Sims scores maiden F3 victory
Alexander Sims took his maiden Formula 3 Euro Series victory on Sunday as he led home Christian Vietoris for a Mucke Motorsport 1-2 finish at the Nurburgring
The McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner started on the front row alongside his experienced team-mate and grabbed the lead at the start after the German had tried to squeeze him into the pit wall.
Vietoris then piled the pressure on in the early laps, before Sims responded by upping his pace. He held the gap at just under one second for several laps, before gradually extending it in the closing stages to take a comfortable win.
Behind the top two, Mika Maki finished a distant third, ahead of the three ART drivers who had locked out the podium in race one.
Valtteri Bottas led the trio of French cars this time, having catapulted himself from seventh to fourth at the start. Championship leader Jules Bianchi didn't get away so well and had to pick off a few cars in the early laps, but he couldn't challenge the Finn and settled for fifth.
Bianchi was nearly caught out by Esteban Gutierrez on the final lap though, as the Mexican attacked him at the final chicane and the last corner. The pair crossed the line side by side, with the timing screens giving Bianchi the place.
There wasn't much action further down the field, although Stefano Coletti's charge from 20th at the end of the first lap back up to 10th was an impressive performance.
Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap 1. Alexander Sims Mucke D/M 41m08.747s 2. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M +3.704s 3. Mika Maki Signature D/V +9.754s 4. Valtteri Bottas ART D/M +10.796s 5. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +12.729s 6. Esteban Gutierrez ART D/M +12.801s 7. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M +19.926s 8. Sam Bird Mucke D/M +23.269s 9. Marco Wittmann Mucke D/M +24.900s 10. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M +25.544s 11. Johnny Cecotto Jr HBR D/M +37.173s 12. Jake Rosenzweig Carlin D/V +37.604s 13. Cesar Ramos Manor D/M +38.178s 14. Tom Dillmann HBR D/M +38.573s 15. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V +40.420s 16. Johan Jokinen Kolles D/V +40.866s 17. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/V +47.163s 18. Tiago Geronimi Signature D/V +47.738s 19. Andrea Caldarelli SG D/M +1m00.512s 20. Atte Mustonen Motopark D/M +1m01.052s Retirements Roberto Merhi Manor D/M 17 laps Christopher Zanella Motopark D/M 16 laps Nick Tandy Kolles D/V 1 lap Basil Shaaban Prema D/M 0 laps Pedro Henrique Manor D/M 0 laps
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