ART GP’s Mazepin wins final GP3 race in Abu Dhabi
Nikita Mazepin pulled off a last-lap overtake on Juan Manuel Correa to win the final GP3 race of the 2018 season in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian, who missed out on the GP3 title to ART Grand Prix teammate Anthoine Hubert in the opening race of the weekend at Yas Marina, swept past Correa on the final lap to snatch his third win of the season.
Nikita Mazepin pulled off a last-lap overtake on Juan Manuel Correa to win the final GP3 race of the 2018 season in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian, who missed out on the GP3 title to ART Grand Prix teammate Anthoine Hubert in the opening race of the weekend at Yas Marina, swept past Correa on the final lap to snatch his third win of the season.
Mazepin did not need to make the move on track, after Correa had been handed a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement, but he surged past around the outside under braking at Turn 11 on the last tour to take the victory in style.
ART teammate Jake Hughes finished second, while Campos Racing’s Simo Laaksonen’s late pass on Callum Ilott denied the championship-winning squad a podium lockout.
Ilott had to settle with fourth, ahead of Trident’s Ryan Tveter and reverse grid polesitter Correa, who finished second on the road but dropped to sixth once his time penalty had been applied.
Richard Verschoor took seventh for MP Motorsport, while Tatiana Calderon made it back-to-back points finishes as she rounded out the top eight.
Newly-crowned champion Hubert failed to complete a single lap, after he tangled with David Beckmann on the run to Turn 8 during a frantic opening lap, which also saw Pedro Piquet and Jannes Fittje taken out as they came to blows in a separate incident.
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