2016 Catalunya GP2 and GP3 Series rounds

   2016 Catalunya GP2 round

Round details
Round 1 of 11 rounds in the 2016 GP2 Series and Round 1 of 9 rounds in the 2016 GP3 Series
Layout of the Circuit de Catalunya
Location	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.665 km (2.892 mi)
GP2 Series
Feature race
Date	14 May 2016
Laps	33
Pole position
Driver	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing
Time	1:27.807
Podium
First	Norman Nato	Racing Engineering
Second	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS
Third	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing
Fastest lap
Driver	Norman Nato	Racing Engineering
Time	1:34.050 (on lap 28)
Sprint race
Date	15 May 2016
Laps	26
Podium
First	Alex Lynn	DAMS
Second	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing
Third	Jordan King	Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
Driver	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing
Time	1:33.263 (on lap 6)
GP3 Series
Race 1
Date	14 May 2016
Laps	22
Pole position
Driver	Jake Hughes	DAMS
Time	1:34.632
Podium
First	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix
Second	Jake Hughes	DAMS
Third	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix
Fastest lap
Driver	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix
Time	1:38.649 (on lap 22)
Race 2
Date	15 May 2016
Laps	17
Podium
First	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix
Second	Óscar Tunjo	Jenzer Motorsport
Third	Antonio Fuoco	Trident
Fastest lap
Driver	Óscar Tunjo	Jenzer Motorsport
Time	1:38.722 (on lap 2)

The 2016 Catalunya GP2 and GP3 Series rounds were a pair of motor races held on 14 and 15 May 2016 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. They were the first round of the 2016 GP2 season and 2016 GP3 season, respectively. The race weekend supported the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

The round saw the début of the third-generation GP3 car, the Dallara GP3/16, which replaced the GP3/13 chassis used between 2013 and 2015.

Background[]

The defending champions for both GP2 and GP3, Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Ocon, were both unable to defend their respective titles due to the ruling which forbids driver champions from returning to the series. Vandoorne remained as a McLaren reserve and test driver, where he stood in for the injured Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix, while also racing in the Super Formula series in Japan. Ocon served as a Mercedes development driver and was also the reserve driver for the Renault Formula 1 team, dovetailing his F1 commitments with a season in the DTM.

Classification[]

GP2 Series[]

Qualifying[]

A dramatic qualifying session saw Pierre Gasly took his first pole position of the season, his third in a row dating back to last season, and the fourth in his GP2 career. It was also the first pole position for Prema Racing, which they scored on their debut in the GP2 Series. Norman Nato grabbed his best-ever qualifying position in GP2 with a strong second place, with Alex Lynn behind in third.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Grid
1	21	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing	1:27.807	1
2	3	Norman Nato	Racing Engineering	1:28.271	2
3	5	Alex Lynn	DAMS	1:28.458	3
4	6	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:28.563	4
5	2	Sergey Sirotkin	ART Grand Prix	1:28.655	5
6	11	Gustav Malja	Rapax	1:28.695	6
7	22	Oliver Rowland	MP Motorsport	1:28.807	7
8	1	Nobuharu Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	1:29.128	111
9	10	Artem Markelov	Russian Time	1:29.129	8
10	15	Luca Ghiotto	Trident	1:29.143	9
11	20	Antonio Giovinazzi	Prema Racing	1:29.163	10
12	9	Raffaele Marciello	Russian Time	1:29.274	12
13	4	Jordan King	Racing Engineering	1:29.322	13
14	12	Arthur Pic	Rapax	1:29.385	14
15	18	Sergio Canamasas	Carlin	1:29.397	15
16	19	Marvin Kirchhöfer	Carlin	1:29.440	16
17	23	Daniël de Jong	MP Motorsport	1:29.464	17
18	7	Mitch Evans	Pertamina Campos Racing	1:29.478	18
19	25	Jimmy Eriksson	Arden International	1:29.942	19
20	24	Nabil Jeffri	Arden International	1:30.254	20
21	8	Sean Gelael	Pertamina Campos Racing	1:30.304	222
22	14	Philo Paz Armand	Trident	1:30.609	21
Source:[1]

1.^ – Matsushita received a three-place grid penalty for impeding a rival during the qualifying session.^[2]

2.^ – Gelael received a three-place grid penalty for impeding a rival during the qualifying session. However, since he was unable to serve his penalty in full, Gelael started from the pitlane.^[2]

Feature Race[]

Pierre Gasly got a good getaway from pole position, followed by Nato and the fast-starting ART car of Sergey Sirotkin. However, the safety car was called out when rookie Luca Ghiotto crashed at Turn 3. The restart on Lap 5 saw no positional changes up front. Soft-shod Alex Lynn and Jordan King started the pit stop cycle, but Gasly's blistering pace out front eradicated any potential strategic advantage. The battle for second raged on, with Nato holding off a charging Sirotkin. But Sirotkin's race quickly unravelled when he spun in Turn 2 on Lap 23 and stalled the engine, a rare mistake from the Russian driver. The safety car came out once again while Sirotkin's stricken car was retrieved. This proved advantageous for the drivers on the hard tyre, as they were awarded a "free" pit stop under the safety car. As such, Gasly, Nato, Nicholas Latifi, and Sergio Canamasas all emerged in front of Lynn.

The race restarted again on Lap 26, and this time, there were moves aplenty. Artem Markelov jumped ahead of both Lynn and King for P5, before Nato made a brave race-winning move in the final complex of corners to take the lead. Shortly after, the race became time-certain, which spurred on drivers to make more moves. Latifi passed Gasly on Lap 33 to claim second, while Markelov continued his charge to the front by deposing Canamasas for fourth.

The race ended under a bizarre set of circumstances: Prema Racing's Antonio Giovinazzi clattered into the back of Raffaele Marciello on Lap 34, sending him into the Turn 4 gravel. The safety car came out for the third time, with time running out just before the field crossed the line. Under GP2 rules, there is always one lap after the time runs out, but despite this rule, the checkered flag was accidentally waved one lap too early. Because of race control's gaffe, the results were rolled back to one lap before, which annulled the accident between Marciello and Giovinazzi. However, Giovinazzi was still awarded a twenty-second time penalty which relegated him to an 18th-place finish.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Norman Nato	Racing Engineering	33	58:51.044	2	25 (2)
2	6	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	33	+1:337	4	18
3	21	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing	33	+4.248	1	15 (4)
4	10	Artem Markelov	Russian Time	33	+5.145	8	12
5	18	Sergio Canamasas	Carlin	33	+7.294	15	10
6	5	Alex Lynn	DAMS	33	+7.596	3	8
7	4	Jordan King	Racing Engineering	33	+8.678	13	6
8	9	Raffaele Marciello	Russian Time	33	+11.544	12	4
9	11	Gustav Malja	Rapax	33	+13.102	6	2
10	22	Oliver Rowland	MP Motorsport	33	+17.513	7	1
11	1	Nobuharu Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	33	+18.526	11
12	7	Mitch Evans	Pertamina Campos Racing	33	+21.773	18
13	12	Arthur Pic	Rapax	33	+23.022	14
14	23	Daniel de Jong	MP Motorsport	33	+23.787	17
15	19	Marvin Kirchhöfer	Carlin	33	+24.125	16
16	25	Jimmy Eriksson	Arden International	33	+24.348	19
17	8	Sean Gelael	Pertamina Campos Racing	33	+27.522	PL
18	20	Antonio Giovinazzi	Prema Racing	32	+1 Lap	10
19	24	Nabil Jeffri	Arden International	32	+1 Lap	20
Ret	14	Philo Paz Armand	Trident	28	Mechanical	21
Ret	2	Sergey Sirotkin	ART Grand Prix	23	Spun off	5
Ret	15	Luca Ghiotto	Trident	0	Accident	9
Fastest lap: Norman Nato (Racing Engineering) – 1:34.050 (on lap 28)
Source:[1]

Sprint Race[]

Reverse-grid polesitter Raffaele Marciello got a clean start, holding off Jordan King into the first corner, but Alex Lynn got a great start from third and passed King into turn 2. It took Lynn merely two laps to catch and sail past Marciello, setting the Briton up for a dominant drive to victory. Behind him, Marciello plummeted to fourth, being passed by King and Pierre Gasly in quick succession. Gasly then overtook King for second on Lap 6 and set off in pursuit of his former teammate. Positions remained at the front of the field, but it was all change in the middle of the pack. Sergey Sirotkin and Luca Ghiotto chewed through almost half the field from their last-row starting positions.

The intense midfield battle came to an abrupt end on Lap 21, when Sean Gelael aggressively blocked Antonio Giovinazzi on the back straight, but Giovinazzi was already partially alongside the Indonesian driver. He was launched over Gelael's left-rear wheel and slid down the remainder of the straight, collecting an innocent Arthur Pic in Turn 10. Giovinazzi hurtled towards the barriers at unabated speed, skipping across the gravel before slamming the tyre wall side-on. He climbed out of his car visibly shaken, but otherwise uninjured, which was positive news after such a violent impact. The safety car was deployed, but a lengthy clean-up meant that it could only be recalled on the final lap. As a result, Lynn was able to take a second consecutive Spanish sprint race victory, while Gasly, King, Artem Markelov, Marciello, Oliver Rowland, Nicholas Latifi, and Nobuharu Matsushita also claimed points.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Alex Lynn	DAMS	26	43:50.241	3	15
2	21	Pierre Gasly	Prema Racing	26	+0.377	6	12 (2)
3	4	Jordan King	Racing Engineering	26	+1.120	2	10
4	10	Artem Markelov	Russian Time	26	+2.168	5	8
5	9	Raffaele Marciello	Russian Time	26	+3.382	1	6
6	22	Oliver Rowland	MP Motorsport	26	+3.990	10	4
7	6	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	26	+4.584	7	2
8	1	Nobuharu Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	26	+5.647	11	1
9	18	Sergio Canamasas	Carlin	26	+8.115	4
10	11	Gustav Malja	Rapax	26	+8.419	9
11	2	Sergey Sirotkin	ART Grand Prix	26	+8.698	21
12	15	Luca Ghiotto	Trident	26	+8.828	22
13	8	Sean Gelael	Pertamina Campos Racing	26	+9.178	17
14	7	Mitch Evans	Pertamina Campos Racing	26	+9.650	12
15	19	Marvin Kirchhöfer	Carlin	26	+10.152	15
16	3	Norman Nato	Racing Engineering	26	+10.430	8
17	23	Daniel de Jong	MP Motorsport	26	+10.726	14
18	24	Nabil Jeffri	Arden International	26	+11.672	19
19	25	Jimmy Eriksson	Arden International	25	+1 Lap	16
Ret	12	Arthur Pic	Rapax	20	Collision	13
Ret	20	Antonio Giovinazzi	Prema Racing	20	Accident	18
Ret	14	Philo Paz Armand	Trident	13	Retired	20
Fastest lap: Pierre Gasly (Prema Racing) – 1:33.263 (on lap 6)
Source:[1]

GP3 Series[]

Qualifying[]

The first qualifying for GP3's third-generation car started under clear skies, with Alexander Albon taking the early lead. Jake Dennis, Jack Aitken, Kevin Jörg, Charles Leclerc, and Nirei Fukuzumi all took turns at the head of the pack, but Jake Hughes had the last word, claiming pole with a terrific lap. With teammate Jörg in second, it was a dream debut qualifying for newcomer team DAMS.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Grid
1	27	Jake Hughes	DAMS	1:34.632	1
2	28	Kevin Jörg	DAMS	1:34.772	2
3	1	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	1:34.949	3
4	2	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix	1:35.048	4
5	9	Jake Dennis	Arden International	1:35.117	5
6	20	Óscar Tunjo	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.160	6
7	5	Antonio Fuoco	Trident	1:35.201	7
8	3	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	1:35.207	8
9	17	Ralph Boschung	Koiranen GP	1:35.344	9
10	11	Jack Aitken	Arden International	1:35.415	10
11	4	Nyck de Vries	MP Motorsport	1:35.463	11
12	10	Tatiana Calderón	Arden International	1:35.469	12
13	19	Richard Gonda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.594	13
14	23	Steijn Schothorst	Campos Racing	1:35.598	14
15	7	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1:35.656	PL1
16	16	Matevos Isaakyan	Koiranen GP	1:35.693	15
17	14	Matt Parry	Koiranen GP	1:35.746	192
18	26	Santino Ferrucci	DAMS	1:35.792	16
19	24	Konstantin Tereshchenko	Campos Racing	1:36.070	17
20	18	Akash Nandy	Jenzer Motorsport	1:36.157	18
21	6	Artur Janosz	Trident	1:36.215	20
22	8	Sandy Stuvik	Trident	1:36.282	21
23	15	Mahaveer Raghunathan	Koiranen GP	1:37.222	22
24	22	Álex Palou	Campos Racing	1:37.248	23
Source:[3]

1.^ – Alesi failed to stop at the weighbridge after qualifying and was forced to start from the pit lane.^[4]

2.^ – Parry received a three-place grid penalty for impeding a rival.^[4]

Race 1[]

In contrast to the qualifying session, the sky was overcast and the threat of rain ever-present. A lightning start from Ferrari Driver Academy's Charles Leclerc saw him grab first place entering the first turn, while Kevin Jörg fell to fifth. After an exciting opening few laps, the field stagnated, with Leclerc edging away from polesitter Jake Hughes and teammate Nirei Fukuzumi. Further back in the pack, Jack Aitken stalled at the start, while Steijn Schothorst retired with mechanical problems. An intense battle developed between the Koiranen GP drivers, who were fighting for tenth place and the final point. Meanwhile, Leclerc continued to build a gap to Hughes, eventually recording his first GP3 win with a margin of just over six seconds. Hughes held off Fukuzumi for second, with Antonio Fuoco finishing a distant fourth. Behind them were Jörg, Alexander Albon, and Jake Dennis, who had a wild off-track moment early on at the final corner. Óscar Tunjo finished eighth, giving him reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race, with Nyck de Vries and Ralph Boschung completing the top ten.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	22	36:38.694	3	25 (2)
2	27	Jake Hughes	DAMS	22	+6.023	1	18 (4)
3	2	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix	22	+7.452	4	15
4	5	Antonio Fuoco	Trident	22	+19.325	7	12
5	28	Kevin Jörg	DAMS	22	+22.801	2	10
6	3	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	22	+23.391	8	8
7	9	Jake Dennis	Arden International	22	+24.086	5	6
8	20	Óscar Tunjo	Jenzer Motorsport	22	+25.592	6	4
9	4	Nyck de Vries	ART Grand Prix	22	+26.467	11	2
10	17	Ralph Boschung	Koiranen GP	22	+27.104	9	1
11	16	Matevos Isaakyan	Koiranen GP	22	+28.860	15
12	14	Matt Parry	Koiranen GP	22	+30.952	19
13	19	Richard Gonda	Jenzer Motorsport	22	+33.095	13
14	10	Tatiana Calderón	Arden International	22	+33.871	12
15	26	Santino Ferrucci	DAMS	22	+34.241	16
16	6	Artur Janosz	Arden International	22	+36.835	20
17	24	Konstantin Tereshchenko	Campos Racing	22	+38.168	17
18	8	Sandy Stuvik	Trident	22	+44.347	21
19	22	Álex Palou	Campos Racing	22	+44.902	23
20	11	Jack Aitken	Arden International	22	+45.298	10
21	18	Akash Nandy	Jenzer Motorsport	22	+55.655	18
22	7	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	22	+1:00.294	PL
23	15	Mahaveer Raghunathan	Koiranen GP	22	+1:03.391	22
Ret	23	Steijn Schothorst	Campos Racing	0	Retired	14
Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (ART Grand Prix) – 1:38.649 (on lap 2)
Source:

Race 2[]

Once again, the race was set up at the start, as there were no changes for position inside the top 10 after the opening lap. Óscar Tunjo made a good start from pole position, but it was Alexander Albon that took the lead with a sensational pass around the outside Tunjo in Turn 1. Another excellent start from Antonio Fuoco saw him rise to third, ahead of Jake Dennis, with Nyck de Vries and Matevos Isaakyan both making lightning getaways to be fifth and sixth, after starting ninth and eleventh, respectively. DAMS team-mates Kevin Jörg and Jake Hughes were involved in a race-long scrap for seventh, with Saturday's race winner Charles Leclerc in hot pursuit. Despite Tunjo having a pace advantage in sector one, Albon was faster in the second and third sectors of the lap, which allowed him to maintain his lead and claim a maiden victory. ART Grand Prix swept the opening weekend for the second season in a row. For the second sprint race in a row (dating back to the final weekend of the 2015 season), every driver finished the race, which was an impressive showcase of reliability from the brand-new GP3/16 car.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	17	28:24.177	3	15
2	20	Óscar Tunjo	Jenzer Motorsport	17	+1.294	1	12 (2)
3	5	Antonio Fuoco	Trident	17	+7.307	5	10
4	9	Jake Dennis	Arden International	17	+8.114	2	8
5	4	Nyck de Vries	ART Grand Prix	17	+11.612	9	6
6	16	Matevos Isaakyan	Koiranen GP	17	+12.505	11	4
7	28	Kevin Jörg	DAMS	17	+15.012	4	2
8	27	Jake Hughes	DAMS	17	+15.670	7	1
9	1	Charles Leclerc	ART Grand Prix	17	+16.695	8
10	17	Ralph Boschung	Koiranen GP	17	+18.345	10
11	26	Santino Ferrucci	DAMS	17	+18.757	15
12	6	Artur Janosz	Trident	17	+20.796	16
13	2	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix	17	+21.450	6
14	22	Álex Palou	Campos Racing	17	+21.934	19
15	8	Sandy Stuvik	Trident	17	+24.818	18
16	7	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	17	+26.107	22
17	19	Richard Gonda	Jenzer Motorsport	17	+27.024	13
18	10	Tatiana Calderón	Arden International	17	+27.582	14
19	11	Jack Aitken	Arden International	17	+29.135	20
20	14	Matt Parry	Koiranen GP	17	+29.524	12
21	24	Konstantin Tereshchenko	Campos Racing	17	+30.109	17
22	23	Steijn Schothorst	Campos Racing	17	+30.840	24
23	18	Akash Nandy	Jenzer Motorsport	17	+33.959	21
24	15	Mahaveer Raghunathan	Koiranen GP	17	+43.431	23
Fastest lap: Óscar Tunjo (Jenzer Motorsport) – 1:38.722 (on lap 2)
Source:

Standings after the round[]

GP2 Series[]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

GP3 Series[]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website of GP2 Series
• Official website of GP3 Series

Previous round:	GP2 Series 2016 season	Next round: 2016 Monaco GP2 Series round
Previous round: 2015 Catalunya GP2 and GP3 Series rounds	Catalunya GP2 and GP3 round	Next round: 2017 Catalunya FIA Formula 2 round