All Japanese 1-2 at Hockenheim
Japan and Manor Motorsport scored a 1-2 result in the F3 Euroseries opener at Hockenheim today, with Kohei Hirate leading home series newcomer Kazuki Nakajima
Britain's Paul di Resta was third for ASM.
The start was marred by a heavy accident towards the back of the grid, after Michael Herck stalled on the line and was hit by Bruno Fechner, which brought out the safety car for several laps.
The key moment came when Esteban Guerreri (Manor Motorsport) ran into the back of Hirate shortly before the restart.
This gave Hirate a huge lead as the race recommenced, and he didn't come close to losing it again.
Guerreri was then passed by Giedo van der Garde for second at the hairpin, running wide and losing several places.
Van der Garde later went off on his own, handing second to Nakajima and third to di Resta.
Further down the field, guesting British series star Yelmer Buurman (Fortec Motorsport) will be pleased with a strong drive up to eighth. This will put him on pole position for the reverse-grid second race tomorrow.
CLASSIFIED:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Kohei Hirate Manor Motorsport 40:27.868
2. Kazuki Nakajima Manor Motorsport + 2.428
3. Paul di Resta ASM Formule 3 + 7.652
4. Guillaume Moreau Signature-Plus + 12.105
5. Sebastian Vettel ASM Formule 3 + 12.828
6. Kamui Kobayashi ASM Formule 3 + 22.993
7. Richard Antinucci HBR Motorsport + 28.195
8. Yelmer Buurman Fortec Motorsport + 30.957
9. James Jakes Hitech Racing + 47.468
10. Alejandro Nunez Prema Powerteam + 51.909
11. Joao Urbano Prema Powerteam + 58.582
12. Peter Elkmann Jo Zeller Racing +1:03.609
13. Julian Theobald SMS Seyffarth Motorsport +1:12.689
14. Esteban Guerrieri Manor Motorsport +1:14.737
15. Tim Sandtler Signature-Plus +1:19.021
16. Anthony Janiec Janiec Racing Team +1:21.949
17. Kevin Fank SMS Seyffarth Motorsport +1:32.195
18. Cemil Cipa HBR Motorsport + 1 lap
19. Sebastien Buemi ASL Mucke Motorsport + 1 lap
20. James Walker Hitech Racing + 4 laps
21. Romain Grosjean Signature-Plus + 6 laps
22. Charlie Kimball Signature-Plus + 6 laps
NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver Team On lap
Filip Salaquarda Team ISR 15
Jonathan Summerton ASL Mucke Motorsport 13
Ronayne O'Mahony Prema Powerteam 13
Giedo van der Garde ASM Formule 3 12
Fastest lap: Kazuki, 1:34.509 on lap 19
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