Boccolacci scores MP’s first GP3 win of 2018
Dorian Boccolacci led from start to finish to seal a commanding GP3 victory at Paul Ricard, recording his and newcomer MP Motorsport’s first win of the 2018 season.
Boccolacci - who had left it late to secure his maiden pole in the series with a brilliant lap on home soil on Friday - faced his only real drama when he stalled on the formation lap. But the Frenchman was able to re-take his grid position as he pulled away before the last driver had passed him on the starting grid.
Dorian Boccolacci led from start to finish to seal a commanding GP3 victory at Paul Ricard, recording his and newcomer MP Motorsport’s first win of the 2018 season.
Boccolacci - who had left it late to secure his maiden pole in the series with a brilliant lap on home soil on Friday - faced his only real drama when he stalled on the formation lap. But the Frenchman was able to re-take his grid position as he pulled away before the last driver had passed him on the starting grid.
When the lights went out, the MP Motorsport driver made a brilliant start to retain his lead on the run to Turn 1, as the top three all stayed in formation on the opening lap. Boccolacci, who won the final race of the 2017 season in Abu Dhabi, opened up a two-second buffer by lap five and controlled proceedings to secure the Dutch squad’s first victory in just its second race contesting the series.
Early championship leader Anthoine Hubert reduced the gap to less than a second on the penultimate lap but ultimately had no answer to his fellow countryman’s pace, as the ART Grand Prix driver continued his run of second-place finishes in 2018.
ART teammate Nikita Mazepin pulled off an early pass on Giuliano Alesi to snatch third, a position he held until the finish to deny an all-French podium at Paul Ricard.
Behind Alesi’s Trident came Niko Kari, who beat beat Leonardo Pulcini’s Campos to fifth in a thrilling race-long duel, ahead of Alessio Lorandi - with the Italian getting the better of Trident teammate Pedro Piquet to take seventh.
Joey Mawson followed up on an impressive qualifying performance to score his first points of the season for Arden in ninth, fending off Ferrari F1 junior Callum Ilott in a late squabble over the final points-paying positions.
Boccolacci's victory takes him up to second place in the championship standings, nine points behind Hubert.
