Sims takes commading victory in second F3 Euro Series race at the Nurburgring
Alexander Sims marked his single-seater comeback with a commanding win in the second Formula 3 Euro Series race of the weekend at the Nurburgring
The T-Sport Dallara-Nissan driver, who has raced exclusively in sportscars so far this year, started from pole position on the reversed grid and, after making a rocket start, was never headed throughout the 15-lap race.
The 2008 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner's victory was not only T-Sport's maiden Euro Series win, it also made Nissan the first Japanese engine manufacturer to take a race victory in the championship.
Raffaele Marciello overtook Carlos Sainz Jr for second at the start and finished there as well, the Prema driver taking full Euro Series points as Sims is not registered to score.
Sainz initially held third, ahead of Mucke duo Felix Rosenqvist and Pascal Wehrlein, but the Spaniard was given a drive-through penalty as his Carlin mechanics were still working on his car after the three-minute board had been shown on the grid.
With Sainz diving into the pits on lap four and dropping to the tail of the field, Rosenqvist and Wehrlein inherited third and fourth spots with Prema's Sven Muller in fifth and Tom Blomqvist taking his Ma-con car past Jazeman Jaafar's Carlin entry early on.
Jaafar held off Daniel Juncadella for seventh, a result that caused the Spaniard's championship lead over his Prema team-mate Marciello to drop to just 12.5 points.
Michael Lewis, also in a Prema machine, completed the opening lap in 14th, but produced a battling drive to move up to ninth by the flag; his best move coming on the penultimate lap as he passed Carlin's Will Buller into Turn 1. He had previously passed him at the same spot a lap earlier, but run wide on the exit and ceded the spot back.
Results - 15 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 21m01.878s 2. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc + 5.357s 3. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc + 6.322s 4. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc + 7.826s 5. Sven Muller Prema Dallara-Merc + 10.156s 6. Tom Blomqvist Ma-con Dallara-VW + 13.988s 7. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 18.642s 8. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Merc + 19.022s 9. Michael Lewis Prema Dallara-Merc + 22.591s 10. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.815s 11. Emil Bernstorff Ma-con Dallara-VW + 25.154s 12. Luis Sa Silva Angola Dallara-Merc + 30.329s 13. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc + 31.289s 14. Andrea Roda Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc + 32.367s 15. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW + 32.904s 16. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc + 41.965s 17. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen + 53.942s
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