Habsburg Takes Emotional Maiden F3 Win
Habsburg (Drivex) and Pulcini (Campos Racing) battle to the end at Le Castellet, with just two-tenths of a second separating them after 15 laps. Menchaca (Campos Racing) stepped onto the rostrum in 3rd. Habsburg also claimed the win in the Rookie class.
The Euroformula Open delivered another close result at Paul Ricard and fans saw several sizzling duels with plenty of racing action. Austria’s Ferdinand Habsburg (Drivex) barely put a wheel wrong on his way to the win despite Damiano Fioravanti (RP Motorsport) at the beginning, and Leonardo Pulcini (Campos Racing) later in the race, both making the most of the opportunities to slipstream that the French circuit provides.
In the morning, Habsburg secured his maiden pole position by clocking an impressive 1:59.788 with his solid qualifying effort, the only man to break the 2 minute barrier. Behind him Fioravanti was able to beat his teammate Antoni Ptak in the closing moments of the session. The Pole would share row two with Pulcini. Colton Herta (Carlin Motorsport), Igor Walilko (Fortec Motorsports), Diego Menchaca (Campos Racing) and Enaam Ahmed (DAV Racing) completed the top 8.
The field lined up on the grid for the standing start promptly at 15:15 and Habsburg kept his nerve to keep the lead ahead of Fioravanti and Pulcini. Ptak dropped several places and Menchaca inherited fourth place, after making a brilliant race start to go ahead of Herta. Despite Habsburg´s pole position being three tenths of a second quicker than Fioravanti’s time, he struggled to build a gap. In fact both Fioravanti and Pulcini pulled out into his slipstream. By then, Herta and his teammate Keyvan Andres had dropped down the order with a spin apiece after clashing with other drivers. Julio Moreno (Campos Racing) and Vladimir Atoev (Teo Martin Motorsport) also retired shortly after the start.
At the front, Habsburg was trying everything to fend off Fioravanti and Pulcini. Damiano attempted an overtake on Habsburg on lap six but spun and dropped to sixth. But then Habsburg found Pulcini on his tail. For several laps Habsburg seemed to have it all under control but his Dallara was again under pressure in the final two laps. Habsburg survived a last corner charge from Pulcini to win, leaving the Italian driver to claim valuable points in the drivers’ championship. Menchaca took the chequered flag in third ahead of Ptak who had moved up through the field after his bad start. Walilko finished 5th ahead of Fioravanti. Ahmed came home in 7th place for DAV Racing ahead of Tanart Sathienthirakul and Kantadhee Kusiri, the RP Motorsport pair of Thai drivers. Daniel Pronenko (BVM Racing) took 10th place to claim the final point.
2016 Euroformula Open, Paul Ricard, Qualifying
1st, No. 62, Ferdinand Habsburg*^, AUT, Drivex School, Dallara F312, 1:59.788
2nd, No. 3, Damiano Fioravanti^, ITA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:00.085
3rd, No. 1, Antoni Ptak^, POL, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:00.131
4th, No. 8, Leonardo Pulcini^, ITA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 2:00.140
5th, No. 98, Colton Herta*, USA, Carlin, Dallara F312, 2:00.182
6th, No. 37, Igor Walilko^, POL, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, 2:00.324
7th, No. 7, Diego Menchaca^, MEX, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 2:00.366
8th, No. 65, Enaam Ahmed, GBR*, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, 2:00.468
9th, No. 6, Julio Moreno^, ECU, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 2:00.521
10th, No. 47, Keyvan Andres*, GER, Carlin, Dallara F312, 2:00.985
11th, No. 72, Nikita Zlobin, RUS, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:01.057
12th, No. 2, Kantadhee Kusiri^, THA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:01.202
13th, No. 5, Tanart Sathienthirakul^, THA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:01.301
14th, No. 20, Daniil Pronenko*^, RUS, BVM Racing, Dallara F312, 2:01.754
15th, No. 27, Kang Ling, CHN, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, 2:01.978
16th, No. 12, Vladimir Atoev, RUS, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, 2:02.094
17th, No. 14, Jose Manuel Vilalta, MEX, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:02.505
18th, No. 51, Ameya Vaidyanathan*, IND, Carlin, Dallara F312, 2:02.592
19th, No. 18, Riccardo Cazzaniga*^, ITA, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, 2:03.054
20th, No. 9, Gulhuseyn Abdullayev*^, AZE, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 2:03.120
21st, No. 15, Alex Liang, CHN, Team West-Tec, Dallara F312, 2:03.879
2016 Euroformula Open, Paul Ricard, Race 1
1st, No. 62, Ferdinand Habsburg*^, AUT, Drivex School, Dallara F312, 15 laps, 31:00.905
2nd, No. 8, Leonardo Pulcini^, ITA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 0.226
3rd, No. 7, Diego Menchaca^, MEX, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 2.024
4th, No. 1, Antoni Ptak^, POL, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 3.402
5th, No. 37, Igor Walilko^, POL, Fortec Motorsports, Dallara F312, Gap: 3.876
6th, No. 3, Damiano Fioravanti^, ITA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 4.902
7th, No. 65, Enaam Ahmed, GBR*, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 8.511
8th, No. 5, Tanart Sathienthirakul^, THA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 9.926
9th, No. 2, Kantadhee Kusiri^, THA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 17.342
10th, No. 20, Daniil Pronenko*^, RUS, BVM Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 25.731
11th, No. 27, Kang Ling, CHN, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 29.833
12th, No. 72, Nikita Zlobin, RUS, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 30.338
13th, No. 51, Ameya Vaidyanathan*, IND, Carlin, Dallara F312, Gap: 36.849
14th, No. 47, Keyvan Andres*, GER, Carlin, Dallara F312, Gap: 42.598
15th, No. 9, Gulhuseyn Abdullayev*^, AZE, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 44.230
16th, No. 14, Jose Manuel Vilalta, MEX, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 55.328
17th, No. 15, Alex Liang, CHN, Team West-Tec, Dallara F312, Gap: 1:13.283
18th, No. 98, Colton Herta*, USA, Carlin, Dallara F312, Gap: 2 laps
Not Classified
No. 18, Riccardo Cazzaniga*^, ITA, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 3
No. 12, Vladimir Atoev, RUS, DAV Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 1
No. 6, Julio Moreno^, ECU, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 1
Fastest Lap
No. 8, Leonardo Pulcini^, ITA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 10, 2:03.058, 170.905 kph
^ Spanish Formula 3
- Rookie
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