Van der Zande wins for Motopark
Renger van der Zande took Motopark Academy's maiden Formula 3 Euro Series victory at Barcelona on Sunday, in just his fourth start in the series this year
The Dutch driver dominated the race from pole position, despite briefly losing the lead at the start to fellow front row man Basil Shaaban.
Shaaban (Prema) got ahead on the drag race off the line, but he could not hold on to the lead into Turn 1 as he locked up, slotting back into second.
Van der Zande pulled away comfortably after that, while Shaaban held onto second until lap 25, when Mucke's Alexander Sims, who jumped up from seventh to third on the opening lap, was able to sneak through at the first corner.
However, the Lebanese driver was able to easily stay ahead of Sims' team-mate Christian Vietoris from then on, to take his first podium finish after nearly three years of competing in the series.
Vietoris gradually dropped into the clutches of a low-key Jules Bianchi in the closing stages, but the championship leader was unable to mount a challenge on his closest title rival and had to settle for fifth behind him.
Valtteri Bottas put pressure on Bianchi in the closing stages once he had taken sixth place from Henkie Waldschmidt, but he was unable to find a way by his ART team-mate.
Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap 1. Renger van der Zande Motopark D/M 40m43.958s 2. Alexander Sims Mucke D/M + 4.276s 3. Basil Shaaban Prema D/M + 8.636s 4. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M + 12.047s 5. Jules Bianchi ART D/M + 12.983s 6. Valtteri Bottas ART D/M + 13.718s 7. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M + 15.530s 8. Tiago Geronimi Signature D/V + 20.529s 9. Esteban Gutierrez ART D/M + 21.394s 10. Andrea Caldarelli SG D/M + 22.143s 11. Tim Sandtler Prema D/M + 30.882s 12. Christopher Zanella Motopark D/M + 32.819s 13. Mika Maki Signature D/V + 36.628s 14. Jean Karl Vernay Signature D/V + 37.889s 15. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M + 39.596s 16. Cesar Ramos Manor D/M + 42.243s 17. Marco Wittmann Mucke D/M + 42.637s 18. Carlo Van Dam SG D/M + 45.037s 19. Jake Rosenzweig Carlin D/V + 54.145s 20. Pedro Enrique Manor D/M + 1 lap Retirements: Roberto Merhi Manor D/M 24 laps Sam Bird Mucke D/M 15 laps Adrien Tambay ART D/M 0 laps Johan Jokinen Kolles & Heinz D/V 0 laps
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