Kevin Magnussen claimed his third British Formula 3 win of the season at the Nurburgring.
The Dane led from the pole, but his were mirrors filled by Carlin teammate Felipe Nasr for the duration.
Magnussen’s speed through the first sector of the lap allowed him enough of a gap over Nasr to hold the Brazilian off for the rest of the circuit.
The pair tussled hard for the entire fifteen laps, for Magnussen to sweep the flag by only half-a-second.
It also proved to be the Dane’s first Grand Slam of the year, with Magnussen claiming pole position, the race win and fastest lap.
There would be a thirteen second gap to the final podium finisher, Harry Tincknell. It is the fourth top-three finish of the year for the Fortec pilot and his first in a main race event. Tincknell’s finish is even more impressive considering he lined-up 8th on the grid, but a good start mixed with some wheel banging in the opening corner, brought the Exeter native to the front.
Jazeman Jaafar kept Tincknell honest throughout. The Malaysian crossed the finish line just six-tenths shy of the Fortec man to continue his impressive run of points finishes this year.
A further eight-second gap followed to 5th placed man William Buller. The Northern Irishman led a gaggle of cars to the finish, with just 1.6 seconds covering Buller, Antonio Felix da Costa (6th, Hitech), Jack Harvey (7th, Carlin) and Rupert Svendsen-Cook (8th, Carlin).
For da Costa, the weekend has thus proved to be adequate preparation for his GP3 race at the Nurburgring in a few weeks. His jump from 9th on the grid will leave him feeling confident going into the next two races of the weekend, but maybe not as confident as Harvey.
The Briton has struggled at times this year. A solid run from the sixth row to claim his third points paying place will come as a welcome prize.
Svendsen-Cook will no doubt be disappointed – the Carlin pilot started 5th, only to drop 10th in the first corner fallout. A determined drive gave him two more places, although Svendsen-Cook may be counting his losses.
Menasheh Idafar originally crossed the line in 9th place, but an infringement earned the Bahraini pilot a 30-second penalty, dropping him 19th.
Idafar’s loss would the gain of others, including Fortec’s Lucas Foresti. The Brazilian found himself promoted to 9th ahead of Pedro Nunes (10th, Hitech). Initially Foresti was another to lose out early on having started 7th. With Nasr claiming another good result, it leaves Foresti falling back in the Championship battle as the races begin to run out.
Bart Hylkema assumed another Rookie Class win over Kotaro Sakurai, although the Dutch driver will also have been delighted to have beaten Championship Class pilot Yann Cunha to the flag.
Carlos Huertas was the only driver to not finish, having been knocked out in the first corner accident.
For tomorrow’s sprint race, Kevin Magnussen drew the number 8 position, meaning the Dane will start from the outside of the fourth row, as the top eight invert.
Svendsen-Cook will start from pole position.
British Formula 3 Rd of the Nurburgring (Rd 5, Race 1, July 2nd) Pos Driver Team Time / Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 28m 54.673s (15 laps) 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +0.544s 3. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +13.072s 4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +13.622s 5. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +21.916s 6. Antonio Felix da Costa Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +22.234s 7. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +22.379s 8. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +23.578s 9. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +29.747s 10. Pedro Nunes Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +30.230s 11. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +31.368s 12. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Mercedes +34.585s 13. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +38.932s 14. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Mercedes +43.830s 15. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes +47.953s 16. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes +54.104s 17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda +55.633s 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen +56.230s 19. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen +29.013s* 20. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen Honda +1:00.144s R. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +15 laps (*30-second penalty) 2011 British Formula 3 Championship (Rd 5, Race 1) Championship Class 1. Felipe Nasr Carlin 169 2. Lucas Foresti Fortec 111 3. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 104 4. Carlos Huertas Carlin 95 5. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 82 6. William Buller Fortec 71 7. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin 64 8. Harry Tincknell Fortec 58 9. Pietro Fantin Hitech 55 10. Riki Christodoulou Hitech 51 11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport 29 12. Scott Pye Double R 25 Rookie Class 1. Bart Hylkema T-Sport 182 2. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech 134
