Vietoris in front in both free practice sessions at Pau
30.05.2008 - Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport, 1st free practice: 1:14.13 min / 2nd free practice: 1:12.354 min) apparently seems to do particularly well at the difficult track of Pau in the south of France. The German came out on top of the 30 cars strong field in both 30 minutes’ free practice sessions of the Formula 3 Euro Series. Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus, 1:14.162 min / 1:12.850 min) came second in both sessions. In the morning, third place was occupied by Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature-Plus, 1:14.333 min / 1:13.034 min), in the afternoon, it was Nico Hülkenberg who came third (ART Grand Prix, 1:14.867 min / 1:12.940 min).
In Pau, the free practice session of the Formula 3 Euro Series, normally running over one hour, was split into two sessions of 30 minutes each, both taking place on Friday. In the morning, Christian Vietoris came out on top. His fastest time was only challenged in the closing stages as first Jean-Karl Vernay and then Edoardo Mortara moved up into second place. Mortara’s fastest time was only 0.032 seconds slower than Vietoris’s outright fastest lap time. Thus, the two Signature drivers outpaced rookies Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix, 1:14.338 min / 1:12.971 min) and Martin Plowman (R.C. Motorsport, 1:14.391 min / 1:13.124 min), who ended up fourth and fifth.
After the second free practice, in which the lap times were faster than in the first session, Christian Vietoris was again on top. Only towards the end, Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport, 1:15.226 min / 1:12.996 min) also came to the fore. The Finn, who arrived in the south of France as the points’ leader in the Formula 3 Euro Series, ended up sixth ahead of Jean-Karl Vernay. The Frenchman was in first place for a long time until Vietoris outpaced him with only five minutes remaining.
With 15th place in both sessions, Robert Wickens (Signature-Plus, 1:14.910 min / 1:13.357 min) made a strong debut in the Formula 3 Euro Series. In Pau, the Canadian is making his debut in the world’s strongest single-seater category. Another driver contesting his maiden Euro Series’ weekend is Chinese, Cheng Cong Fu (R.C. Motorsport, 1:15.411 min / 1:15.499 min). He had missed out on the first two meetings of the Formula 3 Euro Series because he was representing his country in the A1GP series.
Formula 3 Euro Series
FREE PRACTICE 2
Weather/Track: Sun 22°/Dry 31°
Pau
Circuit Length = 2.7600 km.
Start: 15:15 End: 15:45
Printed - 15:47 Friday, 30 May 2008
Race Director: Steward: Timekeeper:
POS DRIVER CAR TIME LAPS
1 - Christian Vietoris (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'12"354 - 17
2 - Edoardo Mortara (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'12"850 - 19
3 - Nico Hulkenberg (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'12"940 - 20
4 - Jules Bianchi (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'12"971 - 19
5 - Mika Maki (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'12"996 - 20
6 - Jean Karl Vernay (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'13"034 - 19
7 - Kodai Tsukakoshi (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'13"042 - 19
8 - Jon Lancaster (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'13"059 - 20
9 - Tom Dillmann (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'13"122 - 20
10 - Martin Plowman (Dallara-Volkswagen) - RC - 1'13"124 - 20
11 - Yann Clairay (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'13"181 - 20
12 - Erik Janis (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'13"291 - 18
13 - Dani Clos (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'13"307 - 21
14 - Kazuya Oshima (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'13"334 - 19
15 - Robert Wickens (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'13"357 - 20
16 - Richard Philippe (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'13"433 - 23
17 - Charlie Kimball (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'13"465 - 21
18 - Niall Breen (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'13"496 - 20
19 - Sam Bird (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'13"522 - 19
20 - Michael Klein (Dallara-Mercedes) - Zeller - 1'13"539 - 19
21 - Renger Van der Zande (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'13"579 - 21
22 - Henki Waldschmidt (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'13"759 - 18
23 - Franck Mailleux (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'14"024 - 20
24 - Rodolfo Gonzalez (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'14"036 - 20
25 - Daniel Campos (Dallara-Mercedes) - HBR - 1'14"258 - 20
26 - Jens Klingmann (Dallara-Volkswagen) - RC - 1'14"270 - 21
27 - Maximilian Gotz (Dallara-Volkswagen) - RC - 1'14"589 - 6
28 - Basil Shaaban (Dallara-Mercedes) - HBR - 1'14"596 - 20
29 - James Jakes (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'14"693 - 7
30 - Cheng Cong Fu (Dallara-Volkswagen) - RC - 1'15"499 - 16