Van der Zande strolls to race two win
Renger van der Zande dominated the second F3 Euro Series race of the weekend at Hockenheim
The Dutchman converted his reverse grid pole position into a strong lead and was never threatened throughout the 24-lap race.
He beat Christian Vietoris away from the start and then again from a safety car restart -after Jens Klingmann struck the stalled car of Charlie Kimball on the grid - and steadily increased his lead throughout the race to win by four and a half seconds.
"My visor was still clean at the finish so it was the perfect race. I took it easy in the first few laps because I wasn't sure how the track would be after the Porsche race, then I decided not to look in my mirrors and just do five qualifying laps.
"It was a big fight all weekend after qualifying because I made a mistake and went off and was only 17th. The first race I had some luck and some overtaking to get to eighth, but I was quick enough to win from pole position quite easily."
Vietoris kept Edoardo Mortara at arms length to hold on to second place, while the Italian came through from sixth to scored his and Volkswagen's second podium of the weekend.
Race one winner Mika Maki was on course for another points finish when he collided with fellow Red Bull driver Jean-Karl Vernay at the Spitzkehre hairpin and wiped them both out.
Nico Hulkenberg's miserable weekend continued when, after charging from the back of the grid up to 16th place, he slowed and toured into retirement for the second time in as many days.
Franck Mailleux, Yann Clairay and Sam Bird filled the remaining points-paying positions, ahead of Dani Clos who just missed out after storming through the field from 25th to seventh.
Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 41:20.092
2. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M +4.556
3. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V +5.999
4. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V +7.315
5. Yann Clairay SG D/M +10.090
6. Sam Bird Manor D/M +10.649
7. Dani Clos Prema D/M +11.168
8. Maxi Gotz RC D/V +13.286
9. Kodai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M +14.172
10. Erik Janis Mucke D/M +15.334
11. James Jakes ART D/M +17.119
12. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M +18.143
13. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +18.752
14. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M +25.045
15. Tom Dillmann SG D/M +26.874
16. Michael Klein Jo Zeller D/M +28.064
17. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M +29.109
18. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M +29.892
19. Niall Breen Manor D/M +36.695
20. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M +40.422
21. Stefano Coletti Signature D/V +1:26.574
Not classified
Driver Team Car Laps
Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 21 laps
Mika Maki Mucke D/M 20 laps
Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 19 laps
Martin Plowman RC D/V 10 laps
Charlie Kimball Prema D/M 0 laps
Jens Klingmann RC D/V 0 laps
Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 0 laps
Fastest lap: Clos, 1:34.289 on lap 9
(D/M = Dallara Mercedes, D/V = Dallara Volkswagen)
Share Or Save This Story
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.
Top Comments