Mortara wins wet first race in Spain

In pouring rain, Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus) came out on top. The Italian won the 15th season round of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the 2.977 kilometres long Circuit de Catalunya. Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3) and Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3) completed the podium. Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport), Grosjean’s fiercest rivals in the battle for the title in the world’s strongest junior racing series, failed to score points in the Barcelona region.

At the start, Hülkenberg took the lead. On lap eight, he locked up under braking and briefly came off the track. In the process, he lost two positions as Mortara and Dillmann wend past him. The German fought, overtook Dillmann on lap 17 and secured second place behind Mortara. For the Italian, it was already his second victory in the Euro Series after his success at Brands Hatch.

Grosjean crossed the finish line in third place, but he was given a one minute time penalty after the race because on the starting grid, the mechanics had been working on his car longer than admitted. He appealed against the decision, which has a delaying effect on the penalty. Thus, he was allowed to keep his third place for the time being. As a result, Grosjean extended his margin in the championship over Buemi to twelve points.

Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus): “I am very, very happy. My start was excellent and it was the key to this success. Bar a slight error early on, my race was flawless."

Nico Hülkenberg (ASM Formule 3): “Up to lap eight, it was almost perfect. Then I made a mistake and lost the lead. Too bad, because I was quick enough to win the race."

Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3): “I have driven a good race without any mistakes and I made it onto the podium after having started 14th. I am very happy."

Pos. No. Driver Make Behind
1 24 Edoardo Mortara (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 0.000
2 19 Nico Hülkenberg Dallara F305 Mercedes 01.208
3 2 Romain Grosjean Dallara F305 Mercedes 04.994
4 20 Tom Dillmann (R) Dallara F307 Mercedes 08.275
5 4 James Jakes Dallara F305 Mercedes 12.912
6 3 Franck Mailleux (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 20.341
7 16 Renger van der Zande Dallara F306 Mercedes 28.366
8 8 Edoardo Piscopo (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 29.690
9 26 Harald Schlegelmilch Dallara F306 Mercedes 37.211
10 10 Yann Clairay (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 41.931
11 1 Kamui Kobayashi Dallara F305 Mercedes 42.708
12 12 Tim Sandtler Dallara F306 Mercedes 45.287
13 6 Filip Salaquarda Dallara F306 Mercedes 48.900
14 23 Dani Clos (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 49.722
15 28 Marco Holzer (R) Dallara F305 Volkswagen 57.439
16 21 Cyndie Allemann Dallara F306 Mercedes 1:01.952
17 32 Jonathan Summerton Dallara F306 Volkswagen 1:02.524
18 18 Michael Patrizi (R) Dallara F306 Mercedes 1:17.471
19 5 Sergey Afanasiev (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 1:18.981
20 31 Maximilian Götz Dallara F306 Volkswagen 6 laps
NOT CLASSIFIED
7 Sebastien Buemi Dallara F305 Mercedes 13 laps
30 Basil Shaaban Dallara F306 Mercedes 16 laps
27 Euan Hankey (R) Dallara F305 Mercedes 23 laps
22 Yelmer Buurman Dallara F305 Mercedes 28 laps
9 Jean Karl Vernay (R) Dallara F306 Mercedes 29 laps