Pau European F3: Felix Rosenqvist cruises to first win of 2014
Felix Rosenqvist led the Pau Grand Prix from start to finish to claim his long-awaited first win of the season in the Formula 3 European Championship
The Swede got the jump on slow-starting poleman Esteban Ocon and, while the Frenchman always stayed within reach, he never got close enough to challenge until a safety car appearance.
On the restart with nine laps to go, Ocon's Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes got into the slipstream of Rosenqvist's Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Merc, and drew to the outside entering Virage de la Gare, but that was the closest he got to a bid for the lead.
Ocon's slow getaway allowed Max Verstappen to spear up the inside, before the Lotus Formula 1 Junior swung across to defend, forcing the Dutchman to brush the barriers on the inside.
That dropped Verstappen to sixth, and on the second lap he crashed at the second chicane.
Tom Blomqvist moved into third place and came under early pressure from the sister Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen machine of Jake Dennis before drawing away.
Mitch Gilbert put in his best performance yet with the Fortec Motorsport squad.
An early attack from Lucas Auer came to nothing as the two led Dennis van de Laar; Auer tried again after the safety car, but there was no way by.
Completing the top 10 in a largely uneventful race were John Bryant-Meisner, Jordan King and Antonio Giovinazzi.
The safety car was caused by Michele Beretta, who hit the barriers at the Foch chicane.
Results - 29 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 36m02.050s 2. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes +1.057s 3. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW +2.194s 4. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW +2.946s 5. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +3.813s 6. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +4.758s 7. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes +6.233s 8. Jon Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +6.936s 9. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +8.329s 10. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW +9.181s 11. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes +10.211s 12. Felipe Guimares Double R Dallara-Mercedes +10.814s 13. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara Mercedes +11.711s 14. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW +13.365s 15. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes +14.136s 16. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +15.276s 17. Ed Jones Carlin Dallara-VW +16.993s 18. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara Mercedes +53.718s Retirements: Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes 20 laps Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 16 laps Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 14 laps Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 8 laps Max Verstappen Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW 1 laps Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW 1 laps Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 0 laps Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 0 laps
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