Thrilling Win

Photo credit gp3series.com

Marussia Manor Racing GP3 driver Rio Haryanto won his first race of the season in dramatic style this afternoon at the Nürburgring.

Rain was threatening minutes before the start of the race but everyone except the front row starters decided to start the race on slicks. Luckily for Rio the rain stayed away for the first part of the race and he was able to move from 3rd on the grid to 2nd by the end of the first lap.

The race settled down in the dry, with Rio driving at a constant pace from start to finish. A grid penalty for Mitch Evans for changing his tyres after the three minutes start warning left Rio clear in 2nd position.

Finally, the predicted rain started to fall, bunching the top five closely together. Rio initially closed onto the back of Williamson, and as it started to rain even harder he briefly snatched the lead from Valteri Bottas, the leader at the time. The final laps were an thrilling battle between the three drivers, but it was Rio who finally came home to a brilliant win in the most challenging of conditions.

This is the first win of the season for Rio and the second one for Marussia Manor Racing; Adrian Quaife-Hobbs also won the feature race in Valencia.