ART’s Conor Daly and Robert Visoiu of MW Arden take second and seventh in the GP3 Series drivers’ championship respectively with their wins at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
Fresh from his pursuits in the Indy 500, Daly put his car on pole position on Saturday and led Race 1 from pole on Sunday. In an intense opening few laps which saw 4 cars all pile out from 3 separate incidents, ART managed to maintain first and second positions with Daly and Regalia.
Regalia looked the faster of the two initially but Daly managed the gap well and by lap 11 had pulled away comfortably to take his first win of 2013, and lead the championship by 3 points after the first race.
British driver Nick Yelloly had qualified in 3rd position but post-qualifying scrutineering revealed the floor of his car was not at an acceptable height after an incident on track and was subsequently excluded from qualifying. However an impressive race saw the Carlin driver progress from the back of the grid to finish in 12th on a circuit not considered easy for overtaking.
Robert Visoiu began Race 2 in pole having finished 8th in Race 1, and lead a flawless race from start to finish to take his first GP3 win. The 17 year old Romanian certainly turned a few heads in the paddock with his controlled race which saw the MW Arden car much lighter on its tyres than it had been in Barcelona.
All three Arden drivers finished in the top five, with local hero Carlos Sainz Jr. taking his first GP3 podium with third place just behind Aaro Vainio.
After the second race weekend, the drivers’ championship sees Tio Ellinas leading by just 4 points from Conor Daly, with ART topping the teams championship with their one-two in the first race.
