The track was fully wet for the race and the victory has been decided at the start.

James Calado grabbed the pole position in front of his teammate Valtteri Bottas in a session with changing conditions.

The track was wet at the beginning of the session and quite dry at the end. Both Lotus ART drivers get the best of their slick tyres to finish the session on front.

For his first GP3 meeting, Richie Stanaway did a strong session but couldn’t used his slick tyres at best and finally ended 18th.

James Calado had the 3^rd place when the chequered flag appeared.

Richie Stanaway, who discover the GP3 Series this week-end, ended 21^st.

The qualifying session will take place tomorrow morning.

Richie Stanaway was crowned 2010 ADAC Formula Masters Champion, and has won 9 of 12 races so far in the 2011 German Formula 3 championship. At age 19, the New Zealander convinced Lotus ART that he had the sporting and mental abilities needed to reinforce the duo of Valtteri and James, who have three wins between them, and are first and fifth in the overall ranking respectively.

Lotus ART's Team Manager Frederic Vasseur declared, "I am truly very pleased to welcome Richie to our trio of drivers competing in the GP3 Series. He made an excellent human and sporting impression on the entire Lotus ART team from our very first meeting. Making the leap from German F3 to the GP3 Series mid-season for in his third year of competition in motorsport is a big challenge, and Lotus ART will be with him every step of the way, to make sure this partnership bears fruit."

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to join Lotus ART for the remaining GP3 races of this season. I'm sure that it will be a great new environment for me to learn and test myself against the other drivers to see how my performance compares," Richie said, "I'm very thankful to Lotus ART and Gravity for giving me this opportunity and I'm looking forward to the first race this weekend in Spa."

James Calado might have shared the same fate as his teammate if he hadn't been victim to a rival's exuberance during the start of the first race. Forced to dismount after being hit by a competitor, although he had taken a good start from the front row beside his teammate, James kept a cool head and a heavy foot, to make a fast and sure comeback from 25th position to 3rd in Sunday's race.

Qualifying on the outside of the 5th row in the first race, Pedro Henrique Nunes took the chequered flag in both Hungarian races, finishing in 18th and 14th place.

In the championship, Valtteri moved up five places and Lotus ART moved up one. The Finnish driver and the team are leading their respective championships. James is in 4th, ten points behind Valtteri.



Valtteri Bottas:

"The first practice was a bit difficult for several reasons, but it was important to keep our heads down and the second practice as well as qualifying proved us right. I owe my first GP3 pole position to the team because we worked hard from the very first day we received our car last winter. The learning curve was genuinely crucial and it is paying back now. We have a better understanding of the car and its set-up, and of the way the tyres work. I knew the turning point of the first race was to have a good start because it is difficult to overtake on the Hungaroring. Mine was decent and I could push in the early stage of the race to open a gap. The car Lotus ART prepared for their drivers was just awesome and I was 100% comfortable, I could push without destroying the tyres. From then on, I made sure to put everything together and I backed off a bit to keep the tyres in good shape. On Sunday, the tag was to score as much points as possible; go from 8^th to 2^nd place was hard work and I enjoyed it very much. I think the win was a realistic target but it was not worth the risk at this stage of the championship and I wanted to capitalise on our good form after so many ups and downs at the beginning of the season. Now we have to stay focus and take the races one at a time. Being the leader of the championship is a great source of motivation. Pressure? Yes, only the good kind!"

James Calado:

"First of all, a big thank you to the team because what could have been a nightmare due to bad luck turned out to be a decent weekend thanks to Lotus ART and the collective effort without which we would never a podium after being hit by a rival at the start of the first race. We had our share of difficult times throughout the start of the season and the all Lotus ART front row was a fantastic result for the team, and for Valtteri and I. For the first time this season I feel in total control of the car and I was adamant to show that in race. Unfortunately it lasted a few meters… The next day, I basically had nothing to lose and I enjoyed myself a lot. I made a very good start on a damp track but could not see much coming into the first corner! I took a few risks and went for different lines. I could not believe I overtook 14 cars by the end of the first lap! As it turned out, the more aggressive you were, the more the tyres kept in the right temperature window and I was able to get past two or three drivers in the last few laps, and even in the last corner to take this third podium of the season. It is a bit frustrating because of the first race because I feel I did nothing wrong, but all the same I'm tied for fourth, just 3 points shy of 2nd and 10 points behind Valtteri. Everything is yet to be played."

Pedro Nunes:

"I did my best qualifying of the season and was really happy and optimistic to start from the top 10 in the first race. Unfortunately, track conditions were really tough and changing, especially on Sunday. For whatever reason, I could not make the best use of my top 10 in the first race and I ended up 18th which was where I started on Sunday. I gained 4 positions despite extremely difficult conditions but it was not enough to aim for a points finish."

Frederic Vasseur:

"Valtteri has secured as many points as Esteban Gutierrez (GP3 2010 Champion) did it in a single GP3 Series weekend, and that was at Silverstone last year. Valtteri was fast and solid behind the wheel under sometimes hellish conditions, and showed great maturity by attacking when necessary, and by saving his package when he had to as well. A special mention goes out to James who, if he hadn't been hit by a competitor in the start of the first race, could have obtained a raw result similar to Valtteri's. His second race is without a doubt a high point in the championship. Lotus ART can be proud of having provided its drivers with the best conditions for obtaining the results they deserve and which enable the entire team to take a bit of rest before the champion resumes next month in Belgium."

The team leaves Hungary leading both championships.

Next meeting will be in Spa at the end of August.

Pedro Nunes had his best qualifying performance of the season so far with the 10th place.

Race 1 will start at 17h20.

His teammates have been less lucky as James Calado had to retire following an accident with Mitch Evans who started behind him.

Pedro Nunes has been pushed at the first corner and slide down the classification to finally end 19^th.

Rcae 2 will start tomorrow at 8h30.

Lights are set to green before the qualifying session which will take place tomorrow morning at 8h50.

James and Valtteri both had a very good start from the 9th and 11th positions on the starting grid of the first race and quickly moved up to the leading pack. At the end of the race, they took advantage of a downpour to showcase their talent and finish the race in tight formation, in 3rd and 4th place. The next day, Valtteri raced a blistering first lap which thrust him into first place. The Finnish driver carved out a gap of over 4 seconds over his pursuers, then held his lead until the checkered flag. James had the potential to be evenly-matched with Valtteri but was hit by a competitor who was slapped with a drive-through penalty. Falling back to 20th position, James was long the fastest driver in the race and moved back up to 6th place.

Pedro Henrique Nunes continues making progress, but an error in qualifying forced him to start from 17th position on the starting grid of the first race. He crossed the finish line in 19th place and abandoned Sunday's race after a collision with a rival.

Lotus ART moves up from 5th place to 2nd in the teams' championship, 5 points out from the leader. James and Valtteri are 5th and 6th in the drivers' championship respectively, and 7 and 10 points out of first.

Pedro Nunes

"The raw result does not give justice to the improvement we made, especially in qualifying which is still our weak point. Without a mistake in the second sector I would have been in the top 12 of the starting grid and that's encouraging. The races were tough because of the conditions with rain and the traffic to deal with. My race pace was OK but, I could not put everything together in order to secure a decent result. I'm now looking forward to the Hungarian races to show how good is the progress we made."

Valtteri Bottas

"We can be genuinely happy with the results we got in Germany. We struggled a bit up to the Nurburgring and a win plus a podium, 12 points total, is a nice and well-deserved reward after all the hard work the team did both on track and at the factory. I was a bit disappointed with qualifying but we recovered pretty well in the first race and that was the springboard to a great weekend. I had a good start from P11 and made my way to fourth in the first few laps. I picked up some speed when it rained, I had a great feeling and the car was really fast, so a big thanks goes out to the team. I even fought for the win at one point, but after having taken some risks at the beginning I think it was better to settle for third when the rain was harder as it would have been easy to lose it all in the blink of an eye. I had a great start and first lap on Sunday. I saw the opportunity to gain a lot of positions and I just went for it. I could not believe I was P1 in the back straight already! From then on I tried to keep everything under control and to manage my tyres. I'm back in the fight for the championship and we now have to make sure we secure big points at each race until the very last race in Monza. We continue to work hard to improve our performances on dry conditions. I take one race at a time; we'll do the maths in Italy!"

James Calado

"It's the typical frustrating weekend really as we had the potential to climb on the podium of both races... at least! On the positive side, Lotus ART gave me a strong car in both races and I think I proved myself in difficult conditions. Our position on the starting grid was the low point but we had a good start; we fought hard to come close to the podium. I overtook Quaife-Hobbs in the last lap and missed the podium by a few tenths. I had another good start on Sunday but Vainio hit me from behind in the first lap and I resumed my race 20th or something, some 30 seconds down. I had nothing to lose anymore and I took all the risks to come back with the front runners. The car was flying thanks to the perfect set-up the team gave me and I enjoyed myself a lot. I was 7th on the finish line thanks to some pretty good manoeuvres and I got a little help to enter into the points in the form of a penalty another driver was handed. 6 points is a good result considering how the races developed. I'm 7 points shy of the leader of the championship and everything is still in play."

Frederic Vasseur:

"Qualifying was disappointing but it's in the race where you secure the most points and Lotus ART stepped up when it counted. Valtteri brought home a well-deserved win and podium which put him back in contention for the title. He managed both races with intelligence and control. James could have done at lest as well if he had not been bumped by a competitor in the first lap of the second race. He was the fastest driver on Sunday and made a memorable comeback, keeping a cool head and a heavy foot, without making the slightest mistake. Pedro had the team's best partial times in the first and third sectors, and if it weren't for a slowdown in the second race he could have started in the top 10, and from there looked to secure his first points. We'll take a raincheck. The weekend was all-in-all very positive for Lotus ART. We will have to take advantage of this dynamic to drive the nail home in Hungary."

James Calado has added 1 point to Lotus ART total for today but the young british driver could have had much more if another driver wouldn't have pushed him at the chicane.

Pedro Nunes had to retire.

Pedro Nunes crossed the line in 17^th position.

Dark clouds are there, if the rain comes, the race will be full of action.

The team worked hard between both session and it allows James Calado to do the 4th time, in front of Valtteri Bottas who ended 5th. Pedro Nunes finished 21st.

A last-minute shower threw a spanner into race strategies, as drivers were lining up into the starting grid for the first race. James Calado and Valtteri Bottas had on slick tyres and returned to the pits at the end of the formation lap to put on rain tyres. They moved back up in the classification but a pit crew error during Valtteri's pit stop earned him a stop and go penalty that sealed his fate. Pedro Nunes had a great race start on rain tyres and was in 6th position when a technical problem forced him to dismount.

James held long onto 3rd position in the second race but his deteriorating tyres at the end of the race deprived the young British driver from a well-deserved podium in front of his fans. Starting from the second half of the grid, Valtteri and Pedro could not hope to score points and they took advantage of the race to improve their knowledge of the car and the championship.

Lotus ART is 5th in the championship by teams, 12 points out from the leader.

Valterri Bottas could only cross the line in 17^th position after receiving a penalty for an incident in the pit lane.

Pedro Nunes has been forced to retire after 3 laps.

Race 2 will take place tomorrow at 8h20, local time.

Valtteri Bottas will be down to row 4 as he did the 7^th fastest lap time.

Pedro Nunes will start 26^th.

A lot of datas has been gathered and the team is confident to have a fast car for tomorrow's qualifying that will take place at 8h45.

The team secured its first win of the season on the Valencia street circuit thanks to James Calado, and added to its Sunday success with a 3rd place finish by Valtteri Bottas. On Saturday, Valtteri and James converted their 9th and 8th respective positions on the starting grid in the first race with promising 8th and 9th place finishes, giving Lotus ART 3 points, as well as securing the entire front row of the starting grid for the second race.

Pedro Henrique Nunes abandoned in the first race following a collision with a competitor that the race stewards ruled his fault. Starting in 30th position in the second race, he made a solid comeback, finishing in 15th place.

Lotus ART returns from Valencia with its best score of the season so far. The team moves up to 4th place in the overall ranking, 9 points from the leaders. James and Valtteri are 5th and 6th in the drivers' championship respectively, and 10 and 14 points out of first.

James Calado:

"After a learning phase in Turkey, I knew from our work in Barcelona that we had the potential to aim for a win, despite my inexperience in the championship, which I make up for with Lotus ART's skills and experience. I am very happy to be able to pay the team back with this first win, which I am proud of because it came on a tough circuit, and thanks to a team effort. The car was not at its best in the first race, but in the second one the grip and feeling were much better, which allowed me to push harder than ever in the first few laps and to establish a definitive gap. My objective is to continue on this path and to bring home a win in the first race. To do that, I will have to properly negotiate qualifying, where still we have some progress to make."

Valtteri Bottas:

"The free practice gave us hope of fighting for a pole position. My 9^th place, in qualifying, shows us we still have to improve our new tires performances. On Saturday, the main thing was to get in the points in order to get a good position on the starting grid on Sunday. The only positive side of my 7^th place in the race 1 was because it handed me in front row start for the next day. I had a good start on Sunday but I lost one place, and after that it was difficult to get back into contact with Sims to make an attack and try to overtake. Despite everything, 3rd place is very positive. It's my first podium this year and it enables us to reposition ourselves in the championship, which will be long and where everything is still on the line."

Pedro Henrique Nunes:

"I think that we made good progress, as was shown by the free practice as well as the second race where I moved up 15 places. I am reaching maturity in this championship and now I need to manage a perfect weekend to turn my and my team's potential into good results."

Frederic Vasseur:

"The slightest hitch and the slightest technical imperfection will compromise your place in the pecking order of this championship, where tires play a dominating role and where the field is very competitive. That's why we went downhill between the free practice and qualifying. I am proud that Lotus ART was able to raise the bar come race time. This first win is important because it demonstrates that we are heading in the right direction, both collectively and individually. It calls for some more!"

Nunes has been less lucky as he had to retire following an accident with another driver.

Race 1 will start at 17:20.

Jules Bianchi had a contact with another driver right after the start of the race and had to retire. He will start from the back of the grid tomorrow.

The three Lotus ART drivers worked on the set-up of the car and its balance with the soft tyres for the upcoming races.

The whole program has been done even if the rain came in day 2.

Valtteri Bottas:

"The free tests went really well. During qualifying, the tyres were not really competitive except for one lap and during my best lap I inadvertently pressed the engine kill switch. I lost fourth tenths of a second; otherwise I could have been on the second line (row) of the starting grid. Barcelona would have been totally different... Lotus ART has given me an excellent car and I had the best lap time in the race in the first leg, but overtaking is very difficult on this circuit even if you are faster than the cars in front of you. On Sunday, the driver in front of me on the starting grid stalled and I had to react in a fraction of a second to avoid catastrophe. We are leaving Barcelona with one point and that was clearly not our ambition. But I am not worried because the potential is there, the team is working well and we simply need to succeed at putting everything in place so that this potential translates into fighting for the championship."

Pedro Nunes:

"We got off to a good start with the 5th best time in the second free test session, but in qualifying we had a hard time getting the right balance between tyres and setup. Unfortunately the result in qualifying compromised the rest of the weekend because starting in 16th I knew that the first race would not enable me to aim for a good result. It is frustrating because if I had gained just two tenths of a second I could have started in the top 8. I stalled in the start of the second race because the lights took forever and I almost burned out my clutch before stalling. Then I tried to move up as many places as possible but my comeback didn't end well because I bumped Trummer and this collision earned me a 10 place penalty on the starting grid for the next race. I know that the car and I are much better than that and I hope we will prove it in Valencia."

James Calado:

"I got to grips with the car and the track quite easily thanks to the good work of the team. I got into 2nd by the first turn of the first race and even though I was under pressure from the boys behind me I saved my tyres and I caught up with the leaders in the end. The podium was a great result for the team and for me. Unfortunately, I stalled at the start of the second race. The red lights were on a bit too long and the clutch overheated. It is ironic that I did a jump start while stalling! I had a drive through penalty and that was a sad conclusion of a difficult second race. Having said that, all in all the weekend was positive and we did take a step forward as a team which gives me confidence for the next races."

Frederic Vasseur:

"Lotus ART secured its first podium of the season and this is the positive side of this weekend which otherwise does not reflect our performance level. James was very competitive and Valtteri was short of success in qualifying, which compromised both races for him. The team is working well and I think that with a bit more application and concentration on everyone's part we should be able to solidify our potential in the upcoming races."