Lotus ART driver James Calado took a comfortable victory in this morning’s GP3 race at the Valencia Street Circuit, leading away from pole position before building up a gap to his battling rivals behind. The Briton led home compatriot Alexander Sims by four seconds at the end of the race, while Valtteri Bottas completed the podium.
As the lights went out Calado held onto his advantage ahead of second place man Bottas, making no mistakes in the early stages. Status GP driver Sims was giving it his all to make progress from third on the grid and, despite losing out to Dean Smith at the start, he quickly regained the position. The 23-year-old went on to challenge Bottas for second, successfully completing a move around the outside of the Finn.
A massive battle for position ensued behind, with Mitch Evans, Dean Smith, Gabby Chaves, Lewis Williamson and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs all involved. The quintet were later joined by Conor Daly and Nick Yelloly, as the closing stages of the race saw some late drama. Smith was en route for a fifth place finish until he was handed a drive-through penalty for ignoring yellow flags, dropping him to 11th at the finish.
This promoted Chaves to fifth place, but the Colombian attempted to overtake Daly into the last corner, forcing them both wide. Chaves kept his lead, but Daly lost a spot to Williamson on the run up to the finish line, handing the MW Arden driver the final point. Quaife-Hobbs was next up in eighth, finishing in the same position he started after winning the Feature Race on Saturday.
Post-race development:
Penalties handed to three drivers
Round 4 of the championship will be staged at Silverstone in a fortnight’s time
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James Calado
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  J. Calado | Lotus ART | 28:06.179 |
| 2. | A. Sims | Status | +4.445 |
| 3. | V. Bottas | Lotus ART | +7.917 |
| 4. | M. Evans | MW Arden | +10.808 |
| 5. | G. Chaves | Addax | +18.843 |
| 6. | L. Williamson | MW Arden | +19.133 |
| 7. | C. Daly | Carlin | +19.212 |
| 8. | A. Quaife-Hobbs | Manor | +20.037 |
| 9. | V. Ghirelli | Jenzer | +20.659 |
| 10. | L. Bacheta | RSC Mücke | +21.298 |
| Full results | |||
| James Calado | |||
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| More James Calado photos | |||
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