Norisring Euro F3: Blomqvist inherits win amid penalty chaos

Blomqvist, who finished eighth on the road, inherited victory ahead of Harry Tincknell (11th) and Andre Rudersdorf (14th).

Time penalties of 20 seconds, in lieu of drive-through penalties, were imposed to much of the field, from on-the-road winner Raffaele Marciello down, for improving sector times under yellow flags.

NEWS UPDATE: Marciello reinstated to Norisring win

The field was twice closed up by safety cars, with the last portion of green-flag running to the finish amounting to just 14 laps - hence the time penalties having a big effect on the final result.

Those penalised include Marciello, Alex Lynn (third), Lucas Auer (fourth), Felix Serralles (fifth), Alexander Sims (sixth), Pipo Derani (seventh), Nick Cassidy (ninth), Jordan King (10th), Jann Mardenborough (12th), Roy Nissany (13th) and Michael Lewis (15th).

Felix Rosenqvist, second on the road, has not been penalised but at present is not included in the results as he was racing under appeal due to a fuel issue arising from post-qualifying scrutineering.

A clearly bemused Blomqvist said in the post-race main conference on the paddock stage: "I'm not sure if this is some kind of joke...This is a joke, no?

"There were quite a few yellow flags out. You can see they've been strict in the past. This can't be real. I finished eighth..."

Results - 39 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                           Time/Gap
 1.  Tom Blomqvist       Eurointernational Dallara-Merc   35m49.810s
 2.  Harry Tincknell     Carlin Dallara-VW                   +3.551s
 3.  Andre Rudersdorf    Ma-con Dallara-VW                  +13.521s
 4.  Eddie Cheever       Prema Dallara-Merc                 +14.925s
 5.  Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc                 +16.320s
 6.  Sandro Zeller       Zeller Dallara-Merc                +17.423s
 7.  Alex Lynn           Prema Dallara-Merc                 +17.498s
 8   Lucas Auer          Prema Dallara-Merc                 +17.866s
 9.  Felix Serralles     Fortec Dallara-Merc                +18.397s
10.  Alexander Sims      T-Sport Dallara-Nissan             +18.936s
11.  Pipo Derani         Fortec Dallara-Merc                +19.811s
12.  Nick Cassidy        Eurointernational Dallara-Merc     +22.559s
13.  Jordan King         Carlin Dallara-VW                  +22.744s
14.  Jann Mardenborough  Carlin Dallara-VW                  +25.444s
15.  Michela Cerruti     Ferraris Dallara-Merc              +28.621s
16.  Roy Nissany         Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +28.783s
17.  Michael Lewis       Mucke Dallara-Merc                 +33.936s
18.  Spike Goddard       T-Sport Dallara-Nissan              +2 laps

Retirements:

     Felix Rosenqvist    Mucke Dallara-Merc                      DQ*
     Antonio Giovinazzi  Double R Dallara-Merc              34 laps
     Sven Muller         Ma-con Dallara-VW                  34 laps
     Lucas Wolf          URD Dallara-Merc                   34 laps
     Nicholas Latifi     Carlin Dallara-VW                  28 laps
     Tatiana Calderon    Double R Dallara-Merc              15 laps
     Dennis van de Laar  Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW          12 laps
     Sean Gelael         Double R Dallara-Merc               6 laps
     Mitchell Gilbert                                        5 laps
     Daniil Kvyat                                             1 lap
     
* Racing under appeal