Not long after being reclassified for the opening two races, Felix Rosenqvist topped off a perfect Sunday morning by taking the final FIA European Formula 3 race of the weekend at Norisring.
The Swede had initially been disqualified from all three races following what was initially declared an irregular fuel sample; however following an appeal a resample was ordered and the original penalty rescinded.
After being forced to miss two podiums yesterday, Rosenqvist was determined to correct that and the Mucke racer did so in commanding style.
Starting on the front row, Rosenqvist drew alongside points leader and polesitter Raffaele Marciello into the opening hairpin, while 3rd place man Alex Lynn pressed the Swede unsuccessfully for 2nd spot.
For several tours, Rosenqvist leaned on Marciello, causing the Italian to slip raggedly from time to time, before the Mucke racer finally forced an error from Marciello into the hairpin on lap 14.
With grip still relatively low compared to most circuit, Marciello took some uncompromising lines around the short track, with the Prema man eventually running wide under pressure and allowing Rosenqvist into the lead.
From there, Rosenqvist drew a healthy lead, pulling out a gap of just under five seconds at the flag, making it four wins from six of the last European Championship rounds. With success taken at the Zandvoort Masters last week, Rosenqvist is certainly on a roll.
Following is error, Marciello had to briefly hold Lynn and Tom Blomqvist at bay, but the Italian had enough in hand to pull slyly away from the rearguard fight.
Lynn, too, built a gap between his Prema machine and Blomqvist’s EuroInternational entry, solidifying his third consecutive podium result, bringing him to 3rd in the points standings, ahead of Lucas Auer.
Meanwhile Blomqvist had more to do thanks to the feisty Alexander Sims and Auer – both of whom pressed the Son of Stig for lap after lap. Sims and Auer swapped positions between themselves on a few occasions, all the while never letting Blomqvist out of their sights.
There were some close call, most notably when Auer clipped the rear of Blomqvist in the first turn on lap 22, allowing Sims trough into 5th only one tour after Sims had also overshot the hairpin.
Sims would make a similar error on lap 29, again letting Auer assume the 5th position; however that would all change on the final lap, when Sims – sensing one last opportunity – unsettled the Austrian through the chicane, opening a door for Sims to take 5th in the final corner. Another superb result from Sims who is taking part in the first of two F3 rounds of the year.
Pipo Derani took 7th after winning a race long battle with Harry Tincknell. The Brazilian made another good start following an indifferent qualifying session, only to be taken for 8th by Tincknell six laps in.
Chasing 7th, Tincknell dived passed Carlin’s Daniil Kvyat in the hairpin 19 laps in; however both ran very wide, opening the door for Derani to steal 7th. Despite pushing the Fortec racer, Tincknell could do no better than 8th at the flag. Kvyat continued to fall down the order, dropping as low as 14th, before pitted to end his race.
Jordan King enjoyed a quiet race to finish 9th. The same could not be said for Sven Muller, who fought initially with F3 new boy Nick Cassidy, eventually finishing the job on lap 33.
The race was not without incident. Four laps in, Nicholas Latifi made a hash of the hairpin, taking both he and Michael Lewis out of the running, before Wolf collected Antonio Giovinazzi several tours later.
The final clash came six laps from the end when the slow starting Felix Serralles clumsily collected Jann Mardenborough – again in the hair – taking Serralles out of the race. Roy Nissany, who had for several laps pressed Serralles, spun into the outer wall in sympathy, as Serralles’ careered off ahead.
Mardenborough continued, despite a dislodged rear wing, finishing 12th behind Cassidy and ahead of the chasing Dennis van der Laar.
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 6, race 3, Norisring; 42 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 34m12.917s
2. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc +4.993s
3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc +9.377s
4. Tom Blomqvist EuroInternational Dallara-Merc +12.024s
5. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +13.579s
6. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc +13.733s
7. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc +16.433s
8. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW +17.248s
9. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +17.944s
10. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW +22.433s
11. Nick Cassidy EuroInternational Dallara-Merc +23.712s
12. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW +33.993s
13. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW +34.627s
14. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc +34.985s
15. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc +41.453s
16. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +42.154s
17. Mitch Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc +43.312s
18. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW +43.609s
19. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc +1 lap
20. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc +1 lap
Retirements:
Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc +6 laps
Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc +7 laps
Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW +17 laps
Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc +31 laps
Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc +32 laps
Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc +39 laps
Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW +39 laps
Did Not Start:
Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc DNS
Notes:
Results for races 1&2 revised prior to race 3. Felix Rosenqvist reinstated.
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 6, Race 1 final results, Norisring; 39 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 35:46.130s
2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc +0.336s*
3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc +1.178s
4. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc +2.077s
5. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc +3.680s
6. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW +7.231s
7. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW +9.124s
8. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc +12.463s
9. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW +17.201s
10. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc +17.616s
11. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc +18.605s
12. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc +21.203s
13 Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc +21.546s
14. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +22.616s
15. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc +23.491s
16. Nick Cassidy Eurointernational Dallara-Merc +26.239s
17. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +26.424s
18. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc +32.301s
19. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +2 laps
Retirements:
Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc +5 laps
Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW +5 laps
Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc +5 laps
Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW +21 laps
Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc +24 laps
Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW +27 laps
Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc +33 laps
Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc +34 laps
Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW +38 laps
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 6, race 2 final results, Norisring; 42 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 34m22.297s
2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc +1.257s
3. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc +2.355s
4. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +3.258s
5. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc +11.396s
6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc +12.271s
7. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc +12.672s
8. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW +13.647s
9. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +19.545s
10. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc +20.098s
11. Nick Cassidy Eurointernational Dallara-Merc +21.008s
12. Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW +21.327s
13. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc +25.377s
14. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc +27.685s
15. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc +34.228s
16. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc +36.076s
17. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW +36.792s
18. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW +41.601s
19. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW +44.460s
20. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW +44.616s
21. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc +44.702s
22. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc +46.229s
23. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc +1 lap
24. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +1 lap
25. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc +1 lap
26. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc +1 lap
27. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW +1 lap
28. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc +2 laps
FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 6, Race 3) Pos Driver Points 1. Raffaele Marciello 297.5 2. Felix Rosenqvist 273 4. Alex Lynn 188.5 3. Lucas Auer 173 5. Harry Tincknell 146 6. Tom Blomqvist 122.5 7. Felix Serralles 98 8. Jordan King 80 9. Sven Muller 61 10. Josh Hill 56 Pos Team Points 1. Prema Powerteam 529 2. Mucke Motorsport 369 3. Carlin 277 4. Fortec 180 5. EuroInternational 140
