2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship
Round 14, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, June 20^th/22^nd 2014
© Lynne Waite and Stella-Maria Thomas

Race 2 Grid (Fastest Qualifying Laps of Qualifying Session 2 after penalties):
1^st – No. 16, Gustavo Menezes, USA, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:25.458
2^nd – No. 30, Max Verstappen*, NLD, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:26.616
3^rd – No. 2, Esteban Ocon*, FRA, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:27.380
4^th – No. 10, John Bryant Meisner, SWE, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:27.647
5^th – No. 21, Felix Serralles, PRT, Team West-TecF3, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:27.767
6^th – No. 12, Alexander Toril, ESP, ThreeBond with T-Sport, Dallara F312, NBE, 2:28.456
7^th – No. 14, Felipe Guimaraes, BRA, Double R Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:28.901
8^th – No. 3, Lucas Auer, AUT, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:29.082
9^th – No. 27, Felix Rosenqvist, SWE, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:29.215
10^th – No. 8, Michele Beretta*, ITA, Eurointernational, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:29.447
11^th – No. 18, Tatiana Calderon, COL, Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:29.466
12^th – No. 15, Jules Szymkowiak*, NLD, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:29.754
13^th – No. 1, Nicholas Latifi, CDN, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:29.932
14^th – No. 22, Hector Hurst, GBR, Team West-TecF3, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:30.342
15^th – No. 5, Jordan King, GBR, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:30.517
16^th – No. 29, Santino Ferrucci, USA, Eurointernational, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:30.709
17^th – No. 11, Richard Goddard, AUS, ThreeBond with T-Sport, Dallara F312, NBE, 2:31.030
18^th – No. 4, Roy Nissany, ISR, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:31.206
19^th – No. 19, Antonio Giovinazzi, ITA, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:31.494
20^th – No. 20, Sean Gelael, IDN, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:31.751
21^st – No. 17, Sandro Zeller, SWI, Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:32.005
22^nd – No. 28, Jake Dennis*, GBR, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:32.333
23^rd – No. 31, Tom Blomqvist, GBR, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 2:32.699

Qualification Maxima (110%) 2:40.003
24^th – No. 25, Antonio Fuoco*, ITA, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz
25^th – No. 9, Mitch Gilbert, AUS, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz
26^th – No. 26, Dennis van de Laar, NLD, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, did not participate

*Rookie

Race Report – Round 14 (Race 2):

Weather: Warm, dry, sunny.

At Spa on Saturday afternoon, Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing) claimed his second win of the weekend, beating home series leader Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) in a tense race on this most demanding of circuits. Third place went to another of the Van Amersfoort boys in the shape of Gustavo Menezes.

Before the race even started we were down a driver however, Santino Ferrucci (Eurointernational) would have to miss what would have been his second ever race because of damage sustained in race 1 when he clashed with Antonio Giovinazzi. The resulting wreck was too severe for the team to complete the necessary repairs in the available time.

At the start Menezes, who was on pole, got away into the lead, while behind him Ocon got the drop on Verstappen and was 2^nd, but then a mistake from the leader on the run into Les Combes cost the American dearly as he got it wrong and went straight on. Race 1 showed that Verstappen knows exactly what he’s doing through this section, and so it proved as he came out ahead of his team-mate, having passed Ocon on the straight. As Menezes tried to sort himself out, Ocon went through as well, still looking for a way through for the lead. Verstappen wasn’t having any of it…

That left Menezes 3^rd, a position that the whole of the field seemed to want to relieve him of. Or at least that must have been how it felt to him. He came under sustained attack from Felix Serralles (Team West-TecF3) who stole 3^rd from him, only for Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) to join in as well just as Menezes got the place back.

Behind them Alexander Toril (ThreeBond with T-Sport) was coming under pressure from Tatiana Calderon (Jo Zeller Racing) for 8^th place, the Spaniard losing out to the Colombian woman on lap 6. A Jo Zeller car has never been this high up the order, proving just how much Tatiana loves Spa. Her next target was John Bryant-Meisner (Fortec Motorsport) and she was through for 7^th.

The Carlin boys were on the move too… Jake Dennis was the next driver to pass Toril, claiming 9^th, while Tom Blomqvist, in the Jagonya Ayam liveried version was soon 12^th having dispatched another Carlin driver, Jordan King for 13^th, King running with a wobbly looking wing, and then Hector Hurst (Team West-TecF3) as well.

Meanwhile Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam), Michele Beretta (Eurointernational) and Jules Szymkowiak (Van Amersfoort Racing) were all out of the race after mere two laps.

Verstappen was pressing on at the front, pursued by Ocon, although the Frenchman wasn’t about to take too many risks after his non-finish in the first race. Behind them the battle for 3^rd raged on between Menezes, Serralles and Auer. And then it all went wrong. An opportunistic attack around the outside at Les Combes by Auer saw the Austrian run wide and lose control. A passenger now, he shot back onto the circuit and rammed Serralles, launching the Puerto Rican who ended up in the barriers. Both drivers were OK, but the Safety Car was needed.

Verstappen settled in for his second Safety Car period of the day, Ocon still behind him, Menezes remaining 3^rd from Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), Calderon, Bryant-Meisner, Dennis, Toril, and Blomqvist. The clean up took a while, and at the restart there were just four laps left, a fact the leaders were clearly well aware of. Verstappen held onto his lead despite pressure from Ocon through Les Combes, while Menezes had his hands full with Rosenqvist.

The battle for 5^th didn’t last long, Calderon opening a gap as Bryant-Meisner became embroiled in a ferocious fight for 6^th, Dennis in particular, having started the race from 21^st, seemed unstoppable and was determined to find a way past the Swede by whatever means presented itself. Blomqvist, Toril, Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) and Nicholas Latifi (Prema Powerteam) were also all in the mix, as was King. With very little time left Dennis went for it, and that was when the battle went decidedly pear-shaped.

Toril shoved Bryant-Meisner off, handing 6^th to Dennis. Toril was out on the spot just two laps from the flag, while JBM limped round to the finish at the tail end of the field in 18^th place. The beneficiaries were Latifi, Blomqvist, Giovinazzi and King who all moved into better points scoring places in 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th respectively. At least this time no Safety Car was needed and Verstappen continued round to his second win of the day, less than a second ahead of Ocon, who was happy to collect more points.

3^rd was Menezes from Rosenqvist, Calderon, Dennis, Latifi, Blomqvist, Giovinazzi and King. 11^th went to Roy Nissany (kfzteile24 Muecke Motorsport), leading home Sean Gelael (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin), Dennis van de Laar (Prema Powerteam), Richard “Spike” Goddard (ThreeBond with T-Sport), Sandro Zeller (Jo Zeller Racing), Hurst, Bryant-Meisner and Toril, two laps adrift.

Ocon set the fastest lap of the race.

Race 2 Results:
1^st – No. 30, Max Verstappen*, NLD, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, 15 laps, 35:48.572
2^nd – No. 2, Esteban Ocon*, FRA, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 0.805
3^rd – No. 16, Gustavo Menezes, USA, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 1.842
4^th – No. 27, Felix Rosenqvist, SWE, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 3.021
5^th – No. 18, Tatiana Calderon, COL, Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 7.992
6^th – No. 28, Jake Dennis*, GBR, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 9.257
7^th – No. 1, Nicholas Latifi, CDN, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 11.609
8^th – No. 31, Tom Blomqvist, GBR, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 12.113
9^th – No. 19, Antonio Giovinazzi, ITA, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 13.221
10^th – No. 5, Jordan King, GBR, Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 13.411
11^th – No. 4, Roy Nissany, ISR, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 14.250
12^th – No. 9, Mitch Gilbert, AUS, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 14.948
13^th – No. 20, Sean Gelael, IDN, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, gap 16.418
14^th – No. 26, Dennis van de Laar, NLD, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 17.332
15^th – No. 11, Richard Goddard, AUS, ThreeBond with T-Sport, Dallara F312, NBE, gap 17.688
16^th – No. 17, Sandro Zeller, SWI, Jo Zeller Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 18.400
17^th – No. 22, Hector Hurst, GBR, Team West-TecF3, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 20.427
18^th – No. 10, John Bryant Meisner, SWE, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, gap 24.494
19^th – No. 12, Alexander Toril, ESP, ThreeBond with T-Sport, Dallara F312, NBE, 2 laps

Not Classified:
No. 21, Felix Serralles, PRT, Team West-TecF3, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, lap 9
No. 3, Lucas Auer, AUT, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, lap 9
No. 14, Felipe Guimaraes, BRA, Double R Racing, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, lap 3
No. 25, Antonio Fuoco*, ITA, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, lap 2
No. 8, Michele Beretta*, ITA, Eurointernational, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, lap 2
No. 15, Jules Szymkowiak*, NLD, Van Amersfoort Racing, Dallara F312, Volkswagen, lap 2

Did Not Start:
No. 29, Santino Ferrucci*, USA, Eurointernational, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz

Fastest Lap:
No. 2, Esteban Ocon*, FRA, Prema Powerteam, Dallara F312, Mercedes-Benz, 2:11.410, lap 6, 119.226mph, 191.876kph

*Rookie