Powell grabs first GP3 point at Monza finale

Alice Powell ended the 2012 GP3 Series season on a high by claiming her first point in the category in the final race of the year at Monza.

Despite managing a promising 12th fastest time in practice, the 19-year-old was only 21st on the grid for the first of the two races in support of the Italian Grand Prix. A good start followed by overtaking moves on Robert Visoiu and Alex Brundle helped the Status Grand Prix driver to take the finish in 12th place.

Race two saw less of a good start and Powell dropped to 15th, but incidents ahead promoted her to P11 before she managed to pass Kevin Ceccon on the final lap and crossed the finish line in tenth. Penalties for Aaro Vainio and Tamas Pal Kiss lifted Powell up into eighth place and the final points-scoring position. The result was not only Powell’s first GP3 points finish, but also the first point recorded by any female driver in the series.

With her season having come to an end, Powell took the opportunity to thank her team and said she would be working to return to GP3 in 2013.

“To end the weekend like we did is great,” the 2010 Formula Renault BARC champion said. “Even though qualifying did not go to plan, it has been a good weekend with two solid results. To get my first point in GP3 is brilliant and I am so chuffed. Status Grand Prix has done a great job and helped me so much this year, so to finish the weekend with a top eight finish is fantastic. I have learnt so much throughout the year and could not have learnt the amount I did if it wasn't for help of the Status crew - so a big thanks to them. Huge thanks also to all of my sponsors this year; it is great to get a good result for them and I hope to raise enough sponsorship to compete in the fantastic GP3 Series next year.”

Powell’s engineer at Status, Simon Cayzer added: “It's fantastic that Alice finishes the season with a point score. She has always shown great speed during the season, but getting on the points table had been our target for some races now. To be the first female driver to achieve this in the GP3 Series is a great achievement and it's testament to all the hard work Alice puts in both on and off the track. The final two rounds at Spa and Monza are 'big' tracks with famous corners that require huge commitment. Alice got on top of these circuits very quickly and everyone has been very impressed with her race-craft during these races. Alice was consistently one the fastest drivers in sector two at Monza throughout the whole weekend. Now we look forward to 2013 with the new era GP3 car and sincerely hope that Alice can be with us again next year.”

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Peter Allen