Daniil Kvyat drove a masterful race to claim to claim his first FIA European Formula 3 Championship win at Zandvoort today.
The Russian survived early attacks from title contender Felix Rosenqvist and two safety car periods to take the top sport for his Carlin team.
Kvyat – who is not entered into the championship and therefore scores no points – built a narrow, but safe lead in the second half of the race, gradually pulling 2.8s clear of Rosenqvist.
Alex Lynn came home 3rd behind Rosenqvist’s Mucke-Mercedes challenger.
It was something of a messy race through the field. The first safety car period began when Lucas Wolf stopped on track toward the end of the parade lap; however the race was underway when it was finally not neutralised.
There were five laps behind the safety car, as difficulties removing Wolf’s URD Rennsport machine ensured the event could not run at full tilt.
The second safety car period began on lap 7, when Felix Serralles suffered an accident on the back end of the circuit, wiping out much of his Fortec’s left hand side.
In every instance, Kvyat pulled away from the pack – just enough to escape from a rearguard attack each time around. It was a perfectly executed drive and well deserving victory
Rosenqvist grabbed 2nd from Lynn after the first restart. On older Hankook tyres, the Mucke racer timed his attack with sublime accuracy, sweeping around the outside of Lynn into Tarzan and edging ever-so-slightly as they rounded the long apex.
As the corner unraveled from a long right into a left hand bend, Rosenqvist went from being on the outside to assuming the new inside line, solidifying the move – a top move.
From there, Lynn held a solid 3rd place ahead of Jordan King, who spent much of his race being half-threatened by points’ leader Raffaele Marciello – although the Prema man seemed happy enough to collect solid points rather than risk a move and come away with nothing.
Harry Tincknell was hit in the rear by Pipo Derani on the opening tour, with Derani losing his front wing in the process; however it did not destabilise Tincknell, who managed to hold 6th place to the flag.
A poor start by Lucas Auer dropped him to 10th by Tarzan, although that became 9th following Derani’s mishap. Once the first safety car had peeled off, the Austrian made a move on the fast starting Nicholas Latifi for 8th, which eventually became 7th when Michael Lewis crashed out on lap ten.
Latifi held on for 8th – a considerable effort considering his 14th place starting position, while Tom Blomqvist headed Sven Muller home for 9th and 10th respectively. As Kvyat is not registered for points, Dennis van de Laar grabbed a solitary score after a tidy drive from 18th on the grid.
There were further incidents down the order. Unfortunately for young Mexican racer Alfonso Celis, his first FIA European F3 race ended in the gravel trap. Both Alexander Sims and Andre Rudersdorf had offs through the final corner, with the former losing his front wing in the process.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 8, Race 1, 20 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 35m35.636s
2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +2.859s
3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Mercedes +3.482s
4. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +6.828s
5. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Mercedes +7.431s
6. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +8.022s
7. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Mercedes +8.516s
8. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +9.559s
9. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Mercedes +10.304s
10. Sven Muller Van Amersfoort Dallara-Volkswagen +12.030s
11. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-Volkswagen +17.188s
12. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +18.308s
13. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Mercedes +18.826s
14. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Mercedes +19.271s
15. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +21.520s
16. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +21.955s
17. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Mercedes +27.736s
18. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +27.967s
19. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +28.884s
20. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Mercedes +35.964s
21. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Mercedes +37.511s
22. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-Volkswagen +44.332s
Retirements:
Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +4 laps
Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +11 laps
Alfonso Celis Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +11 laps
Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +14 laps
