Australian Joey Mawson turned challenges into positives during Round Five of the 2018 GP3 Series at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary on the weekend.

The PODIUM-backed driver showed good speed to qualify ninth fastest before slotting into seventh place during the early laps of Race One.

He then pressured Jake Hughes for a number of laps before making several attempts to overtake for sixth position. Unfortunately, during one of these attempts where Mawson was passing on the outside of turn one, the pair made contact damaging the rear suspension on Mawson’s Arden Motorsport entry. This damage forced Mawson out of the race.

Starting from the rear of the grid for Race Two, and passing opportunities around the 4.381km circuit difficult, Mawson and the Arden Motorsport used the race to gain valuable data to assist them in the second half of the season.

Confirming the progress they have made over the past few races was the fact that Mawson was able to set the fastest lap of the race – more than a tenth of a second faster than the race winner.

The young Australian believes that while the outright results didn’t come his way, he and the team made significant steps forward throughout the weekend.

“Despite the circumstances in the opening race that caused me to DNF, we were able to achieve some positive results throughout the weekend,” said Mawson.

“Qualifying ninth was a positive start, then I had good pace and tyre wear in the opening race. After the DNF we made the most of what we could in the final race by setting the fastest lap of the race and having good consistency with our tyre wear.

“We learnt a lot across the weekend that will help us as we head into the second half of the year and can’t wait to get to Spa next month.”

The weekend’s race victories were split between Nikita Mazepin and Dorian Boccolacci.

The next event on the schedule will be at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on August 25-26.

Australian Joey Mawson will be back in action for Round Five of the 2018 GP3 Series this weekend in Budapest, Hungary.

The PODIUM-backed driver will be competing at the Hungaroring with a focus on adding to his championship points tally during the two races to be contested around the 4.381km circuit.

“After a bit of a break I’m excited to be back in the car this weekend at the Hungaroring. It is a very unique circuit, it’s pretty tight and technical,” said Mawson.

“Since the last round we’ve really been focused on improving our race pace and I’ve got my sights set on being inside the top eight for the opening race.  Then aiming for the podium from there for race two.”

With the drivers in the GP3 Series using the soft compound tyre for this weekend’s event, compared to the medium compound at the corresponding event in 2017, Mawson believes this is something that could provide him with a slight advantage.

“With the softer compound tyre being used this year it is a bit of a reset for everyone and provides less of an advantage to those who were here last year,” said Mawson.

“It means that the times will be faster than last year but at the same time tyre degradation will play an important role, which should provide some exciting racing.”

Mawson will take to the circuit aboard his Arden Motorsport-prepared Dallara for practice on Friday morning.  In a change from previous rounds, qualifying will be contested on Saturday morning (10:45am) ahead of Race One at 6:30pm. Race Two will launch into action at 10:05am on Sunday morning.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Local Time
Practice – Friday July 27 – 9:30am
Qualifying – Saturday July 28 – 10:45am
Race 1 – Saturday July 28 – 6:30pm
Race 2 – Sunday July 29 – 10:05am

AEST
Practice – Friday July 27 – 5:30pm
Qualifying – Saturday July 28 – 6:45pm
Race 1 – Sunday July 29 – 2:30am
Race 2 – Sunday July 29 – 6:05pm

Australian Joey Mawson endured a challenging weekend at Round Four of the 2018 GP Series in England.

For the second round in a row, the PODIUM-backed driver started the weekend off well by setting the fourth fastest time in practice, unfortunately however he wasn’t able to transfer this speed through into qualifying.

After battling with the set-up during qualifying, he would eventually set the 13^th fastest time.

Race One was a positive one for Mawson as he charged his way forward during the opening laps.  Following several safety car interventions, he found his way into eighth spot.

Holding down that position for the majority of the race, Mawson had heavy pressure from Jake Hughes and then Giuliano Alesi, eventually Alesi found a way past him with the use of DRS with a lap to go. Mawson crossed the line ninth and scored some championship points.

In the second race, Mawson again made a strong start to move up into seventh position.  However, at the midway mark in the race his pace deteriorated, and he was unable to hold onto his spot inside the top ten, eventually crossing the line in 13th position.

“It was a tough weekend overall, we showed some pace early on but it wasn’t strong enough in the second half of the race,” said Mawson.

“The first half of both races was very positive as I managed to move forward by positioning myself well and finding some gaps.   However, I just wasn’t able to maintain the pace as the races went on.

“There’s a fair bit of work for us to do in the next three weeks before Hungary, so we’ll be putting in a lot of effort analysing the data and see where we can improve.”
The weekend’s race victories were split between Anthoine Hubert and Pedro Piquet.

After three rounds in consecutive weekends, the Series now takes a short break before returning on July 27-29 in Budapest, Hungary.

Australian Joey Mawson will compete in his third successive weekend of GP3 action when the Series heads to the Silverstone circuit in England this weekend.

Fresh from a podium finish in France two weeks ago, and a sterling drive in Austria last weekend, the PODIUM-backed driver has this weekend got his sights set on more success at one of the world’s most iconic motor racing circuits.

“Silverstone is an amazing circuit. Not only is it an amazing layout but also has some incredible history,” said Mawson.

“I raced there last year in a Formula 3 car and thoroughly enjoyed it, the GP3 car is a couple of seconds faster than an F3 and I can’t wait go get out there.”

With Mawson being based it England for 2019, this weekend’s event is a home race for him and his Arden Motorsport team.

“With it being a home race there will be a lot of people involved in the team from the workshop and other guests who will be in attendance, hopefully we can get a good result for them all,” said Mawson.

“Last week at the Red Bull Ring I had a good practice session but unfortunately in qualifying it didn’t all come together, which is a key point for the weekend.

“The main aim for us this weekend is to be to build on the platform from the past couple of weeks and keep making steps forward while focusing on achieving a pair of race finishes in the points.”

Mawson will take to the circuit for practice on Friday at 8:35am local time before qualifying at 5:05pm. Race one is scheduled for 9:25am on Saturday ahead of Race two on Sunday at 8:05am.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Round 4 – Silverstone

Local Time
Practice – Friday July 6 – 8:35am
Qualifying – Friday July 6 – 5:05pm
Race 1 – Saturday July 7 – 9:25am
Race 2 – Sunday July 8 – 8:05am

Australian Eastern Standard Time
Practice – Friday July 6 – 5:35pm
Qualifying – Saturday July 7 – 2:05am
Race 1 – Saturday July 8 – 6:25pm
Race 2 – Sunday July 8 – 5:05pm

Australian Joey Mawson showed strong speed during Round Three of the 2018 GP3 Series at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on the weekend.

The highlight of the weekend for the PODIUM-backed driver was a hard charging drive in Race Two on Sunday.

After being forced onto the sidelines with a mechanical failure at the start of Race One, Mawson started Sunday’s 18-lap encounter from the rear of the 20-car grid.

Determined to move up the order, Mawson drove a superb race to pass half of the highly competitive field and cross the line in tenth position.

“While the overall result didn’t come our way, I feel as though we made some big steps forward this weekend,” said Mawson.

“I was third fastest in practice, then set the fourth fastest time on my first set of tyres in qualifying before being held up on my flying lap – which dropped me to 13th.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the opportunity to show what we had in Race One but Sunday’s race certainly made up for it. It’s always hard to pass in GP3, so to move up ten places in a race is a very good feeling and keeps everyone very positive towards next weekend.”

The weekend’s race victories were split between Championship leader Callum Ilott and Jake Hughes.

Mawson will be back in action this weekend when the GP3 Series completes it’s ‘triple-header’ alongside the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in England.