A turbulent race at the Norisring - Maiden victory for Vietoris
29.06.2008 - At the 2.3 kilometres long Norisring in Nuremberg, Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport) scored his maiden victory in the Formula 3 Euro Series. After 18 laps, the Mücke driver finished ahead of Canadian, Robert Wickens, who raced at the Norisring for the first time, and Edoardo Mortara (both Signature-Plus). In the points’ standings, Mortara extended his lead to 15 points. The runner-up in the standings, Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix) retired early after a collision with Martin Plowman (R.C. Motorsport).
The race had a turbulent start. On the first lap already, Jon Lancaster (ART Grand Prix) and Edoardo Mortara collided in the Grundig hairpin and the 21-year old Italian spun. This led to a pile-up of several cars, after which the clerk of the course interrupted the race for 22 minutes. After the re-start, Erik Janis (Mücke Motorsport) took the lead, but only held it for three laps. Then, he was overtaken by his team-mate Christian Vietoris. The 19-year old safely drove victory home. As another accident happened in the Grundig hairpin in the closing stages, the race was stopped early. This time, James Jakes (ART Grand Prix) had pushed Spaniard Daniel Campos-Hull (HBR Motorsport) into a spin and Richard Philippe (Carlin Motorsport) couldn’t avoid them. As less than half the planned race distance was completed due to the interruption, only half points were given.
Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport): “Today, I had a good start, but then, the race was interrupted. After the re-start, it took a while before my tyres were warm. After that, I was able to overtake and claim my first win. Today, I had luck, but the title is still a long way to go.”
Robert Wickens (Signature-Plus): “Being on the podium in my fourth race already is incredible. Hopefully, it will go on like this and I can still score many points. The Norisring suits my driving style very well.“
Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus): “That was the hardest race in my life. It is almost a miracle that my front wing didn’t break. I was really lucky today, things were running perfectly for me.”
Air temperature: 26.2 °C
Asphalt temperature: 33.0 °C