GP3: Leclerc takes lights-to-flag win at Spa

Charles Leclerc extended his GP3 lead with a lights-to-flag Spa victory, as Jake Dennis surged from 13th to second but title contender Alexander Albon could only reach ninth.

A messy tangle on the exit of La Source on the opening lap shaped the race, as slow-starting front row man Jake Hughes came together with Arjun Maini and Matt Parry as they tried to go around him.

The rest of the pack split in avoidance, with Arden driver Dennis one of those who gained most as he chose the correct side of the chaos and instantly went from 13th to fourth behind the ART cars of Leclerc and Nyck de Vries and Trident's Antonio Fuoco.

Following a lengthy safety car period to clear the damaged machines from the hill down to Eau Rouge, Leclerc controlled the race throughout, easing away from de Vries after some early pressure.

The ART drivers had been concerned about high tire wear in the hot temperatures and de Vries' pace faded in the closing stages. But Dennis still had performance to spare in the final laps and was able to rapidly overtake Fuoco then de Vries before cutting Leclerc's lead from five seconds to 2.3s at the flag.

De Vries retained third from Fuoco, who came under late pressure from Dennis's flying Arden team-mate Jack Aitken.

Aitken had not fared so well as the first-corner tangle unfolded and had to hack through a busy midfield to reach the top five.

Steijn Schothorst and Santino Ferrucci were in the thick of those battles as they came home sixth and seventh.

Albon struggled to get off the line and came out the other side of the first-lap crash in 15th. He followed Aitken through the pack but could not make up as much ground late on and had to settle for a few points in ninth behind Matevos Isaakyan.

Giuliano Alesi jumped from 19th to eighth on the opening lap and then held on to score his first GP3 point in 10th.

Originally on Autosport.com