European F3 Zandvoort: Motopark's Markus Pommer gets first win
Markus Pommer took his maiden Formula 3 European Championship win - and the first for the Motopark team since its 2015 return - in a safety-car-marred third race at Zandvoort


The German won it at the start when, from second on the grid, he made a better getaway than poleman Antonio Giovinazzi and was able to lead the field into the Tarzanbocht.
The race seemed to be shaping up nicely, with Giovinazzi and Felix Rosenqvist - the two winners of the weekend to date - staying close to Pommer, but the safety car was called on the fourth lap due to an off for Matt Solomon.
At the restart, some midfield argy-bargy resulted in Gustavo Menezes dropping down the field and Mikkel Jensen getting spat into the barriers on the run to the Hans Ernst chicane, meaning the race went under caution again.
The field didn't even get that far when the race was restarted for a second time, with Menezes and Nicolas Pohler crashing heavily into the barriers at the left-handed kink after Tarzan.
That left just a four-lap dash to the finish, and Pommer managed to keep the Carlin car of Giovinazzi at bay and Rosenqvist's Prema Powerteam machine was in turn just adrift of the Italian.
"The start was the key for this race, because at Zandvoort it's nearly impossible to overtake - you need to be one to two seconds faster," said Pommer.
"At first the car was quite fast, but I was worried about the tyres because our set-up was aggressive - I think the safety cars were very good for me."
Pommer's win salved the bitterness from the second race, where he was given a 20-second post-race time penalty after finishing fourth due to triggering the shunt that led to the elimination of Lance Stroll and, eventually, Charles Leclerc.
Prema twins Jake Dennis and Lance Stroll, and Carlin driver George Russell, ran fourth, fifth and sixth respectively throughout the short racing distance.
Buoyed by his first points score on Saturday, Ryan Tveter made a good start to run seventh, but lost out to Sergio Sette Camara on the opening lap, then to Alexander Albon when the Anglo-Thai made a heroic move into Scheivlak on lap two.
Santino Ferrucci then passed Tveter into Tarzan at the final restart, and then Tveter handed Leclerc the final point when he flew off the road at the Arie Luyendijkbocht that leads onto the pit straight.
Leclerc's miserable weekend ended with him losing the championship lead to Giovinazzi, who is now seven and a half points clear heading to the Red Bull Ring, where he scored his first pole and win last season.
RESULTS - 19 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 36m04.922s |
2 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 0.544s |
3 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.213s |
4 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1.886s |
5 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 3.865s |
6 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 4.658s |
7 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 5.087s |
8 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 5.605s |
9 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 6.562s |
10 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 7.696s |
11 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 8.176s |
12 | Maximilian Guenther | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 9.311s |
13 | Fabian Schiller | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 11.070s |
14 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 11.686s |
15 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 12.921s |
16 | Sam MacLeod | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 13.063s |
17 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 13.998s |
18 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 14.690s |
19 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 16.244s |
20 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 16.923s |
21 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 18.194s |
22 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 18.715s |
23 | Kang Ling | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 19.898s |
24 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 20.212s |
25 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 20.530s |
26 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 21.277s |
27 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 21.694s |
28 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 22.647s |
29 | Brandon Maisano | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 23.624s |
30 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 2 Laps |
- | Nicolas Pohler | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | Retirement |
- | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | Retirement |
- | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | Retirement |
- | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 288 |
2 | Charles Leclerc | 280.5 |
3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 261 |
4 | Jake Dennis | 216 |
5 | George Russell | 146 |
6 | Alexander Albon | 132 |
7 | Maximilian Guenther | 118 |
8 | Lance Stroll | 89 |
9 | Mikkel Jensen | 81.5 |
10 | Markus Pommer | 70.5 |
11 | Santino Ferrucci | 64 |
12 | Brandon Maisano | 53 |
13 | Gustavo Menezes | 48 |
14 | Callum Ilott | 32 |
15 | Sergio Sette Camara | 29 |
16 | Dorian Boccolacci | 26 |
17 | Alessio Lorandi | 26 |
18 | Arjun Maini | 23 |
19 | Pietro Fittipaldi | 16 |
20 | Raoul Hyman | 12.5 |
21 | Ryan Tveter | 2 |
22 | Sam MacLeod | 2 |
23 | Fabian Schiller | 2 |
24 | Nabil Jeffri | 2 |

Zandvoort European F3: Dennis punished, Leclerc cleared to race
Markus Pommer used Max Verstappen's 'tricks' for Zandvoort F3 win

Latest news
Laser Tools Racing continues in BTCC with Hill
The Laser Tools Racing name that was carried to British Touring Car Championship titles in 2020 and 2021 will continue in the series after all with Jake Hill.
McLaren to share F1 reserve driver Schumacher with Mercedes
Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher will be also made available as a stand-in to McLaren, the Woking team has announced.
NASCAR Next Gen car gets safety upgrades for 2023 season
NASCAR unveiled some changes to the Next Gen car for the 2023 season, with most enhancing its safety aspects.
O’Ward optimistic about Rossi and that McLaren IndyCar DNFs can be reduced
Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward says he’s confident that Alexander Rossi will be a strong addition to the line-up and that the team has gotten on top of its mechanical woes.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.