Motorsport: Evans above, what a win

Mark Webber signed up Kiwi teen Mitch Evans. Photo / Supplied

Young 16-year-old New Zealand open-wheel racer Mitch Evans proved at the weekend he's got the goods to match it with the best in the GP3 category.

In only his second round in the series, Evans planted his MW Arden car on pole for race one on Saturday and when the lights went out he led from start to finish.

In winning the race, Evans gave his GP3 team its first pole position and win. "It was pretty difficult at the start because I couldn't get off the line right, but we stayed in front of the Tech 1 cars and we managed to out-brake Caldarelli into turn one," said Evans.

"The car felt really good throughout the race, and I was trying to save the tyres, but we had a fair bit of pace up our sleeve."

With such a mature performance in not succumbing to the pressure of the chasing pack, it's easy to see why Red Bull Formula One driver and team principal Mark Webber signed the young Kiwi up.

Race two was a reverse grid top eight affair and, with all the 30-odd drivers within just over a second of each other, it was always going to be hard work for Evans to get to the front of the field.

As the lights went out in Sunday's race, it was chaos almost immediately. A number of drivers jumped the start, stalled or crashed into each other. Evans got a good start and was in the position to make a few passes when the safety car came out as the front straight was blocked because of debris from a start-line crash that saw four cars involved.

On the restart, the field settled down into the order they started and Evans eventually came home in fifth to round off a great weekend for himself and the team.

"It's been a great weekend for both me and the team and we've moved up to third in the championship," said Evans from his hotel room after Sunday's race.

"To get my first win in Europe is brilliant and for the team to be where we are now is amazing. We didn't think we would have so much success so early on in the championship.

"It's going to be one of the most special moments of my career, it's huge. To get points in both races means a lot and it sets us up well for the next race in Valencia."

Round three of the GP3 series is in Valencia, Spain, from June 25-26 as support for the European Formula One Grand Prix.