Evans extends title advantage as safety car steals the show in Germany

Title favourite Mitch Evans (MW Arden) departs Germany leading the GP3 Series championship chase but the Kiwi – and the majority of his rivals – were left feeling a little short on racing laps at the Hockenheim circuit.

Because through a combination of heavy rain and significant accidents both races were largely spent behind the safety car, with Sunday’s sprint event proving particularly lacking in action.

A downpour shortly before the start of Saturday's feature race saw the contest begin behind the safety car. This would ruin a number of drivers’ hopes of the win, with poleman Daniel Abt (Lotus ART) and points leader Evans among several to start on slick tyres. These clearly weren't fit for purpose, forcing early stops for around half the field.

Lotus ART man Conor Daly now led from Patric Niederhauser and Kevin Ceccon, despite the race having run entirely under caution, but when the rain intensified the red flag fell.

At the restart it was still deemed unsafe to withdraw the safety car, and it would be several more laps before it finally exited. When the green flag finally flew Niederhauser was quick to make his intentions known, moving onto the Daly’s gearbox and launching an unstoppable move for the lead. From there the Swiss teenager was able to manage the gap and secure his second race victory of the campaign.

Daly was a comfortable second from Ceccon, though the Italian would later be excluded for a technical infringement. Giovanni Venturini (Trident) thus secured a podium in only his second GP3 weekend, albeit without actually climbing the rostrum.

Following Ceccon's exclusion, Matias Laine (MW Arden) took P4 from title protagonist Aaro Vaino (Lotus ART) after the Finns fought an engaging late-race battle. Tamas Pal Kiss (Atech CRS), and the recovering duo of Abt and Evans rounded out the top-eight, securing the latter a vital pole for Sunday's sprint race.

That didn't pay dividends at the start however, with Abt flying past the MW Arden driver at the lights.

Evans' chances of immediately recovering his advantage were scuppered when Vicky Piria launched over the back of Robert Cregan's Ocean machine and made frightening contact with Will Buller's Carlin. After a final heavy impact with the tarmac she ground to a halt and required extensive help exiting the car.

Seven laps more were spent behind the safety car, after which Evans quickly grabbed the lead back from Abt and put the hammer down at the head of the field.

The race was soon neutralised again though, as Fabiano Machado's (Marussia Manor) car became airborne at turn one after hitting a bump in the grass. Though he made no contact with any of his rivals the impact with the ground was significant, leaving the Brazilian in need of medical attention.

That was the end of the race as a contest, with the safety car remaining out until the chequered flag. Evans took the win from, Abt and Daly, who secured a third successive podium finish. Pal Kiss, Laine, Vainio, Tio Ellinas (Marussia Manor) and Venturini completed the points scorers.

Evans now leads the standings from Vainio, the Kiwi enjoying an 18 point advantage over the Lotus ART driver. Abt jumps to third, though with the German 45 points in arrears of Evans the title chase is looking increasingly like a two-way fight.

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James Weeks