Rookie Edoardo Mortara wins in Barcelona rain
Track temperature: 21.6 º C
Air temperature: 22.2 º C
In pouring rain, Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus) came out
on top. The Italian won the 15th season round of the Formula
3 Euro Series at the 2.977 kilometres long Circuit de Catalunya.
Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3) and Tom Dillmann (ASM
Formule 3) completed the podium. Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule
3) and Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport), the
two fiercest rivals in the battle for the title in the world’s
strongest junior racing series, failed to score points in
the Barcelona region.
At the start, Hülkenberg took the lead. On lap eight,
he locked up under braking and briefly came off the track.
In the process, he lost two positions as Mortara and Dillmann
wend past him. The German fought, overtook Dillmann on lap
17 and secured second place behind Mortara. For the Italian,
it was already his second victory in the Euro Series after
his success at Brands Hatch.
For points leader Grosjean and his main rival Buemi, the
race was rather unfortunate. The Swiss retired after a driver’s
error and failed to reduce his gap in the points’ standings.
Grosjean crossed the finish line in third place, but he was
relegated to 16th place after the race because on the starting
grid, the mechanics had been working on his car longer than
admitted. Grosjean and his team appealed against the decision.
Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus): “I
am very, very happy. My start was excellent and it was the
key to this success. Bar a slight error early on, my race
was flawless.”
Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3): “Up
to lap eight, it was almost perfect. Then I made a mistake
and lost the lead. Too bad, because I was quick enough to
win the race.”
Tom Dillmann (ASM Formule 3): “Third
place is a great result. The start was good, I managed to
move up into third right away. As the rain became stronger,
the handling of my car was very good.”
|
