The 2016 Spa-Francorchamps GP3 Series round was a GP3 Series motor race held on 27 and 28 August 2016 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. It was the sixth round of the 2016 GP3 Series. The race weekend supported the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix.
Background Óscar Tunjo will take the third entry at Jenzer Motorsport to return to the category. Another driver change for this weekend was in the Koiranen GP camp, where Red Bull junior driver Niko Kari would be replacing Ralph Boschung.
Classification Qualifying Charles Leclerc took his first pole position since the Red Bull Ring round with a time over three-tenths faster than his nearest rival, Hughes. Nyck de Vries took third, just under half a second slower than Leclerc.
Driver Team Time Gap 1 1 Charles Leclerc ART Grand Prix 2:04.896 – 1 2 27 Jake Hughes DAMS 2:05.259 +0.363 2 3 4 Nyck de Vries ART Grand Prix 2:05.393 +0.497 3 4 5 Antonio Fuoco Trident 2:05.448 +0.552 4 5 28 Kevin Jörg DAMS 2:05.612 +0.716 5 6 14 Matt Parry Koiranen GP 2:05.653 +0.765 6 7 20 Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport 2:05.661 +0.862 7 8 8 Sandy Stuvik Trident 2:05.758 +0.862 8 9 26 Santino Ferrucci DAMS 2:05.852 +0.956 9 10 22 Álex Palou Campos Racing 2:05.880 +0.984 10 11 2 Nirei Fukuzumi ART Grand Prix 2:06.012 +1.116 11 12 16 Matevos Isaakyan Koiranen GP 2:06.145 +1.249 12 13 9 Jake Dennis Arden International 2:06.179 +1.283 13 14 11 Jack Aitken Arden International 2:06.185 +1.289 14 15 23 Steijn Schothorst Campos Racing 2:06.201 +1.305 15 16 19 Óscar Tunjo Jenzer Motorsport 2:06.282 +1.386 16 17 3 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 2:06.421 +1.525 17 18 6 Artur Janosz Trident 2:06.531 +1.635 18 19 7 Giuliano Alesi Trident 2:06.740 +1.844 19 20 24 Konstantin Tereshchenko Campos Racing 2:06.769 +1.873 20 21 17 Niko Kari Koiranen GP 2:06.772 +1.876 21 22 10 Tatiana Calderón Arden International 2:06.900 +2.004 22 23 18 Akash Nandy Jenzer Motorsport 2:07.086 +2.190 23 Source:
Race 1 Charles Leclerc took another win to inch further in the championship, finishing 2.3 seconds ahead of Jake Dennis and 15.4 seconds ahead of teammate Nyck de Vries.
Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Charles Leclerc ART Grand Prix 17 40:06.695 1 25 (6) 2 9 Jake Dennis Arden International 17 +2.305 13 18 3 4 Nyck de Vries ART Grand Prix 17 +15.402 3 15 4 5 Antonio Fuoco Trident 17 +19.427 4 12 5 11 Jack Aitken Arden International 17 +19.837 14 10 6 23 Steijn Schothorst Campos Racing 17 +21.419 15 8 7 26 Santino Ferrucci DAMS 17 +24.337 9 6 8 16 Matevos Isaakyan Koiranen GP 17 +28.856 12 4 9 3 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 17 +30.076 17 2 10 7 Giuliano Alesi Trident 17 +31.045 19 1 11 28 Kevin Jörg DAMS 17 +39.185 5 12 6 Artur Janosz Trident 17 +42.364 18 13 22 Álex Palou Campos Racing 17 +48.122 10 14 10 Tatiana Calderón Arden International 17 +51.141 22 15 19 Óscar Tunjo Jenzer Motorsport 17 +1:09.185 16 16 18 Akash Nandy Jenzer Motorsport 17 +1:15.690 23 17 24 Konstantin Tereshchenko Campos Racing 17 +1:22.750 20 Ret 8 Sandy Stuvik Trident 13 Retired 8 Ret 17 Niko Kari Koiranen GP 4 Retired 21 Ret 2 Nirei Fukuzumi ART Grand Prix 1 Retired 11 Ret 14 Matt Parry Koiranen GP 0 Retired 6 Ret 27 Jake Hughes DAMS 0 Retired 2 Ret 20 Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport 0 Retired 7 Fastest lap: Charles Leclerc (ART Grand Prix) – 2:09.918 (on lap 5) Source:
Notes 1. – Calderón was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Niko Kari. 2. – Tunjo was given a 10-second penalty for a dangerous re-entry onto the circuit, causing a collision with Konstantin Tereshchenko. 3. – Tereshchenko was given a 10-second penalty for forcing Tunjo off the circuit.
Race 2 Jack Aitken took his first GP3 win in a tight battle between himself and Antonio Fuoco. Haas F1 development driver, Santino Ferrucci, achieved his first podium, 5.8 seconds adrift of the leader.
Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 11 Jack Aitken Arden International 13 31:56.599 4 15 (2) 2 5 Antonio Fuoco Trident 13 +1.769 5 12 3 26 Santino Ferrucci DAMS 13 +5.820 2 10 4 16 Matevos Isaakyan Koiranen GP 13 +7.207 1 8 5 9 Jake Dennis Arden International 13 +7.708 7 6 6 1 Charles Leclerc ART Grand Prix 13 +8.436 8 4 7 23 Steijn Schothorst Campos Racing 13 +9.345 3 2 8 4 Nyck de Vries ART Grand Prix 13 +9.851 6 1 9 6 Artur Janosz Trident 13 +11.614 12 10 3 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 13 +12.363 9 11 22 Alex Palou Campos Racing 13 +14.531 13 12 7 Giuliano Alesi Trident 13 +15.919 10 13 18 Akash Nandy Jenzer Motorsport 13 +16.579 16 14 17 Niko Kari Koiranen GP 13 +17.591 19 15 2 Nirei Fukuzumi ART Grand Prix 13 +23.275 20 16 20 Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport 13 +25.372 23 17 8 Sandy Stuvik Trident 12 +1 Lap 18 Ret 28 Kevin Jörg DAMS 8 Collision 11 Ret 14 Matt Parry Koiranen GP 5 Collision 21 Ret 27 Jake Hughes DAMS 5 Collision 22 Ret 24 Konstantin Tereshchenko Campos Racing 2 Puncture 17 Ret 10 Tatiana Calderón Arden International 1 Accident 14 Fastest lap: Jack Aitken (Arden International) – 2:09.435 (on lap 8) Source:
Notes 1. – Maini was given a ten-second penalty after causing a collision with Alexander Albon.
Standings after the round
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Charles Leclerc 161 2 2 Antonio Fuoco 139 1 3 Alexander Albon 125 2 4 Nyck de Vries 81 1 5 Matt Parry 70
Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 ART Grand Prix 401 2 Trident 150 3 Koiranen GP 135 1 4 Arden International 129 1 5 DAMS 99
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2016 Belgian Grand Prix 2016 Spa-Francorchamps GP2 Series round
References
External links Official website of GP3 Series