Mortara wins for VW at Pau
Formula 3 Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara claimed his first victory of the season at Pau this afternoon, the first win for VW in their 14th race since returning to the category
Polesitter Renger van der Zande was unable to resist Mortara's charge through the field from seventh. The Dutchman had struggled for grip in qualifying, a problem which also afflicted his Prema team-mate Dani Clos, who started race one from 26th.
The pair survived Saturday's race of attrition to round out the podium in race two. Clos was fortunate to get away with hitting the tyres at turn one, Virage de la Gare, but continued to pick off Christian Vietoris for third at Lycee on the last lap.
Vietoris had produced a fine display in practice in the dry on Friday and was a dark horse for race two starting from fourth. The German nearly lost control under braking for Pont Oscar on the opening lap and had to settle for fourth.
Extremely wet conditions necessitated the safety car to be deployed for the first two laps. Van der Zande pulled away from fellow front row starter Michael Klein as the race turned green, with the enormous advantage of clear visibility.
Franck Mailleux came under intense pressure from team-mate Mortara in the battle for fifth, and the Italian found a way through at La Gare on lap seven. Mortara disposed of Vietoris at Lycee on the next tour and Clos at Pont Oscar on lap nine.
At the start of lap 10, Mortara had reeled in and passed second man Klein at La Gare and, lapping six tenths quicker than van der Zande, soon had the leader in his sights.
Mortara moved the VW-powered Signature car into the lead with another deft move at La Gare.
"I overtook six cars, it was an intense race weekend," said Mortara. "Today I had a great car, the team did an amazing job, but when it dried a little bit I was struggling. The tyres were finished. But I had grip at the beginning in the wet, and that's what made the difference."
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Edoardo Mortara Dallara/Volkswagen 40:24.353
2. Renger van der Zande Dallara/Mercedes +4.054
3. Daniel Clos Dallara/Mercedes +4.186
4. Christian Vietoris Dallara/Mercedes +4.743
5. Franck Mailleux Dallara/Volkswagen +14.248
6. James Jakes Dallara/Mercedes +16.206
7. Jon Lancaster Dallara/Mercedes +17.567
8. Robert Wickens Dallara/Volkswagen +18.334
9. Michael Klein Dallara/Mercedes +18.703
10. Kazuya Oshima Dallara/Mercedes +20.227
11. Sam Bird Dallara/Mercedes +20.807
12. Erik Janis Dallara/Mercedes +21.216
13. Yann Clairay Dallara/Mercedes +31.800
14. Jean-Karl Vernay Dallara/Volkswagen +32.925
15. Mika Maki Dallara/Mercedes +34.175
16. Nico Hulkenberg Dallara/Mercedes +35.569
17. Henkie Waldschmidt Dallara/Mercedes +52.781
18. Kodai Tsukakoshi Dallara/Mercedes +53.260
19. Daniel Campos Dallara/Mercedes +54.557
20. Jens Klingmann Dallara/Volkswagen +58.402
21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Dallara/Mercedes +59.554
22. Cheng Cong Fu Dallara/Volkswagen +1:09.510
23. Charlie Kimball Dallara/Mercedes +1:11.820
24. Basil Shaaban Dallara/Mercedes +1 lap
25. Tom Dillmann Dallara/Mercedes +3 laps
26. Jules Bianchi Dallara/Mercedes +3 laps
27. Martin Plowman Dallara/Volkswagen +6 laps
Retirements:
Driver Car Laps
Niall Breen Dallara/Mercedes 14 laps
Maximilian Gotz Dallara/Volkswagen 8 laps
Richard Philippe Dallara/Mercedes 4 laps
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