WICKENS SCORCHES TO GP3 SERIES VICTORY IN GERMANY

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Robert Wickens proved untouchable as he dominated the GP3 Series feature race to score his first victory of the season in the Formula 1-support series at Hockenheim on Saturday. The Canadian capitalised on his strong qualifying to make a great start from third place on the grid and slice past James Jakes into the first corner, and then dive down the inside of Josef Newgarden at the hairpin to take a lead he would never lose. Two  multi-car  accidents  on  laps  one  and  four  brought  out  the  safety  car,  giving  Wickens  two  re-starts  to contend with, but on both he timed his getaway perfectly and re-established his lead. By the end of lap eight Wickens  had  a  1.5sec  lead  over  Jakes,  and  then  produced  a  string  of  four  fastest  laps  that  secured  the bonus point and allowed him to cruise to a victory that returns him to second in the drivers’ championship.Coming off the back of Canadian-Lebanese driver Daniel Morad’s GP3 victory at Silverstone, Status GP’sCanadian team principal Teddy Yip said: “To achieve back-to-back victories is something for the whole team to be proud of. I’m especially pleased to  be able to demonstrate success with our new partners Marussia and, for me, having the Canadian flag hoisted at the top of the podium at an F1/GP3 event gives me great personal pride. And two weeks in a row with two different drivers is something really special.”Morad  fared  less  well,  an  innocent  victim  of  a  crash  on  the  fourth  lap.  Starting  24th  the  GMH Motorsport-backed  driver  produced  a  sensational  first  lap  to  rise  to  10th.  But  at  the  first  re-start  he  was  sandwiched between two cars which hit his front wheels, damaging his suspension and forcing him to eventually retire.Also out of luck was Marussia driver Ivan Lukashevich, a victim of the first-lap pile-up at the hairpin. Although the team was able to change his damaged nose cone under the safety car, the Russian’s suspension was deranged and his handling was affected for the rest of the race limiting him to an 18th-place finish.The Drivers’ ViewRobert Wickens (CAN): (Result: 1st. Fastest lap: 1m33.08s. Race 2 start position: 8th).“The guys gave me a consistent car, very easy to drive. Status GP’s two race wins in a row show how strong the team is, and hopefully for me this win starts a run of consistently strong results.”Ivan Lukashevich (RUS): (Result: 18th. Fastest lap: 1m35.56s. Race 2 start position: 18th).“It was unfortunate to get caught up in the tangle in front of me at the hairpin. Although I pitted for a new nose the suspension damage really affected my handling and the race was a struggle.” Daniel Morad (LIB): (Result: Rtd. Fastest lap: 1m39.56s. Race 2 start position: 19th).“I had an awesome start and felt I placed myself perfectly to make up ground at each corner – certainly the car felt good and was quicker than those around me, so to lose a points finish in this fashion is hard to take.”