ALESI TAKES VICTORY AT SPA FRANCORCHAMPS
Frenchman claims third consecutive Sunday win
Giuliano Alesi’s great run of Sunday form continued this morning when he nabbed his third consecutive Race 2 victory after leading from lights to flag in this morning’s GP3 Series race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, looking unruffled as he lead home series leader George Russell and Trident teammate Ryan Tveter.
The victory was set up at the start when poleman Julien Falchero made a slow getaway, allowing fellow front row starter Alesi to storm across his bow and into the lead at La Source, with Falchero just holding back Tveter, Dorian Boccolacci, Jack Aitken and Arjun Maini. Niko Kari was soon on a charge, blasting past George Russell on the Kemmel Straight and then Kevin Jörg to grab P7 at the end of the first lap.
Next time by and Kari dispatched Maini at Kemmel, with Russell following suit on Jörg behind him: the pair were soon given a helping hand when Jack Aitken and Boccolacci came together on the Kemmel straight, with both men coming into the pits next time through to promote their rivals, and Aitken picking up a 10 second time penalty to make matters worse for the Briton.
But the 2 places weren’t enough for Russell: he was all over the back of Kari and soon dispatched the Finn for P4. Tveter wasn’t waiting around and finally found a way by Falchero for 2nd on lap 6, with Russell compounding the Frenchman’s problems by mugging him for P3 at Les Combes the next time through. Russell was still pushing hard, and almost inevitably outdragged Tveter on the Kemmel Straight on lap 9 to grab P2 before trying to break down the gap Alesi had built back to everyone else.