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Wickens wins shortened Le Mans race

Robert Wickens took his maiden Formula 3 victory in a rain-interrupted second F3 Euro Series race at Le Mans this morning

The Canadian driver - who only joined the series mid-season to combine it with his Formula Renault 3.5 campaign - took the lead at the start from Brendon Hartley and was never headed.

The race was red flagged for more than 20 minutes when a few spots of rain led to several accidents after just six laps, and by the time the restart order was organised, there were just five minutes remaining.

Wickens made a commanding restart after a lap behind the safety car, while Hartley fell back into the clutches of Dani Clos and eventually spun.

The Spanish driver didn't have time to do anything about Wickens, though, as only three racing laps took place before the chequered flag.

Jean-Karl Vernay looked aggressive from the start and eventually took third thanks to Hartley's spin, while behind him Koudai Tsukakoshi took fourth, despite having rear-ended Jon Lancaster before the red flag.

James Jakes came through the carnage to take fifth from 13th on the grid, while Rodolfo Gonzalez scored the first point of the season for Carlin Motorsport with sixth.

That will only be half a point however, as only 11 laps were completed so full points cannot be awarded.

Further down the order, newly-crowned champion Nico Hulkenberg had been charging through the field as they all struggled in the rain before the stoppage.

The German was up to 10th from 24th in just six laps, but his progress was stopped once he got up to eighth, and couldn't find a way past Daniel Campos-Hull.

Pos Driver                   Team            Car           Gap
 1. Robert Wickens           Signature       D/V     40:23.064
 2. Dani Clos                Prema           D/M        +0.791
 3. Jean-Karl Vernay         Signature       D/V        +2.111
 4. Koudai Tsukakoshi        Manor           D/M        +2.778
 5. James Jakes              ART             D/M        +3.705
 6. Rodolfo Gonzalez         Carlin          D/M        +6.537
 7. Daniel Campos-Hull       HBR             D/M        +7.635
 8. Nico Hulkenberg          ART             D/M        +8.021
 9. Stefano Coletti          Prema           D/M        +9.061
10. Christian Vietoris       Mucke           D/M        +9.448
11. Sam Bird                 Manor           D/M        +9.764
12. Kazuya Oshima            Manor           D/M       +10.096
13. Erik Janis               Mucke           D/M       +11.175
14. Edoardo Mortara          Signature       D/V       +11.769
15. Jens Klingmann           RC              D/V       +12.273
16. Yann Clairay             SG              D/M       +14.572
17. Jules Bianchi            ART             D/M       +15.936
18. Nelson Panciatici        RC              D/V       +17.516
19. Basil Shaaban            HBR             D/M       +19.749
20. Mika Maki                Mucke           D/M       +20.300
21. Franck Mailleux          Signature       D/V       +42.597
22. Brendon Hartley          Carlin          D/M       +43.223
23. Stephane Richelmi        Barazi Epsilon  D/M       +44.291
24. Cheng Cong Fu            RC              D/V        +1 lap
25. Renger van der Zande     Prema           D/M        +1 lap

Retirements

    Jon Lancaster            ART             D/M        4 laps
    Richard Philippe         SG              D/M         1 lap

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

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