Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Mortara, Volkswagen savour first win

Mortara, Volkswagen savour first win

Edoardo Mortara has a commanding lead in the Formula 3 Euro Series after scoring the first victory for a Volkswagen-powered car since the German manufacturer returned to the category last year.

The Swiss-based Italian finished second on Saturday at Pau and followed it up with victory from seventh on the grid yesterday, in a race that began behind the safety car due to heavy rain.

Mortara charged through the field on the narrow street circuit and took the lead from polesitter Renger van der Zande on lap 14, and went on to score VW's first victory, in the seventh event for their new engine.

The result also gives him a 14-point lead in the championship over Mika Maki, who failed to score.

"To say that I'm surprised and happy is a big understatement," said Mortara. "It was just one of those dream weekends.

"First I would like to thank the Signature team and Volkswagen for all their incredibly hard work for this historic victory. The engine had very good driveability and I had a fantastic feeling with the car all weekend."

VW's motorsport director Kris Nissen, himself a former F3 race winner with the marque, added: "We have consistently showed how competitive our engine is and the first victory is a special exploit.

"This win did not come easily to Edoardo but the interaction between team, driver, chassis, and engine was perfect."

Despite the strong start to the season and his lead in the championship, Mortara doesn't want to think about the title yet.

"Leading with a 14-point advantage is a comfortable situation at the moment," he said. "But we've still got 14 races to go so nobody is taking anything for granted."



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