MOTOR RACING: Alice Powell shines in Monaco GP3 (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Pace and potential from racing driver Alice

9:10am Wednesday 30th May 2012 in Sport

ALICE POWELL finished in a fantastic 11th place in Monaco at the weekend when she tackled the GP3 series, one of the supporting races on the F1 Grand Prix programme.

It was the first ever visit to Monaco for Alice and her Status GP team.

Alice qualified in 12th place on the grid, a superb result for the ex-Cotswold School student, who is the least experienced driver in the series, in terms of seat time in the GP3 car.

For Race One, Alice got a good start and managed to avoid the stalled car of Barcelona race winner, Conor Daly.

From then on, she pulled out a sizeable gap of more than two seconds from the group of cars behind her and put fellow Brit, Alex Brundle, under pressure for tenth place. Powell eventually crossed the line in 11th place, setting the tenth fastest time.

Race Two saw Alice get another good start from P11. However, she endured a shunt at the first corner, damaged her front wing and badly damaged her steering, which meant she had to pit to sort out the damage.

When she exited the pit lane, she was at the back of the grid in P24. The race was red-flagged and brought to a halt on lap 13, due to a big accident with Alice in 22nd place.

She said: “This weekend was an incredible experience for me. To race around the streets of Monaco is nearly every race driver’s dream.

“Qualifying was pleasing, as was Race One, as we showed our pace and potential. Race Two was a terrible shame, but that is classic Monaco for you, the first corner is very tight. The Status team have done another fantastic job this weekend, and yet again I exceeded my expectations. I am still learning the car and cannot wait for the next race in Valencia (June 24).”