Hülkenberg unbeatable at Norisring
28.06.2008 - At the 2.3 kilometres long Norisring, Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix) celebrated his second season victory in the Formula 3 Euro Series. The 20-year old test driver of the Williams Formula 1 team won with a margin of 6.651 seconds over Koudai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport), who came second. Behind Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature-Plus), the points leader, Italian Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus) took the chequered flag in fourth place. After his victory, Hülkenberg moved up to second in the points’ standings.
At the start, Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport) outpaced Hülkenberg, who had started from pole. However, under braking before the Grundig-hairpin, the Finn missed his braking point and the German went past. A few metres later, Mäki collided with rookie driver, Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix). Both drivers retired.
From that time on, Hülkenberg’s victory was never in jeopardy, just like Tsukakoshi’s second place. Vernay, on the other hand, only moved up into a podium position on lap 13, when he overtook Rodolfo Gonzalez (Carlin Motorsport) in the battle for third place. For the Frenchman, it was his first podium of the season.
Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix): “Today, it is a great day for me with this perfect result. I have scored many points. It would be perfect when I could also score many points tomorrow. Of course, now I am happy. The team gave me a perfect car again. The experience of my ART team just becomes clear, they have been unbeaten here at Norisring since 2005.”
Koudai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport): “I had a good start and benefited from the collision in front of me. I had a little lack of grip and this is why Nico Hülkenberg today was just too quick for me. Tomorrow, I will be starting seventh and a podium finish is my goal.”
Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature-Plus): “Finally, I have made it on the podium this year. That was very important for me. Hopefully, this is a boost for many more podium places in the races to come.”