Marvin Kirchhofer took his maiden GP3 victory on home soil at Hockenheim

Marvin Kirchhofer took his maiden GP3 victory after holding off Alex Lynn and Emil Bernstorff at Hockenheim.

Temperatures rocketed for GP3 Race One of at Hockenheim with the 27 drivers contending with challenging conditions with the immense heat. Kirchhofer embraced the pressure as pole-sitter and made a strong start to maintain the lead. Lynn followed the German ace, with Bernstorff stealing a place off Nick Yelloly early on in lap one.

Championship contender Jimmy Eriksson who had a five-place grid penalty found himself in the middle of the pack and made light contact with Matheo Tuscher – both were able to continue as they hustled their machines round on a hectic first few laps.

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Kirchhofer held a small margin of 1.2s over Lynn at the beginning of proceedings, but the Red Bull Junior driver began to reel him in and cut down the gap to under a second, with the top three glued together.

Dean Stoneman found himself going forward, the Brit making an excellent start up to P6 and he was embroiled in a titanic tussle with Tuscher. The two diced wheel to wheel but it was Stoneman who made the move stick and held the position.

Bernstorff ran wide at the midway point of the race, losing a small amount of time to Lynn and nearer the clutches of Yelloly in fourth. Tuscher began to struggle with his tyres and Eriksson and Richie Stanaway took advantage of the Swiss rookie to move up the order. The battle was on for eighth and the elusive reverse pole for Race Two and Riccardo Agostini put the pressure on Stanaway. The pair made contact but both were able to continue with the Italian sneaking past the Kiwi.

Kirchhofer held a commanding lead at the front and edged out the gap to over three seconds. On the final lap Stoneman grabbed fifth after overtaking Dino Zamparelli.

After a calm and controlled race, Kirchhofer crossed the line to record his first win in his rookie GP3 season, ahead of Red Bull Junior driver Lynn who pocketed further vital points in his quest for the championship.

Bernstorff posted another rostrum finish ahead of Yelloly, Stoneman, Zamparelli, Eriksson, Jann Mardenborough, Agostini and Robert Visoiu.

GP3 Race One – Germany
1) Marvin Kirchhofer (GER) – ART Grand Prix – 27:47.577
2) Alex Lynn (GBR) – Carlin - +3.359
3) Emil Bernstorff – Carlin - +4.459
4) Nick Yelloly (GBR) – Status GP - +9.770
5) Dean Stoneman (GBR) – Marussia Manor Racing - +12.928
6) Dino Zamparaelli (GBR) – Marussia Manor Racing - +14.922
7) Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) – Koiranen GP - +16.792
8) Jann Mardenborough (GBR) – Arden International - +17.173
9) Ricciardo Agostini (ITA) – Hilmer Motorsport - +18.231
10) Robert Visoiu (ROU) – Arden International - +18.752

Selected others
20) Ryan Cullen (GBR) – Marussia Manor Racing - +37.635

Drivers’ Championship
1) Alex Lynn – 104
2) Jimmy Eriksson – 84
3) Marvin Kirchhofer – 80
4) Emil Bernstorff – 73
5) Ricihe Stanaway - 68