2013 FIA F3 European Championship
Round 27, Vallelunga, Italy, October 12^th/13^th 2013
© Lynne Waite and Stella-Maria Thomas

Weather: Warm, sunny.

Qualifying Report – Round 27 (Race 3):
The second of two 20 minute qualifying sessions at Vallelunga today was again all about Raffaele Marciello, Prema Powerteam’s local hero, as he again qualified on pole for a 2013 FIA F3 European Championship race. Meanwhile, the only man standing between him and the title, Felix Rosenqvist (kfz-teile24 Mücke Motorsport) was left to rue the suspension failure that struck in the first session. At least he was able to get a flying lap this time, but between the damage to the car, and a late session red flag, the best he could manage was 13^th. 2^nd this time went to Luis “Pipo” Derani (Fortec Motorsport), ahead of team-mate Felix Serralles.

At the start of the session it seemed everyone was keeping their powder dry, hence the fact that at five minutes in there was hardly anyone out there and the top three consisted of Serralles, from Richard “Spike” Goddard (ThreeBond with T-Sport) and Andre Rudersdorf (ma-con). It was a somewhat unlikely mix, most people would agree. Tatiana Calderon (Double R Racing) and Sandro Zeller (Jo Zeller Racing) were 4^th and 5^th. They were soon joined by Sean Gelael (Double R Racing), the 16-year old edging into 4^th.

A lap later and Calderon was 2^nd from Goddard and Rudersdorf, while Serralles stayed fastest. After the Puerto Rican pitted, Lucas Wolf (URD Rennsport) got in on the act, going 4^th. Next Michael Lewis (kfz-teile24 Mücke Motorsport) went 2^nd and Roy Nissany (in another of the Mücke cars) went fastest. It couldn’t last. It didn’t.

Derani shot up to 3^rd while Carlin’s Jordan King claimed 5^th, and Sven Mueller (Van Amersfoort Racing) was on temporary pole. A further improvement from Wolf put him 3^rd, while Jann Mardenborough (Carlin) was soon 7^th. A further effort from Serralles was good enough for 2^nd, while Derani went one better for pole. Inspired perhaps by his new team-mate Van Amersfoort’s Dennis van de Laar was an unprecedented 4^th now, ahead of Harry Tincknell (Carlin), but then Marciello came from nowhere to snatch pole from under everyone’s noses.

As the session wore on Alexander Sims (ThreeBond with T-Sport) improved to 3^rd, while Lynn was 5^th and Eddie Cheever (Prema Powerteam) moved into 7^th. Derani upset the order by claiming 2^nd, with Sims, Müller, Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam), King, Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam), Tincknell, Serralles and Cheever rounding out the top ten. It still wasn’t over though.

Daniil Kvyat (Carlin) was ready to make his move, and it was enough to give the Russian 8^th. Serralles dug a little deeper for 3^rd meanwhile, and just as Rosenqvist barrelled round in 13^th, Nissany went off and the red flags were hauled out. At this point the order was Marciello, from Derani, Serralles, Sims, King, Müller, Lynn, Kvyat, Auer and Cheever. Tincknell was 11^th ahead of Nicholas Latifi (Carlin), Rosenqvist, Van de Laar, Mitchell Gilbert (kfz-teile24 Mücke Motorsport), Mardenborough, Lewis, Goddard, John Bryant-Meisner (Fortec Motorsport) and Nissany. 21^st was occupied by Giovinazzi, from Tom Blomqvist (EuroInternational), Wolf, Rudersdorf, Gelael, Calderon and Zeller.

It looked likely that that would be how it ended too. There were only 3 minutes and 49 seconds left, which would mean a single flying lap at best. There were not likely to be many changes now, if any. In defiance of the fact, there was one improvement, from Lynn, who gained two places to finish 5^th on the grid for Race 3.

So Marciello again starts from pole, ahead of Derani, Serralles, Sims, Lynn, King, Müller, Kvyat and Auer. Cheever will line up 11^th ahead of Tincknell, Latifi, Rosenqvist, van de Laar, Gilbert, Mardenborough, Lewis, Goddard, Bryant-Meisner and Nissany. The last few places were taken by Giovinazzi, Blomqvist, Wolf, Rudersdorf, Gelael, Calderon and Zeller.