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Hulkenberg champion as Bianchi wins

Jules Bianchi took a dominant victory in the first F3 Euro Series race of the weekend at Le Mans, as Nico Hulkenberg became the F3 Euroseries champion despite finishing a lap down in 24th

The German, a test driver for the Williams Formula One team, claimed the title by dint of the fact that his championship rival Edoardo Mortara failed to score.

Bianchi was never challenged throughout the race, as he romped away to a victory margin of nearly 18 seconds over Sam Bird.

The British driver, who started fourth, made up one place when Hulkenberg stalled at the start and lost a lap, and he inherited second when surprise front-row starter Stefano Coletti spun on lap three.

Bird then cemented his position by gradually easing away from Mika Maki, who was falling into the clutches of Koudai Tsukakoshi in the closing stages.

Their battle had been a three-way scrap during the middle of the race, until fifth place man Chrtistian Vietoris broke down six laps from home.

That handed a top five finish to Jean Karl Vernay, who sustained pressure for a long period of time from an on-form Dani Clos.

The Spanish driver had started ahead of Vernay in eighth position on the grid, but a slow start cost him ground. However, he made short work of Robert Wickens and Franck Mailleux, and then pushed Vernay all the way to the flag.

Behind them, Mailleux slipped into the clutches of Wickens and Brendon Hartley in the second half of the race, but despite several attempts, nobody could pass the Signature driver.

Their battle was occasionally joined by Mortara, who made his way up to 10th after starting 17th.


Pos  Driver                Team            Car         Time
 1.  Jules Bianchi         ART             D/M    41:22.149
 2.  Sam Bird              Manor           D/M      +17.964
 3.  Mika Maki             Mucke           D/M      +20.392
 4.  Koudai Tsukakoshi     Manor           D/M      +20.976
 5.  Jean-Karl Vernay      Signature       D/V      +28.681
 6.  Dani Clos             Prema           D/M      +29.554
 7.  Franck Mailleux       Signature       D/V      +42.219
 8.  Robert Wickens        Signature       D/V      +42.737
 9.  Brendon Hartley       Carlin          D/M      +43.131
10.  Edoardo Mortara       Signature       D/V      +44.687
11.  Daniel Campos-Hull    HBR             D/M      +48.704
12.  Richard Philippe      SG              D/M      +49.417
13.  Jon Lancaster         ART             D/M      +49.836
14.  James Jakes           ART             D/M      +51.840
15.  Erik Janis            Mucke           D/M      +52.753
16.  Nelson Panciatici     RC              D/V      +59.118
17.  Cong Fu Cheng         RC              D/V    +1:00.537
18.  Rodolfo Gonzalez      Carlin          D/M    +1:01.088
19.  Renger van der Zande  Prema           D/M    +1:06.078
20.  Stefano Coletti       Prema           D/M    +1:06.388
21.  Henkie Waldschmidt    SG              D/M    +1:06.760
22.  Kazuya Oshima         Manor           D/M    +1:07.830
23.  Yann Clairay          SG              D/M    +1:08.317
24.  Nico Hulkenberg       ART             D/M      + 1 lap
25.  Stephane Richelmi     Barazi Epsilon  D/M      + 1 lap
26.  Basil Shaaban         HBR             D/M      + 1 lap
27.  Jens Klingmann        RC              D/V      + 1 lap

Not classified
     Driver                Team            Car         Laps
     Christian Vietoris    Mucke           D/M           20

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