Vietoris wins truncated second race

That 14th row start proved not to be an insurmountable obstacle for the German, who reached sixth in yesterday's race then put in a superlative drive to score an unlikely win in the reverse grid second race.

Erik Janis had moved slowly away from pole, but managed to fend off Robert Wickens on his left and Vietoris on his right on the run down to Grundig.

Edoardo Mortara jumped ahead of fourth place starter Jon Lancaster, but was swiped by the Englishman on the exit of the corner. Mortara completed a half-spin, and came to a rest broadside across the track.

The circuit quickly became blocked, and there was no other option than to throw out the red flags as the fifth to the fifteenth row starters were unable to find a way through the impasse.

Koudai Tsukakoshi, Henkie Waldschmidt, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Dani Clos were unable to take the restart. Stefano Coletti's Prema machine was mounted on top of another car, but the Monegasque not only took the part in the race, but would pick up a point for sixth.

The pile-up cut the race distance and necessitated a single-file, rolling, restart. From third on the grid, courtesy of his sixth place finish on Saturday, Vietoris disposed of Wickens for second on lap two, and passed pole-sitter Janis for the lead next time around on the approach to the Grundig hairpin.

"After qualifying I was really disappointed," said Vietoris. "The accident in qualifying was my mistake, but I did a really good job on Saturday and starting from the second row today I knew I had a chance. As soon as everything was up to temperature my car was perfect."

Signature-Plus' Wickens had a lonely Sunday morning drive on his way to second in only his second F3 meeting.

Teammate Mortara finished third, unable to offer a challenge to the Canadian after damaging his car in the original start accident, and sustaining further damage, to his right front wing endplate, in the aftermath of a collision involving Janis and Lancaster on the restart. Lancaster had attempted a pass on the Czech at Grundig, but only succeeded in sending Janis into a spin and ending his own race with damaged suspension.

Mortara resiliently fought off teammate Jean Karl Vernay for the final place on the podium. The Italian extends a 15 point lead in the classification over race one victor, Nico Hulkenberg, who had a drama-filled day.

His ART car would not budge from his grid slot to set off on the formation lap, but the carnage threw the German a life-line and he lined up for the restart from the back of the grid. A heavy accident, vaulting over the rear of Martin Plowman on lap three, ended Hulkenberg's slim chance of scoring points.

Reverse grid specialist Renger van der Zande finished fifth, ahead of Coletti, as a further tangle involving James Jakes, Daniel Campos and Richard Philippe brought the race to an early end and meant that only half points would be awarded.

Pos  Driver                Team       Car  Time
 1.  Christian Vietoris    Mucke      D/M  38:22.220
 2.  Robert Wickens        Signature  D/V   +  4.692
 3.  Edoardo Mortara       Signature  D/V   +  6.643
 4.  Jean-Karl Vernay      Signature  D/V   +  7.223
 5.  Renger van der Zande  Prema      D/M   +  8.125
 6.  Stefano Coletti       Prema      D/M   +  9.380
 7.  Kazuya Oshima         Manor      D/M   +  9.788
 8.  Sam Bird              Manor      D/M   + 10.046
 9.  Jules Bianchi         ART        D/M   + 11.686
10.  Jens Klingmann        RC         D/V   + 12.248
11.  Daniel Campos         HBR        D/M   + 13.103
12.  Michael Klein         Jo Zeller  D/M   + 13.265
13.  James Jakes           ART        D/M   + 13.502
14.  Cheng Cong Fu         RC         D/V   + 14.177
15.  Franck Mailleux       Signature  D/V   + 14.697
16.  Richard Philippe      Carlin     D/M   + 15.174
17.  Niall Breen           Manor      D/M   + 15.726
18.  Mika Maki             Mucke      D/M   + 17.711
19.  Yann Clairay          SG         D/M   + 18.574
20.  Maximilian Gotz       RC         D/V   + 42.420
21.  Basil Shaaban         HBR        D/M   +  1 lap
22.  Erik Janis            Mucke      D/M   +  1 lap

Retirements:

     Driver                Team       Car  Laps
     Jon Lancaster         ART        D/M  6
     Martin Plowman        RC         D/V  4
     Nico Hulkenberg       ART        D/M  3
     Rodolfo Gonzalez      Carlin     D/M  1
     Koudai Tsukakoshi     Manor      D/M  0
     Henkie Waldschmidt    SG         D/M  0
     Daniel Clos           Prema      D/M  0

D/M = Dallara-Mercedes, D/V = Dallara-Volkswagen