ART Grand Prix’s Marvin Kirchhöfer fastest, Alex Lynn takes title
Success! A memorable qualifying session saw Marvin Kirchhofer blaze to pole, whilst Carlin and Red Bull Junior Team rookie Alex Lynn became the fifth driver to take the elusive GP3 crown. The Brit had one hand on the coveted trophy prior to the season finale at Yas Marina Circuit, after his nearest challenger in the standing’s Dean Stoneman failed to pocket pole and the four points on offer – Lynn can not be beaten on points and thus celebrates a fantastic season. Kirchhöfer, Stoneman and Emil Bernstorff completed the top three in an intense qualifying session.
A change in schedule saw qualifying take place on the same day as Free Practice. The thirty minute session got underway with a pleasant breeze for the most decisive session of the season. ART Grand Prix’s Kirchhöfer was first into the 1m56’s with Alex Fontana hot on his tails, but it was Stoneman: the man on a mission to secure pole and keep his title hopes alive who shot to P1.
The German continued his impressive pace to reclaim provisional pole by 0.067s, as the drivers returned to the pits – the calm before the storm…Lynn posted the fastest time of the session with five minutes left on the clock until his teammate Bernstorff bettered his laptime. Kirchhöfer was not to be denied though and blitzed to a laptime over half a second faster than the Carlin duo. Stoneman knew what he had to do and clocked the fastest first sector but was unable to improve on the remainder of the lap due to yellow flags and traffic.
At the chequered flag, the session belonged to Kirchhöfer, the second pole position for the rookie, with Stoneman, Bernstorff and Lynn completing the front two rows. Dino Zamparelli, Jimmy Eriksson, Alex Fontana, Patric Niederhauser, Nick Yelloly and Richie Stanaway rounded out the top ten.
One title may have been decided but the teams’ trophy is still up for grabs: Race 1 will commence at 12.05 tomorrow (GMT+4) – don’t miss the penultimate race of the 2014 season.
GP3 Series Press Release
Qualifying – Yas Marina
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1.
Marvin Kirchhöfer
ART Grand Prix
1:55.163
12
2.
Dean Stoneman
Koiranen GP
1:55.634
11
3.
Emil Bernstorff
Carlin
1:55.664
13
4.
Alex Lynn
Carlin
1:55.729
11
5.
Dino Zamparelli
ART Grand Prix
1:55.819
12
6.
Jimmy Eriksson
Koiranen GP
1:55.863
12
7.
Alex Fontana
ART Grand Prix
1:55.900
13
8.
Patric Niederhauser
Arden International
1:55.995
12
9.
Nick Yelloly
Status Grand Prix
1:56.038
12
10.
Richie Stanaway
Status Grand Prix
1:56.113
13
11.
Kevin Ceccon
Jenzer Motorsport
1:56.145
11
12.
Patrick Kujala
Trident
1:56.199
11
13.
Jann Mardenborough
Arden International
1:56.291
12
14.
Santiago Urrutia
Koiranen GP
1:56.443
13
15.
Matheo Tuscher
Jenzer Motorsport
1:56.498
11
16.
Robert Visoiu
Arden International
1:56.501
11
17.
Pal Varhaug
Jenzer Motorsport
1:56.530
11
18.
Luis Sa Silva
Carlin
1:56.873
10
19.
Riccardo Agostini
Hilmer Motorsport
1:56.941
10
20.
Nelson Mason
Hilmer Motorsport
1:56.959
13
21.
Alfonso Celis. Jr
Status Grand Prix
1:57.577
12
22.
Ryan Cullen
Trident
1:57.697
12
23.
Ling Kang
Trident
1:58.816
12