Australian Joey Mawson was the big mover in the final race of the 2018 GP3 Series in Abu Dhabi.

The PODIUM-backed driver had a difficult start to the weekend that saw him start from the back of the 20-car grid for the opening race. His opening race was then hampered by having to pit for repairs following contact with another competitor.

Determined to finish the year on a high, Mawson steered clear of a couple of incidents on the opening few laps of the final race of the weekend to move up the order.

When the race resumed after a Virtual Safety Car period, Mawson showed strong speed to manoeuvre his way inside the top ten before crossing the line in ninth place.

“Without a doubt, it has been a difficult weekend but to finish it off with a top ten result was very pleasing,” said Mawson.

“I managed to steer clear of the carnage in the opening few laps and then edged my way up the order to be comfortably running inside the top ten for the second half of the race.

“Considering the way the weekend started, it was fantastic to be able to finish inside the top ten and round out the year on a positive note.”

While a podium result didn’t come his way, Mawson enjoyed the opportunity to have many of the investors from the PODIUM group trackside showing their support.

“The facilities here in Abu Dhabi are amazing and the vibe around the place was incredible,” said Mawson.

“It was fantastic to have a lot of the investors in PODIUM here watching this weekend.  I would have loved to have been able to share a podium result with them but it wasn’t my weekend.

“The work towards next year now continues behind the scenes, training hard and working to see where I’ll be competing.”

Mawson will return to his English base tomorrow before heading back to Australia for Christmas in late December.