Marlboro Masters: Klien cleans up
F3 Euroseries front-runner Christian Klien withstood intense pressure from Nelson Piquet Jr to claim victory in the prestigious Marlboro Master Formula 3 race, handing Mercedes and the Mucke Motorsports teams their first victory in the Zandvoort-based event
Starting from the outside of the front row the Austrian shot past pole-sitter Piquet at the start when the Brazilian bogged down. Piquet then harried Klien for virtually the entire distance, including one ambitious pass attempt with three laps to go that ended with the British series regular running wide onto the grass. Piquet made no further passing attempts after that, but finished the race right on Klien's rear wing.
Euroseries points leader Ryan Briscoe was unable to match the pace of the leading duo, and had a relatively quiet run to third, ahead of Nicolas Lapierre. Briton Jamie Green had stormed up to fourth after a blistering start, but an incorrect gear selection allowed the Frenchman through. Green then dropped off the pace, and by the end of the race a train of around eight cars had formed behind him, although none were able to pass.
There were mixed fortunes for the other British series regulars. Alan van der Merwe moved up to eighth from his poor qualifying performance, whilst Adam Carroll stalled from his sixth position on the grid. He was still able to get away in the middle of the pack and soon began a storming comeback drive, although this was only enough to net him 13th at the end. Briton Danny Watts dropped to the tail of the field after a collision with Ronnie Bremer, from which the latter was able to recover to 11th.
Christian Klien
Nelson Piquet Jr
Ryan Briscoe
Nicolas Lapierre
Jamie Green
Markus Winkelhock
Oliver Pla
Alan ven der Merwe
Alexandre Premat
Fabio Carbone
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