. Conor Daly ART +0.774s 4. Jack Harvey ART +1.231s 5. Daniil Kvyat MW Arden +1.865s 6. Nick Yelloly Carlin +5.507s 7. Alexander Sims Carlin +7.964s 8. Dino Zamparelli Manor +16.528s 9. Giovanni Venturini Trident +16.726s 10. Alex Fontana Jenzer +17.149s 11. Robert Visoiu MW Arden +17.894s 12. Kevin Korjus Koiranen +21.765s 13. Robert Cregan Trident +22.332s 14. Emanuele Zonzini Trident +22.676s 15. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer +23.253s 16. Facu Regalia ART +24.575s 17. Luis Sa Silva Carlin +26.509s 18. Carlos Sainz Jr MW Arden +27.365s 19. Patrick Kujala Koiranen +34.660s 20. Alice Powell Bamboo +36.238s 21. Adderly Fong Status +41.130s 22. Josh Webster Status +44.113s 23. Samin Gomez Jenzer +49.861s 24. Carmen Jorda Bamboo +49.498s 25. Ryan Cullen Manor +1m09.299s 26. Jimmy Eriksson Status +1m22.070s
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