Raffaele Marciello scored a double pole for the sixth round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship at the Norisring today.
The Italian pipped title rival Felix Rosenqvist to pole for race three, while heading Alex Lynn at the front for the weekend’s second event.
The opening race will be a case of reversed positions as Rosenqvist will lead Marciello away from the line.
Indeed the first qualifying session was one of the closest the category had seen for many a year. A bus session on a slippery surface saw times tumble quickly, with the field eventually settling into the ‘49-second’ lap mark.
Fortec’s Felix Serralles was the first to break into the 48s – indeed his best in the final ten minutes was a 48.999s lap, followed moments later by Marciello registering a time of 48.998s.
Before the Prema Powerteam squad could celebrate, Rosenqvist dropped a lap at 48.997, ensuring the top three were covered by a mere two-thousandths of a second. This feat was made more incredible when Alex Lynn’s late dash best – a 49.004s tour – saw him a mere 0.007s shy of pole, but still only good enough for 4th.
Alex Sims collected 5th in his first F3 round since Nurburgring last year. The Briton headed Lucas Auer, Tom Blomqvist, Harry Tincknell and series débutante and Toyota Racing Series champion Nick Cassidy. The top twenty were covered by less than half-a-second.
Marciello secured the pole for the second race with a next best time of 49.016s, pushing the Italian some 0.074s clear of Lynn, with Rosenqvist dropping to 3rd. Sims made it to the second row, jumping Serralles, while Tincknell rounded out the top six.
The Prema Powerteam racer set the bar far higher in the final qualifying session. Marciello’s best of 48.567s in the final ten minutes. Only Rosenqvist could get within two-tenths, while Lynn was a further three-hundredths adrift.
Tom Blomqvist performed admirably to get his EuroInternational machine to 4th, beating Auer, Sims and Tincknell. The session was briefly red flagged when Lucas Wolf glanced the wall on the back straight as he exited the chicane – the German racer would end the session 14th overall.
FIA European F3 championship (Rd 6, Grid race 1 Pos Driver Team/car Time Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 48.997s 2. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 48.998s +0.001 3. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 48.999s +0.002 4. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 49.004s +0.007 5. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 49.027s +0.030 6. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 49.095s +0.098 7. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 49.200s +0.203 8. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 49.251s +0.254 9. Nick Cassidy EuroInternational Dallara-Merc 49.296s +0.299 10. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 49.310s +0.313 11. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.349s +0.352 12. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 49.355s +0.358 13. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.365s +0.368 14. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 49.369s +0.372 15. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 49.404s +0.407 16. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 49.415s +0.418 17. Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW 49.421s +0.424 18. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 49.430s +0.433 19. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 49.455s +0.458 20. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.464s +0.467 21. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 49.522s +0.525 22. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 49.574s +0.577 23. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 49.678s +0.681 24. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 49.726s +0.729 25. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 49.828s +0.831 26. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 50.081s +1.084 27. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 50.244s +1.247 28. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 50.356s +1.359 FIA European F3 championship (Rd 6, Grid race 2 Pos Driver Team/car Time Gap 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 49.016s 2. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 49.090s +0.074s 3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.149s +0.059s 4. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 49.158s +0.009s 5. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 49.175s +0.017s 6. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 49.254s +0.079s 7. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 49.259s +0.005s 8. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 49.269s +0.010s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 49.311s +0.042s 10. Nick Cassidy EuroInternational Dallara-Merc 49.403s +0.092s 11. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 49.422s +0.019s 12. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.439s +0.017s 13. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.444s +0.005s 14. Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW 49.446s +0.002s 15. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 49.463s +0.017s 16. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 49.467s +0.004s 17. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 49.471s +0.004s 18. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 49.520s +0.049s 19. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 49.524s +0.004s 20. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 49.526s +0.002s 21. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.585s +0.059s 22. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 49.618s +0.033s 23. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 49.724s +0.106s 24. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 49.748s +0.024s 25. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 49.957s +0.209s 26. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 50.121s +0.164s 27. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 50.338s +0.217s 28. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 50.429s +0.091s FIA European F3 championship (Rd 6, Grid race 3 Pos Driver Team/car Time Gap 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 48.567s 2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 48.761s +0.194s 3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 48.797s +0.230s 4. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 48.860s +0.293s 5. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 48.891s +0.324s 6. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 48.931s +0.364s 7. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 48.973s +0.406s 8. Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW 48.994s +0.427s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 49.016s +0.449s 10. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 49.018s +0.451s 11. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 49.019s +0.452s 12. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.154s +0.587s 13. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.169s +0.602s 14. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 49.181s +0.614s 15. Nick Cassidy EuroInternational Dallara-Merc 49.182s +0.615s 16. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 49.235s +0.668s 17. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 49.261s +0.694s 18. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 49.277s +0.710s 19. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 49.280s +0.713s 20. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 49.301s +0.734s 21. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 49.336s +0.769s 22. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 49.389s +0.822s 23. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 49.397s +0.830s 24. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 49.494s +0.927s 25. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 49.505s +0.938s 26. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 49.513s +0.946s 27. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 49.764s +1.197s 28. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 50.006s +1.439s
