Silverstone European F3: Esteban Ocon sweeps to commanding win
Esteban Ocon swept to a commanding victory in the second race of the Formula 3 European Championship's opening round at Silverstone
From pole position, the Lotus F1 Junior showed incredible pace on cold tyres to build up a 2.0 second lead within two laps, and was never threatened.
Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Fuoco chased Ocon home to make it a 1-2-3 for the Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes squad, Ferrari protege Fuoco taking advantage of his second excellent start of the weekend to vault Tom Blomqvist off the line and challenge Latifi for much of the race.
Frenchman Ocon's win moves him into the championship lead.
"I was a bit disappointed with my start in race one, but I took a good one this race," he said.
"It was all about keeping the tyres, more or less, keeping consistency and bringing the car home to victory."
Canadian Latifi was happy with his first European F3 podium, while Fuoco was also pleased, as he was the only one of the leading runners not to run any fresh Hankook tyres in this race.
Blomqvist lacked the speed he showed in winning race one, and his race was all about fending off Carlin stablemate Jordan King.
That was until Max Verstappen finally forced an opening just two laps from home, the Van Amersfoort Racing man depriving King of fifth place.
There was another three-car fight behind, with Ed Jones holding off Antonio Giovinazzi and Dennis van de Laar, who swapped places twice with two laps to go.
The final point, and Fortec Motorsport's first of the season, went to John Bryant-Meisner, who fended off an early attack from Lucas Auer and then held off Felipe Guimaraes.
Once again Mucke Motorsport's expected title contenders struggled, with Auer taking 12th and Felix Rosenqvist 14th.
There were only two non-finishers, with Spike Goddard out early after a clash with Roy Nissany and Hector Hurst retiring with one lap remaining.
Results - 18 laps: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes 33m53.215s 2. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes +3.678s 3. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes +5.148s 4. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW +9.264s 5. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +11.237s 6. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +11.914s 7. Ed Jones Carlin Dallara-VW +19.293s 8. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW +20.649s 9. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes +21.877s 10. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +23.533s 11. Felipe Guimares Double R Dallara-Mercedes +24.078s 12. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +24.548s 13. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +30.106s 14. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +31.293s 15. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara Mercedes +32.009s 16. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +32.766s 17. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW +33.362s 18. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE +40.060s 19. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes +46.004s 20. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW +48.528s 21. Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes +49.158s 22. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +1m01.985s 23. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes +1m02.208s 24. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +1m03.172s Retirements: Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara Mercedes 15 laps Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 2 laps
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