Norris Rules the Norisring

Lando Norris has fought incredibly well this morning from fourth on the grid to take a supreme victory at the Norisring during the second race of the FIA Formula Three European Championship this weekend. The British racer had lined up in fourth however used the impressive speed he has shown all weekend to fight his way through and eventually pull a brilliant move to take the lead of the race as his own – taking his Carlin Volkswagen powered Dallara once again to the top step of the podium. Team mate Jehan Daruvala also enjoyed a great race around the tricky street circuit to take fourth position as his own while Ferdinand Habsburg took the flag in 15th position.

In true Formula Three style nothing was to be simple at the start; rain overnight had left a damp circuit for the cars to contend with as they lined up on the grid. With the track drying nicely though, the field started on slick tyres for the 35 minute race. Off the line Norris held on to his fourth position while Daruvala was sixth and Habsburg in 15th as they made their way around the opening lap. Norris, keen to put the drama of yesterday well and truly behind him, started to fight and make his way up the field – taking on a battle for third position the Carlin man lost out and dropped to fifth, just in front of his team mate.

A few laps later however and both Norris and Daruvala had piled the pressure on Pedro Piquet enough that they were both able to breeze past the Brazilian racer on lap four. This was the last move for some laps for the Carlin men who were using this part of the race to get into a nice rhythm between the concrete barriers. Norris however was not content with fourth and had soon pulled off a move to take third from yesterday’s race winner Maximilian Gunter before lining up behind Jake Hughes. On lap 22 Norris took second as his own – pushing the Hitech driver down to third as he moved his focus to the race leader ahead.

Cutting the gap consistently Norris was soon right up behind Ralf Aron and started to think about his next move for position. Running wheel to wheel for many corners, Norris was pushing hard in his efforts. Eventually after switching tact Norris was able to hold a line and gain the inside to take the advantage and run past Aron with just three minutes of the race remaining; the British racer didn’t look back and took his third victory of the season. Meanwhile Daruvala also took the advantage and made his way by the now struggling Aron to clinch fourth as his own as the flag fell. Habsburg crossed the line at the end of the 35 minute race to take the flag in 15th position.

Norris said of victory, “I’m very happy to be back on the top step after a set of results that haven’t been so great. It’s really not the easiest of tracks to overtake at here – especially when the driver ahead is defending really well so I had some great battles as a result. It was a tough race but it was also pretty fun out there too. At the start, most of the track was dry but it was a little wet in to turn one and two at times however after about ten laps that dried up nicely so I was able to push 100%. Overall an enjoyable race and I’m sure we have another tough race coming up later.”

The final race of the weekend will get underway at 14.50 local time and will see Daruvala line up in second, Habsburg fifth and Norris sixth.