Swede closes to within four points of Briton at the top of the standings
Saturday 5 July 2014 18:07, UK
Jimmy Eriksson took his maiden GP3 victory in Race One at Silverstone after soaking up immense pressure from Carlin’s Alex Lynn in the final laps.
Pole man Eriksson made a good start to keep hold of his lead whilst Lynn had his mirrors full of the fast charging Jann Mardenborough. Lynn covered his line, preventing the charge from Mardenborough on the inside whilst Marvin Kirchhofer remained in third. Hilmer Motorsport’s Riccardo Agostini made a great start from P8 to be in fifth position on lap one behind Carlin’s Emil Bernstorff.
Eriksson was quick to build an early advantage over Lynn – with a 2.5s lead in the early stages. It was an premature end for Santiago Urrutia who made contact with Luis Sa Silva’s Carlin, the Uruguayan ended his day in the gravel whilst the Angolan driver was able to continue.
Dean Stoneman was a man on the move – after qualifying in P16, the Brit was carving through the field and fought his way into the top ten, picking off his rivals including Pal Varhaug and Patrick Kujala.
During the race, the clouds thickened over and the skies became darker but the rain held off as the 15 laps ticked down. Eriksson and Lynn began to trade fastest laps and with five laps left, Lynn began to hunt down the Swede for the lead.
Kirchhofer was a little further back in third with Bernstorff a second off the German. The battle between Nick Yelloly and rookie Agostini closed up in the latter part of the race for fifth place but all eyes were on the duel for top spot as Lynn reeled the Koiranen GP driver in and closed the gap down to 0.3s. However, Eriksson had the race under control and pulled out the margin to the Carlin man on the final lap.
The Swede drove a mature race to achieve his maiden victory, crossing the line just under a second ahead of Lynn. Kirchhofer recorded his debut podium in GP3, in front of Bernstorff and Yelloly. Agostini achieved his and Hilmer Motorsport’s first points of the 2014 campaign. Richie Stanaway, Dino Zamparelli, Mardenborough and Stoneman completed the top ten and the final points with the Arden International rookie scoring his debut points in GP3.
GP3 Race One – Great Britain
1) Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) – Koiranen GP – 27:32.301
) Alex Lynn (GBR) – Carlin - +0.958
3) Marvin Kirchhofer (GER) – ART Grand Prix - +7.150
4) Emil Bernstorff (GBR) – Carlin - +9.882
5) Nick Yelloly (GBR) – Status Grand Prix - +10.937
6) Ricciardo Agostini – Hilmer Motorsport - +12.774
7) Richie Stanaway (NZL) – Status GP - +14.413
8) Dino Zamparelli (GBR) – ART Grand Prix - +16.895
9) Jann Mardenborough (GBR) – Arden International - +18.661
10) Dean Stoneman (GBR) – Marussia Manor Racing - +20.132
Selected others
19) Ryan Cullen (GBR) – Marussia Manor Racing - +46.549
Drivers’ Championship
1) Alex Lynn – 82
2) Jimmy Eriksson – 78
3) Richie Stanaway – 51
4) Emil Bernstorff – 48
5) Marvin Kirchhofer - 41
