Glory for Sutil, Agony for di Resta
ASM driver Adrian Sutil claimed his first on-track victory in this year's F3 Euroseries with a steely drive at the Nurburgring
The German, whose previous maximum score came after Lewis Hamilton was excluded at Spa, grabbed the lead in the opening complex of corners at the German track and fended off a determined Lucas di Grassi to win by just over half a second.
Pole-sitter Paul di Resta suffered early heartbreak when he encountered wheelspin off the line and dropped back into the pack. That led to him being tagged by Lewis Hamilton, who was scrapping with di Grassi in the Mercedes-Arena.
The championship leader tapped di Resta's rear diffuser, pitching the Scot into a spin that ruined his race. Under the watchful eye of cousin Dario Franchitti, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner pitted, then set a string of blistering laps - up to half a second per lap quicker than the duelling leaders.
Hamilton fought his way back through the field but could finish no higher than 12th, allowing Sutil the chance to hack ten points from his teammate's championship advantage.
The problems for two ASM and Manor drivers, coupled with another poor showing from the Signature-Plus Dallaras of Loic Duval and James Rossiter, meant that a delighted Kohei Hirate came through to claim his first F3 Euroseries podium, ahead of Hannes Neuhauser and Franck Perera.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Adrian Sutil ASM F3 30:49.380 2. Lucas di Grassi Manor Motorsport + 00.594 3. Kohei Hirate Team Rosberg + 16.216 4. Hannes Neuhauser HBR Motorsport + 17.195 5. Franck Perera Prema Powerteam + 20.532 6. Loic Duval Signature-Plus + 26.650 7. Atila Abreu ASL M?cke Motorsport + 26.967 8. G. van der Garde Team Rosberg + 27.591 9. Marco Bonanomi Prema Powerteam + 28.799 10. James Rossiter Signature-Plus + 29.470 11. Sebastian Vettel ASL M?cke Motorsport + 30.073 12. Lewis Hamilton ASM F3 + 30.512 13. Alejandro Nunez HBR Motorsport + 31.668 14. Esteban Guerrieri Team Midland Euroseries + 36.332 15. Danny Watts HBR Motorsport + 37.457 16. Guillaume Moreau Signature + 38.083 17. Fabio Carbone Signature + 40.341 18. Greg Franchi Prema Powerteam + 41.100 19. Thomas Holzer AM-Holzer Rennsport + 46.287 20. Stephan Jelley Team Midland Euroseries + 46.844 21. Julia Kuhn + 1 Lap 22. Filip Salaquarda Team I.S.R. + 1 Lap 23. Paul di Resta Manor Motorsport + 1 Lap
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