Nurb'ring race 1: Winkelhock at last
Despite starting as one of the pre-season favourites, it has taken Markus Winkelhock 11 races to win a round of the Formula 3 Euroseries. The German dominated after outdragging poleman Christian Klien at the start and avoided a major first corner pile-up that eliminated his nearest rivals
Winkelhock (Mucke Dallara-Mercedes) made good his escape as Nico Rosberg (Rosberg Dallara-Opel) harpooned Klien at Turn 1, sending them both into the gravel and out of the race. Also at Turn 1, another shunt also removed Jan Heylen and Daniel de la Rosa, while series leader Ryan Briscoe claims he was punted from behind at Turn 2 which removed himself and Richard Lietz from the race.
After a long safety car period to clear up the mess, Winkelhock romped away from his pursuers to win by almost 5secs. Olivier Pla held second place throughout in his ASM Dallara-Mercedes, and pulled well clear of third-placed Robert Doornbos (Ghinzani Dallara-Mugen).
"It was a perfect race for me," said Winkelhock. "After Klien's crash I knew I had a chance. It was an important win for me because it was a year since my last one."
In a processional pack behind, Bernhard Auinger (TME Dallara-Toyota), Alexandre Premat (ASM Dallara-Mercedes) and Fabio Carbone (Signature Dallara-Renault) completed the top six runners.
The race was halted prematurely when Simon Abadie (LD Dallara-Mugen) was punted into a roll by Bruno Spengler (ASM Dallara-Mercedes) at the final corner. Despite a hefty landing, Abadie was unhurt.
Pos Driver (Team) Car-Engine Time
1 Markus Winkelhock (Mucke) Dallara-Mercedes 18 laps
2 Olivier Pla (ASM) Dallara-Mercedes +4.8s
3 Robert Doornbos (Ghinzani) Dallara-Mugen +7.5s
4 Bernhard Auinger (TME) Dallara-Toyota +8.7s
5 Alexandre Premat (ASM) Dallara-Mercedes +9.4s
6 Fabio Carbone (Signature) Dallara-Renault +10.4s
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