MP’s Dorian Boccolacci has won his first GP3 feature race at his home track at Circuit Paul Ricard to claim the Dutch outfit’s first series victory.
Boccolacci controlled the race to lead all 20 laps despite stalling on the formation lap.
The Frenchman managed to accelerate on the lap with seconds to spare, not falling to the back and having to surrender pole, which saw early overtaking manoeuvres to return to the front before the contest got underway.
Once there, he moved into around a two-second lead which was enough of a buffer to deny a late charge from compatriot and Renault-affiliated Anthoine Hubert, who ended just 0.6s adrift.
As a result of this attempt and claiming the fastest lap, Hubert’s championship lead remains at seven points with Boccolacci moving into second place in the drivers’ standings.
Force India F1 tester Nikita Mazepin made an early pass on Giuliano Alesi to claim third, with the Ferrari academy driver fourth.
Niko Kari succeeded in a fierce battle with Leonardo Pulcini to claim fifth, while Alessio Lorandi was seventh.
Pedro Piquet, son of F1 champion Nelson Sr, remained eighth as a large battle took place in the second half of the event for ninth.
Joey Mawson held on for his first points in the category with much defensive driving as the final 14 laps took place with DRS disabled, leaving six drivers within 1.5s at the chequered flag.
The Australian continually resisted Ferrari academy racer Callum Ilott who dropped three positions at the first lap and tried many moves at the left-right Mistral chicane and long right-handed Turn 11.
Juan Manuel Correa took 11th, but finished the race under investigation by the stewards after a collision with Jenzer team-mate and Sauber F1 test driver Tatiana Calderon.
The two collided at the Mistral chicane as Correa attempted to pass on the outside of the turn and made contact with the left-side of her Dallara car.
Calderon ended the race in 19th, only ahead of team-mate David Beckmann who needed a front wing change folwoing a battle with Gabriel Aubry.
Correa again battled hard on the final lap, appearing to make slight contact with the right-hand side of Jake Hughes’s ART-Dallara machine at the last right-handed Turn 15.
Hughes went off-road on the left-sided run-off and surrendered 11th but held on from Ryan Tveter by just a tenth.
Tveter was also just a tenth ahead of his nearest rival, Renault-backed Christian Lundgaard, who fell from 11th on the grid to 14th in his racing debut in the series after replacing Will Palmer at MP.
