Zandvoort 1: Klien dominates
Christian Klien gave his championship aspirations a large boost with a dominant victory in the first F3 Euroseries race at Zandvoort, especially because points leader Ryan Briscoe failed to score after spinning at the first corner
Austrian Klien (Mucke Dallara-Mercedes) looked smooth and serene on his way to his third win of the year, which was more than could be said for the scene at turn one on the first lap. Briscoe (Prema Dallara-Opel) was the first to hit trouble, when he attempted to pass slow-starting front-row man Alexandre Premat (ASM Dallara-Mercedes) around the outside into Tarzanbocht. Premat drifted wide, pitching Briscoe into a spin in the middle of the road.
Bernhard Auinger (Superfund TME Dallara-Toyota) and team-mate Sakon Yamamoto didn't help matters, as the pair clashed on the way into the corner, narrowly missing the helpless Briscoe on their way to the gravel trap. The carnage pitched several other cars into the gravel trap, including Briton Jamie Green (Kolles Dallara-Mercedes), who was forced out of the race as a result.
The safety car was called out as a result of the incident, with racing resuming at the end of lap three. Klien immediately pulled away from Bruno Spengler (ASM Dallara-Mercedes), who had risen to second from fourth on the grid, with Olivier Pla (ASM Dallara-Mercedes) and Markus Winkelhock (Mucke Dallara-Mercedes) dropping slowly away from the lead pair.
Although the fight for the lead was calm, the battle further down the field was intense, as Briscoe and several other leading drivers attempted to battle back from their first-lap shenanigans. But as soon as the race seemed to be gaining momentum, Yamamoto crashed on the approach to Hugenhotz, bringing out the safety car again.
Klien made another impeccable restart to lead to the flag, with the top eight all holding positions to the flag. Briscoe, meanwhile, could only recover to 17th at the finish, costing him a chunk of his points lead to Klien.
Christian Klien Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 30m26.609s
Bruno Spengler ADM Dallara-Mercedes +1.246s
Olivier Pla ASM Dallara-Mercedes +2.984s
Markus Winkelhock Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +3.854s
Robert Doornbos Ghinzani Dallara-Mugen-Honda +4.459s
Simon Abadie LD Autosport Dallara-Mugen-Honda +5.755s
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