Ferrari F1 junior Ilott holds off Piquet for maiden GP3 win
Callum Ilott held off Pedro Piquet during a tense GP3 sprint race to claim his first victory in the series at Paul Ricard.
The Ferrari Formula 1 junior and ART Grand Prix driver briefly lost the lead at the start but recovered well to pass a fast-starting Piquet by the end of a dramatic opening lap, before slowly stretching out his advantage over the Brazilian, who claimed his maiden GP3 podium.
Callum Ilott held off Pedro Piquet during a tense GP3 sprint race to claim his first victory in the series at Paul Ricard.
The Ferrari Formula 1 junior and ART Grand Prix driver briefly lost the lead at the start but recovered well to pass a fast-starting Piquet by the end of a dramatic opening lap, before slowly stretching out his advantage over the Brazilian, who claimed his maiden GP3 podium.
It was Piquet who made the best start out of the front-runners, with the Trident driver drawing level with Ilott as the pair ran side-by-side through Turn 1. Piquet held his line through the fast sweeping Turn 2 to snatch the lead, before Ilott reclaimed the position with a bold pass at the Spoon curve.
From there on in Ilott controlled proceedings to record a breakthrough win and ensure ART claimed both victories on home soil, 3s clear of Piquet at the chequered flag. Joey Mawson also lost out to Piquet at Turn 1, but held onto third as he rounded out an impressive weekend in France with his first rostrum appearance for Arden.
Trident’s Alessio Lorandi scored his best result of 2018 with fourth place, holding off second-place man in the championship Nikita Mazepin by just 0.7s, while Giuliano Alesi followed up on his Race 1 podium to finish just behind the squabbling pair in sixth.
Points leader Anthoine Hubert survived contact with ART teammate Jake Hughes to score more points with seventh place and the fastest lap of the race, with Leonardo Pulcini claiming the final point in eighth.
