Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Wickens wins shortened Le Mans race

Wickens wins shortened Le Mans race

Robert Wickens took his maiden Formula 3 victory in a rain-interrupted second F3 Euro Series race at Le Mans this morning.

The Canadian driver - who only joined the series mid-season to combine it with his Formula Renault 3.5 campaign - took the lead at the start from Brendon Hartley and was never headed.

The race was red flagged for more than 20 minutes when a few spots of rain led to several accidents after just six laps, and by the time the restart order was organised, there were just five minutes remaining.

Wickens made a commanding restart after a lap behind the safety car, while Hartley fell back into the clutches of Dani Clos and eventually spun.

The Spanish driver didn't have time to do anything about Wickens, though, as only three racing laps took place before the chequered flag.

Jean-Karl Vernay looked aggressive from the start and eventually took third thanks to Hartley's spin, while behind him Koudai Tsukakoshi took fourth, despite having rear-ended Jon Lancaster before the red flag.

James Jakes came through the carnage to take fifth from 13th on the grid, while Rodolfo Gonzalez scored the first point of the season for Carlin Motorsport with sixth.

That will only be half a point however, as only 11 laps were completed so full points cannot be awarded.

Further down the order, newly-crowned champion Nico Hulkenberg had been charging through the field as they all struggled in the rain before the stoppage.

The German was up to 10th from 24th in just six laps, but his progress was stopped once he got up to eighth, and couldn't find a way past Daniel Campos-Hull.

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1. Robert Wickens Signature D/V 40:23.064 2. Dani Clos Prema D/M +0.791 3. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V +2.111 4. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M +2.778 5. James Jakes ART D/M +3.705 6. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M +6.537 7. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M +7.635 8. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M +8.021 9. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M +9.061 10. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M +9.448 11. Sam Bird Manor D/M +9.764 12. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M +10.096 13. Erik Janis Mucke D/M +11.175 14. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V +11.769 15. Jens Klingmann RC D/V +12.273 16. Yann Clairay SG D/M +14.572 17. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +15.936 18. Nelson Panciatici RC D/V +17.516 19. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M +19.749 20. Mika Maki Mucke D/M +20.300 21. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V +42.597 22. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M +43.223 23. Stephane Richelmi Barazi Epsilon D/M +44.291 24. Cheng Cong Fu RC D/V +1 lap 25. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M +1 lap Retirements Jon Lancaster ART D/M 4 laps Richard Philippe SG D/M 1 lap D/M = Dallara Mercedes, D/V = Dallara Volkswagen

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