Race report
Formula European Masters Norisring
Leclerc dominates wet Norisring opener
Charles Leclerc eased to a fourth European Formula 3 victory of the season in torrential conditions at the Norisring to extend his championship lead.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Jun 27, 2015, 12:21 PM
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From pole position, the young Monegasque led throughout, withstanding early pressure from a rapid Alex Albon before a mistake by the Anglo-Thai gave Leclerc a comfortable margin he would hold until the race was effectively ended by a Safety Car period.
The field circulated behind the pace car for the opening laps before being let loose, with Albon immediately diving up the inside of Maximilian Gunther to slot into second behind Leclerc.
The two rookie drivers were split by less than a second for the opening part of the race in the battle for the lead, until Albon ran straight on at the first hairpin, dropping down to fifth in the process.
His error gave Leclerc a comfortable lead of 4.4 seconds, which he would almost double before the Safety Car was scrambled in response to debris from Jake Dennis’ car being scattered across the circuit after the Brit collided with Arjun Maini as the latter left the pits.
Antonio Giovinazzi, who had moved up from seventh on the grid to second, got a large piece of the debris stuck on his front wing just as the caution period began, but was able to dislodge it by riding over the kerbs and kept his second place behind a dominant Leclerc.
The Italian had passed title rival Felix Rosenqvist for the place at the exit of the first corner a few laps earlier, the Swede hanging on for third, ahead of Gunther, who ran second after Albon ran wide before slipping behind first Rosenqvist and then Giovinazzi in quick succession.
Dorian Boccolacci took sixth behind Signature teammate Albon, with Gustavo Menezes, Lance Stroll, Markus Pommer – slipping five places from his grid slot of fourth – and George Russell completing the scorers.
Race results:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1 Charles Leclerc Van Amersfoort Racing 35'41.741 2 Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin 0.769 3 Felix Rosenqvist Prema Powerteam 5.703 4 Maximilian Gunther Mucke Motorsport 6.410 5 Alexander Albon Signature 7.526 6 Dorian Boccolacci Signature 7.998 7 Gustavo Menezes Carlin 9.369 8 Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam 9.864 9 Markus Pommer Motopark 11.196 10 George Russell Carlin 12.734 11 Callum Ilott Carlin 13.199 12 Mikkel Jensen Mucke Motorsport 14.493 13 Ryan Tveter Carlin 15.350 14 Tatiana Calderon Carlin 16.603 15 Sergio Sette Camara Motopark 16.955 16 Sam MacLeod Motopark 17.413 17 Alessio Lorandi Van Amersfoort Racing 17.546 18 Julio Moreno T-Sport 20.150 19 Pietro Fittipaldi Fortec 20.311 20 Brandon Maisano Prema Powerteam 1 lap 21 Kang Ling Mucke Motorsport 1 lap 22 Nicolas Pohler Double R Racing 1 lap 23 Matt Rao Fortec 1 lap 24 Nabil Jeffri Motopark 1 lap 25 Mahaveer Raghunathan Motopark 2 laps 26 Fabian Schiller West-Tec 2 laps Ret Jake Dennis Prema Powerteam Ret Santino Ferrucci Mucke Motorsport Ret Matt Solomon Double R Racing Ret Raoul Hyman West-Tec Ret Arjun Maini Van Amersfoort Racing Ret Michele Beretta Mucke Motorsport
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