WILLIAMSON AND EVANS STAR FOR ARDEN – YOUNG KIWI TAKES SERIES LEAD

Saturday, June 25 – Qualifying and Race One

Lewis Williamson and Mitch Evans finished second and third for MW Arden in today’s GP3 Series race on the Valencia street circuit – a result that elevates 17-year-old Evans into the championship lead.

Williamson qualified on pole position, but was beaten off the line by both Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Marussia Manor) and Dean Smith (Addax). Having dropped to third, the Scot then faced fierce, race-long pressure from team-mate Evans, who lined up fourth and held his position as the field streamed through Turn One. The duel between them was as clean as it was close, however, and they ran in team formation to the flag. Quaife-Hobbs went on to win, but Smith slowed on the final lap and that enabled both MW Arden drivers to climb the podium steps.

Third MW Arden driver Simon Trummer had a brief and unfortunate race. Having qualified 11th, the Swiss racer was elbowed into the wall at Turn Two on the opening lap – an incident that brought several cars to a standstill and triggered a brief safety car interlude.

Lewis:
“From the first free practice session it was a question of slowly building up to speed and not just trying to be fastest for the sake of it, because that’s often when mistakes are made. I learned that in Istanbul…
I was on the pace during the second session, but knew I still had to find a bit more time in qualifying, particularly in the circuit’s final sector. Last night I spoke to my engineers about changing my qualifying technique and I focused on trying to get some clear track space. The first part of the session wasn’t particularly good, but we made a small change to the chassis when I pitted for my final set of tyres. That enabled me to carry a little more entry speed into the corners without compromising my exits and I managed to take pole on my final lap.
The target for the race was to maintain tyre and brake temperatures and to defend my position on the run to Turn One, but I got a bit too much wheelspin and was actually quite relieved to hold on to third. Mitch pushed me very hard during the middle of the race, but I put my head down and managed to lap consistently and quickly without hurting my rear tyres. It felt good to score my first podium at this level and I gained lots of useful data that should help us to make the car even better in race two.”

Mitch:
“I spent the first session learning the circuit and was really pleased to set second quickest time. It didn’t take long to feel comfortable and I felt very confident prior to qualifying. I was at the top of the timesheets early in the session, but then the car developed a misfire and I had to pit. That quick early lap was the only decent one I managed, but at least I didn’t get bumped too far down the order and I was hoping for a strong race.
“My start was fairly average, but I didn’t lose any positions before the safety car came out. After the restart, I applied as much pressure to Lewis as I could but we were very evenly matched. Running in his slipstream hurt my front tyres a little and also cost me downforce at some points on the circuit, but the main target was to score another strong points finish. I was happy to take third and, an added bonus, the championship lead. There is still a very long way to go this season, though, and GP3 has incredible strength in depth, so I’ll just carry on taking each race as it comes.”

Simon:
“Qualifying wasn’t too bad. I just tried to get a good, clear lap and see where I ended up. I was happy enough with 10th, because that gave me a good chance of scoring points. First, though, I had to finish… I made a decent start and gained one place, but was then pushed wide at Turn Two and hit the wall. I shall try to make amends tomorrow.”

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