Coming off an impressive 2nd place in Monza, Filipino driver, Marlon Stockinger headed to Motorland in Spain with high hopes. Unfortunately, the strong winds and long straights did not suit the Lotus and 7th was the best they could extract in qualifying.
But a sensational start saw Stockinger grab two places in the opening lap bumping him up to 5th. From there we saw a mature and patient Stockinger stalk Zoel Amberg and Oliver Rowland who were fighting over third.
As Rowland eventually found his way past Amberg, Stockinger took advantage of the battle and pounced, snatching 4th from the Swiss driver in the same corner. From there it was a flawless drive that saw him finish right on the rear wing of Rowland, just 2 tenths away from the podium in a car that the team felt was only good enough for 7th place.
Carlos Sainz. jr. Made history as the first Spanish driver to win in Motorland in front of a home crowd, while Marlon’s performance saw him move into third in the overall drivers championship. It was an extremely impressive performance, but one that probably used up all his luck for the weekend.
It ran out in race 2, starting on his qualifying lap. Two sets of yellow flags on his fast lap relegated the Globe powered driver to a disappointing 16th place on the starting grid for the feature race.
He knew it was going to be a long afternoon stuck behind the mid pack, so his team kept him out for as long as possible before pulling him in for some fresh rubber on lap 12.
It was a strategy that would have paid off handsomely as Marlon could jump the pack in clean air and rejoin in a predicted 6th or 7th position. But a delay in the pits cost the Lotus Junior F1 driver almost 2 seconds, or more importantly, the exact gap he needed to jump the pack.
Sure enough, instead of coming out ahead, he rejoined right in the thick of the of it.
It was always going to be a problem fighting on cold tires, but Marlon defended valiantly and held on to 7th, going wheel to wheel with Will Buller in the top rated Arden car. He managed to hold him off for a couple of corners, but without enough heat in the tires, eventually, as they went side by side, Buller on the outside, Marlon understeered into the Arden driver, forcing both to retire.
The race was eventually won by Oliver Rowland. There was a last lap, last corner scrap for 2nd that saw Will Stevens lose his position to Pierre Gasly with just a handful of meters to go before the flag, while Carlos Sainz, jr. narrowly missed out on his podium after a frightening lock up that narrowly avoided a major accident coming down the 1.7km back straight.
The World Series by Renault moves to Monaco, which is where Marlon took his first GP3 win, and will be a support race for F1 this May 24.
