Felix Rosenqvist won the opening F3 Euro Series race of the Hockenheim season finale on Saturday, but a mechanical problem for Daniel Juncadella ensured that the title battle remains open.
Juncadella challenged polesitter Rosenqvist for the lead at the Mercedes Arena on the opening lap, but was unable to pass the Swede, who defended strongly.
While Mucke Motorsport driver Rosenqvist was able to pull away to a 5.6-second victory – his second successive win in the Euro Series – Juncadella looked set for a comfortable runner-up spot that would have won him both the Euro Series and the FIA European Championship.
However, with four laps to go, his pace slackened sufficiently, the Dallara F312 passing the pits with a flat-sounding Mercedes engine.
His chief title rival Pascal Wehrlein immediately passed him for second, setting up a one-two finish for the Mucke squad and clinching the Rookie of the Year title as well.
Raffaele Marciello, who can also still win the title, passed his team-mate Juncadella for third as the Spaniard fell outside of the points positions and eventually retired.
Juncadella now leads the Euro Series by a reduced 17 points from Wehrlein and 21.5 from Marciello with 35 up for grabs from the two remaining races.
His lead in the FIA European F3 Championship now stands at 15.5 points over Marciello with only the 25 available from Sunday’s final race available.
Tom Blomqvist was a fine fourth – and best of the Volkswagen-engined brigade – for Ma-con, the Briton benefitting when his team-mate Emil Bernstorff spun Carlos Sainz Jr around at the Mercedes Arena on the first lap.
Sainz then sustained a puncture when Fortec’s unsighted Alex Lynn clipped his right-rear tyre while attempting to avoid the Carlin machine. While Sainz and Lynn pitted, Bernstorff was given a drive-through penalty for causing the collision.
Sven Muller, who put a strong move on Bernstorff before the Brit’s penalty, was fifth for Prema with Will Buller, Euro Series debutant Lucas Auer and Lucas Wolf completing the top eight.
URD driver Wolf will start race two from pole position by virtue of the reversed-grid rule with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Auer alongside him.
Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/rosenqvist-wins-juncadella-retires
Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith Georges Grignard
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