Newgarden finishes the season in the points

12 September 2010

Carlin's Josef Newgarden took a fifth place finish this morning in race two in Monza to finish the 2010 GP3 Series with another points paying finish. The young American made a good start from the front row but was boxed out at the first corner and dropped to fifth. Team mate Dean Smith endured a difficult battle through the field to 16th having started 29th, and despite not taking any points this weekend finishes the season seventh in the drivers' standings. Lucas Foresti was unable to finish the race after beaching his car on the kerbs at the first chicane. Newgarden's four points from this weekend's races in Monza put Carlin fifth out of ten in the teams' standings.

Having finished seventh yesterday, Newgarden lined up second this morning for the reverse-grid race. Newgarden's second place effectively became pole when pole sitter Melker stalled on the grid and the start was aborted. Once the field had completed a second green flag lap, Newgarden headed the grid ready for start two as Melker was sent to the back of the grid.

Formula Ford graduate Newgarden made a good start off the line but soon had the experienced racers of Mirko Bortolotti and Robert Wickens to deal with. At the first corner the trio were three abreast with Newgarden sandwiched in the middle. At the exit of the corner Newgarden was squeezed out of contention and dropped to fourth as Roberto Merhi found a way past as well.

Having survived a crowded first lap of Monza, Newgarden was sixth as newly crowned champion Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Muller found a way past. Newgarden moved back up to fifth half way through the race however, as Gutierrez spun in front of him at Parabolica, narrowly missing the Carlin driver.

While Newgarden was having an eventful race among the front runners, team mate Lucas Foresti had a disappointing end to the season, as he spun at the chicane and found himself beached on the kerbs. Unable to rejoin the race, the young Brazilian was forced to retire early.

Dean Smith meanwhile was fighting his way back through the field, having started on the back row of the grid following an accident on the start-line yesterday. The McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner gradually made his way through the order and was 18th at the half way point. With just three laps to go, the British racer had moved up to 16th, but was caught in the middle of a chain of cars in the mid-field.

In a relatively uneventful second half of the race, Newgarden held on to fifth to take two precious points to add to his tally, 4.4 seconds behind race winner Robert Wickens. Smith meanwhile struggled to make up any further places and crossed the line 16th.

Reflecting on the team's last race of the season, Trevor Carlin said, "This season has been extremely competitive and this race was a perfect example of that. Josef did a very good job to deal with the pressure of a front row start and unfortunately lost out at the first corner. I think with a few more races under his belt he could have been a regular contender for the podium. It wasn't quite the end to the season we hoped for, but we have built up a good base for an assault on the championship next year."