Lorandi withstands pressure to win Grand Prix of Pau

Carlin’s Alessio Lorandi claimed a stunning victory in the 2016 Grand Prix of Pau this afternoon, having led from lights to flag.  The 17 year-old Italian held onto the lead despite race long pressure from Lance Stroll, the only respite coming from an early safety car period following a multi car incident, of which Peter Li was a victim.  Ryan Tveter stayed clear of accidents and the barriers, driving a strong race to seventh at the chequered flag.

Starting from pole for this weekend’s main event, Lorandi made a determined start off the line, immediately sweeping across to quell any challenge from second placed starter Stroll.  While the top half of the grid passed through the first few coroners without incident, behind them a multi car accident unfolded, triggered by contact between Nick Cassidy and Sergio Sette Camara.  Li was one of the first drivers to find the track blocked ahead of him, but managed to stop in time without making contact, only to be hit hard from behind and pushed forward into the accident by Nikita Mazepin.

As the marshals worked hard to crane away the stranded cars, the field circulated behind the safety car, with Lorandi still leading and Tveter up to sixth having a made a strong start from his 9th placed grid slot.

As the racing got underway again, Lorandi made the perfect restart to hold off Stroll, and pushing hard, the duo pulled away slightly from the rest of the field.  The pair would remain close for the duration of the race, with third placed George Russell closing in towards the end before dropping back in the last two laps.  Despite the pressure, Lorandi put in a mature drive and without making a mistake, gave Stroll little real chance to attack.

Behind him Tveter was running in a strong sixth place, only losing seventh to Jimmy Eriksson after he locked up on oil going into turn one.  At the front, Lorandi managed to hold off the constant attentions of Stroll to take a fantastic victory and the Carlin team’s second consecutive Pau Grand Prix victory.  Tveter completed a strong outing in seventh place.

Speaking about his race, Lorandi said, “It’s was quite some pressure to qualify on pole for such a prestigious race, in fact I didn’t sleep a lot last night; I put quite a lot of pressure on myself. But when I got in the car today I felt quite calm, as I knew the car and I would be quick.  I didn’t get a mega start but I still managed to shut the door at the start.  The safety car gave me chance to get in a good place and after making a good restart I pulled a little gap.  I just focussed then on keeping my head down and not making mistakes.  I wasn’t trying to do qualifying laps every lap.  It wasn’t easy, I don’t think Stroll was quicker than me, but we were quite evenly matched.  I knew that if I didn’t make a big mistake, he wouldn’t get past me.  It feels great to win today; it feels good to go back to Italy with the victory!”

The FIA F3 team will be back in action next week at Red Bull Ring.