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RUSSIAN TIME GP2 Series, Round 4. Austria Race 1

06/20/2015

RUSSIAN TIME GP2 Series, Round 4. Austria Race 1

Twenty-year-old Russian Artem Markelov drove the race of his short GP2 career when he finished a fine fifth in the Austrian feature race at the Red Bull Ring. Team mate Mitch Evans also finished in the top 10 with the second Russian Time car.

Markelov, starting 15th , passed three cars on the opening lap and was into fourth place by lap 10 of the 40-lap race as those who started on the option tyre, including pole position man Stoffel Vandoorne, started to pit.

Markelov then fought his way into third place, behind the DAMS cars of podium finisher Alex Lynn and Red Bull junior driver Pierre Gasly, whom he passed superbly in Turn 2 at half distance. He was then quick and consistent to his pit stop for the option tyre on lap 30, coming out sixth, behind Alexander Rossi. Markelov, now on the faster tyre, passed the American at Turn 2 with three laps to go and crossed the line just 4s behind podium finisher Lynn.

The race saw another victory for ART man Vandoorne, ahead of Rapax driver Sergei Sirotkin, Lynn and Nobuharu Matsushita.

Artem Markelov: “I really enjoyed that! I had a strong opening lap and really attacked. The car felt great and I had a really good fight with the DAMS guys particularly. It feels great to finish in the top five on merit in such a competitive field and I think it shows the strong progress I have made this year. I want to thank the whole team as well, because we have worked superbly well from first practice when I was 24th. Without their great support this result would not have been possible.”

Mitch Evans: “It was not the greatest of races for me. I didn’t quite seem to have the pace but I did all I could and congratulations to Artem. It’s a shame I couldn’t have made up a couple of places to challenge for the reverse grid race pole.”

Svetlana Strelnikova, team principal: “A tough afternoon for Mitch but congratulations to Artem after his best drive in GP2. He was hugely impressive. He has never lacked confidence in racing situations and showed it once more. Only Vandoorne and Lynn, who stopped later than us to go into the option tyre, set quicker race laps, and Artem’s pace was equally impressive on the prime tyre, which showed the level he was at today.”




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