Norisring European 3: Felix Rosenqvist ends tough weekend with win
Felix Rosenqvist defeated Raffaele Marciello in the final race of the Formula 3 European Championship weekend at the Norisring to make a further dent in the Ferrari protege's series lead
Rosenqvist had to defend from Alex Lynn into the first hairpin as Marciello got away in the lead from pole position, but the Swede then made inroads into the Italian's initial advantage.
After a couple of tentative looks, Rosenqvist made his decisive move on the 14th lap, moving to the outside of Marciello down to the first hairpin.
Marciello overshot on the brakes as he defended the inside line, letting the Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes into the lead and almost allowing Prema team-mate Alex Lynn into second.
While Rosenqvist set a searing pace to move clear, Marciello had to hold off Lynn, until an error by the Englishman with eight laps to go let him off the hook.
"It was a perfect race," said Rosenqvist. "I felt already in the first laps that I had good pace, and I put pressure on Raffaele.
"I had an amazing car today. It's been a big rollercoaster this weekend [Rosenqvist was initially racing under appeal] - one to remember in many ways!"
A spectacular fight for fourth went the way of EuroInternational's Tom Blomqvist, who spent his whole race defending from either Alexander Sims or Lucas Auer.
Auer did slight damage to his front wing when he tapped Blomqvist at the hairpin, but managed to fight back ahead of Sims until the final lap, when constant pressure from the Englishman paid off and the Three Bond/Nissan-powered T-Sport Dallara slipped ahead at the very last corner.
Pipo Derani took advantage of Carlin team-mates Harry Tincknell and Daniil Kvyat outbraking each other - and themselves - to slip into seventh.
As Kvyat faded and eventually retired, Tincknell took eighth from Jordan King, with Sven Muller completing the points scorers after a great move on Nick Cassidy.
There were several incidents but none resulted in safety cars. Nicholas Latifi ran into Michael Lewis at the hairpin; Antonio Giovinazzi and Lucas Wolf tangled; while Felix Serralles assaulted Jann Mardenborough and Roy Nissany spun off in sympathy. Mardenborough continued with his rear wing askew to finish 12th.
Results - 42 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 34m12.917s 2. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc +4.993s 3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc +9.377s 4. Tom Blomqvist EuroInternational Dallara-Merc +12.024s 5. Alexander Sims T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +13.579s 6. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc +13.733s 7. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc +16.433s 8. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW +17.248s 9. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW +17.944s 10. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW +22.433s 11. Nick Cassidy EuroInternational Dallara-Merc +23.712s 12. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW +33.993s 13. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW +34.627s 14. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc +34.985s 15. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc +41.453s 16. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan +42.154s 17. Mitch Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc +43.312s 18. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW +43.609s 19. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc +1 lap 20. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc +1 lap Retirements: Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 36 laps Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 35 laps Daniil Kvyat Carlin Dallara-VW 25 laps Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 11 laps Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 10 laps Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 3 laps Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 3 laps Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 0 laps
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