Australian Joey Mawson will make his debut on Russian soil when he contests the penultimate round of the 2018 GP3 Series at the Sochi Autodrom this weekend.

The PODIUM-backed driver believes Sochi not having been on the GP3 Series schedule since 2015, it should prove to be a good leveller.

“Having been based in Europe for several years now, there’s not too many of the circuits that we go to that are new to me, so this weekend is an exciting experience,” said Mawson.

“With the Series not having been to Sochi since 2015 there are only a couple of drivers who have competed there before, and none of them have been in a GP3 car. So that should be a good leveller.”

As for the characteristics of the circuit, Mawson believes it will provide a significant challenge and should produce some exciting racing.

“The layout is a very interesting one. There’s a lot of third gear corners, and another high speed corner before a slow speed section on the final part of a lap,” said Mawson.

“We’re on the soft tyre this weekend, so we hope that the work we’ve done in between rounds will put us in a good position to manage our tyre wear. Our aim is to be inside the top eight in Race One and then take advantage of our position from there.”

Mawson will take to the circuit for the first time aboard his Arden Motorsport Dallara on Friday morning ahead of qualifying in the afternoon. He’ll then contest a pair of races, one each on Saturday and Sunday.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Schedule (Local Time)
Practice – Friday September 28 – 9:30am
Qualifying – Friday September 28 – 5:50pm
Race 1 – Saturday September 29 – 10:15am
Race 2 – Sunday September 30 – 10:05am

Schedule (AEST)
Practice – Friday September 28 – 4:30pm
Qualifying – Saturday September 29 – 12:50am
Race 1 – Saturday September 29 – 5:15pm
Race 2 – Sunday September 30 – 5:05pm