Vietoris tops wet practice at Zolder

Christian Vietoris set the best time of the wet first practice session for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder.

A torrential downpour caused the start of the session to be delayed and it was eventually cut from 60 to 30 minutes.

Race winners from the rival British and European championships, Brendon Hartley and Nico Hulkenberg, traded fastest laps for much of the half hour before a dry line emerged in the final five minutes, causing times to tumble at the end.

By matching Hulkenberg lap for lap, Hartley displaced some of the fears that the British teams will be handicapped by their unfamiliarity with the Kumho tyres, at least in wet conditions. They will be hoping for more rain throughout the weekend to minimise the advantage gained by those used to running on Kumhos.

The laptimes improved by around four seconds in the last five minutes as the dry line was established and all the best times were set at the end of the session. Just two of the top 18 in the session didn't set their best times on their last lap.

Hartley was unable to improve his time in the last two laps after spinning off exiting the Villeneuve chicane, while Vietoris, James Jakes, Hulkenberg, Esteban Guerrieri, and Richard Philippe all bettered his time with their final efforts.

Jules Bianchi, John Martin, and Mika Maki completed the top ten with Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara 11th.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:35.987 2. James Jakes ART D/M 1:36.013 +0.026 3. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:36.206 +0.219 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:36.785 +0.798 5. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:37.005 +1.018 6. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:37.113 +1.126 7. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:37.124 +1.137 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:37.222 +1.235 9. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:37.300 +1.313 10. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:37.424 +1.437 11. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:37.438 +1.451 12. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:37.483 +1.496 13. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:37.622 +1.635 14. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:37.837 +1.850 15. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:37.862 +1.875 16. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:37.884 +1.897 17. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:38.098 +2.111 18. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:38.116 +2.129 19. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:38.324 +2.337 20. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:38.383 +2.396 21. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:38.390 +2.403 22. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:38.430 +2.443 23. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:38.525 +2.538 24. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:38.592 +2.605 25. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:38.952 +2.965 26. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:39.119 +3.132 27. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:39.346 +3.359 28. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:39.351 +3.364 29. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:39.420 +3.433 30. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:39.620 +3.633 31. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:39.918 +3.931 32. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:39.977 +3.990 33. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:40.157 +4.170 34. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:40.215 +4.228 35. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:40.483 +4.496 36. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:42.716 +6.729 37. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:43.629 +7.642 D/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/V Dallara Volkswagen

Last-gasp Masters pole for Hulkenberg

Nico Hulkenberg clinched pole position for this weekend's Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder with a sensational late effort in this afternoon's final qualifying session.

The German, who is bidding to become the first driver ever to win back-to-back Masters titles, produced an incredible lap in the dying seconds of the session to pinch the pole from his ART Grand Prix teammate Jules Bianchi.

Bianchi was more than half a second clear of the field for half the top 20 shootout after staying out on his first set of tyres for three laps longer than his rivals. Several attempts to topple Bianchi with new tyres failed, until Dani Clos's stranded Prema Powerteam car forced the session to be red flagged.

Once it was recovered, there was only time for two flying laps each. Several drivers took it turns to catapult themselves into the top six, but none could match Bianchi's earlier effort. Hulkenberg's first effort was two tenths shy and only good enough for third, but he improved by half a second on his final lap to snatch the pole from Bianchi by more than quarter of a second.

"It was quite tough," said Hulkenberg. "We are at the top of the pit lane so there were a lot of cars in front of me after the red flag. I knew that last lap would have to be perfect, but I thought there would be too much traffic. There was a little, but I also got a tow which helped a bit.

"Of course I want to win every race, but because this isn't part of a championship I am quite relaxed about it. We will either win or we won't, lets just see what happens tomorrow."

Renger van der Zande got within a tenth of Bianchi with his last effort and earned third place on the grid, while Koudai Tsukakoshi completed the second row, heading a train of 14 cars covered by less than half a second.

Stefano Coletti finished up fifth, ahead of Max Chilton, who was best of the British championship drivers in sixth. Jon Lancaster, Mika Maki, Brendon Hartley, and Daniel Campos-Hull completed the top ten.

Tom Dillman set the best time of the Group B session to earn 21st place on the grid. He was embroiled in a three way battle with Atte Mustonen and Sam Bird for much of the half hour, but Dillman secured the top spot from Bird as the times dipped into the high 1:24s at the end.

Yann Clairay pipped Mustonen for third (23rd) at the end, and James Jakes took fifth (25th) with his final lap of the session.

Group A Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:24.280 2. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:24.550 +0.270 3. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:24.640 +0.360 4. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:24.813 +0.533 5. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:24.869 +0.589 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:24.884 +0.604 7. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:25.044 +0.764 8. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:25.058 +0.778 9. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:25.071 +0.791 10. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:25.086 +0.806 11. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:25.109 +0.829 12. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:25.113 +0.833 13. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:25.117 +0.837 14. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:25.139 +0.859 15. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:25.203 +0.923 16. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:25.294 +1.014 17. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:25.299 +1.019 18. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:25.452 +1.172 19. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:25.597 +1.317 20. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:26.157 +1.877 Group B Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:24.860 2. Sam Bird Carlin D/M 1:24.900 +0.040 3. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:25.129 +0.269 4. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:25.233 +0.373 5. James Jakes ART D/M 1:25.471 +0.611 6. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:25.502 +0.642 7. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:25.525 +0.665 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:25.682 +0.822 9. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:25.725 +0.865 10. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:25.729 +0.869 11. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:25.789 +0.929 12. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:25.921 +1.061 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:25.939 +1.079 14. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:26.160 +1.300 15. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:26.349 +1.489 16. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:26.565 +1.705 17. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:27.207 +2.347

Last-gasp Masters pole for Hulkenberg

Last-gasp Masters pole for Hulkenberg

Hartley takes sensational pole

Brendon Hartley underlined his raw pace with a sensational pole position lap in the qualifying session for today's British Formula 3 race at Bucharest.

The New Zealander needs a pair of victories in Romania this weekend to keep his championship hopes alive and he got off to the best possible start by producing the lap of the season so far.

Oliver Turvey looked set to take his fifth consecutive pole position when he beat Jaime Alguersuari's best time with five minutes to go. But it all came down to the final minute of the session between the Carlin Motorsport trio.

Hartley knocked half a second off the pole time with a 1:12.7 on his penultimate lap. Turvey and Alguersuari responded with their last efforts but could only manage a 1:12.8 and 1:12.9 respectively.

But Hartley was already on his final lap and giving it everything. He carried incredible speed through the chicanes, using all the road but just missing the walls, and unleashed a staggering 1:11.960 - more than eight tenths of a second faster than anyone else.

Turvey and Alguersuari were the only other cars in the 1:12s with the rest of the field well over a second off Hartley's time.

Esteban Guerrieri was an impressive fourth fastest, making another return to Ultimate Motorsport, and will be one to watch at the start of this afternoon's race as he's renowned for his excellent first laps.

Sam Abay made it four Carlin cars in the top five, with Max Chilton producing another strong qualifying performance in sixth. Double R teammates Atte Mustonen and John Martin qualified seventh and eighth, with title hopeful Sergio Perez a disappointing ninth.

Marcus Ericsson will start from the back of the grid after clouting the wall (for the second time this weekend) on his first flying lap of the session. His Fortec Motorsport teammate Philip Major also hit the wall later in the session.

Jay Bridger headed the National Class runners, pipping practice pace-setter Steven Guerrero by a tenth of a second. Recent form man Stefan Wilson was only fifth in class after a spin stranded him at the third chicane.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:11.960 2. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 1:12.819 +0.859 3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:12.913 +0.953 4. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:13.230 +1.270 5. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 1:13.542 +1.582 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:13.561 +1.601 7. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:13.669 +1.709 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:13.717 +1.757 9. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 1:13.908 +1.948 10. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 1:13.985 +2.025 11. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:14.466 +2.506 12. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M 1:14.526 +2.566 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:14.778 +2.818 14. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 1:15.031 +3.071 15. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.157 +3.197 16. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:15.269 +3.309 17. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 1:15.276 +3.316 18. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 1:15.592 +3.632 19. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 1:16.750 +4.790 20. Philip Major Fortec D/M 1:17.064 +5.104 21. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 1:17.098 +5.138 22. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M no timeD/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/H = Dallara Mugen-Honda

Ianni hopes for exciting summer

Alguersuari capitalises for race two win

Jaime Alguersuari scored his third victory of the season Sunday's British Formula 3 race at Bucharest to keep his title hopes alive with one event remaining.

Alguersuari took the lead on the first lap when Oliver Turvey ran wide at the first corner defending from Brendon Hartley and delayed them both.

Turvey maintained second but Hartley dropped to fifth and had to fight his way back past John Martin and Max Chilton, but he got both in one move at the last corner.

All three were side by side down the straight, with Hartley on the inside and Chilton on the outside both sweeping past Martin. Chilton tried to chop into the corner but Hartley was already there so he aborted and cut the roundabout.

Chilton rejoined ahead of Martin but lifted on the main straight to give the place back, but the loss of momentum also allowed Esteban Guerrieri to come through and Sergio Perez was all over the back of the Hitech car as well.

Perez harassed Chilton for a few more laps until he got a good run down the main straight and moved ahead around the outside. Chilton tapped the back of Perez as the Mexican braked in front of himand his nose kept pushing the back of the T-Sport car until it spun.

Perez was then collected by the unsighted Ricardo Teixeira, which brought out the safety car, and Chilton had to pit for a new nose.

The safety car closed things up at the front and after the restart, Hartley set about finding a way round Turvey. He looked to be quicker, but save for a bit of darting around in the mirrors, he couldn't get close enough to make a serious move.

Turvey was also able to keep his pace up enough that Alguersuari couldn't get away, and 1.1 seconds covered all three as they crossed the line at the end.

"I knew my teammates were a little bit faster than me but I was still able to win," said Alguersuari. "The championship is still very close and we'll see what happens at Donington, I hope to be able to win there."

Martin lost fourth place when he spun and crashed at the right-hand kink and that promoted the Mygales of Ultimate Motorsport teammates Esteban Guerrieri and Michael Devaney to fourth and fifth.

Walter Grubmuller completed the top six, while Oliver Oakes passed Sam Abay for seventh four laps from home.

Stefan Wilson claimed his fourth National Class win of the year with ninth place overall, ahead of Hywel Lloyd and Jay Bridger.

Pos Driver Car Time 1. J.Alguersuari Dallara/Mercedes 30:43.123 2. Oliver Turvey Dallara/Mercedes + 0.642 3. Brendon Hartley Dallara/Mercedes + 1.121 4. E.Guerrieri Mygale/Mercedes + 10.113 5. Michael Devaney Mygale/Mercedes + 12.233 6. W.Grubmüller Dallara/Mercedes + 12.891 7. Oliver Oakes Dallara/Mercedes + 19.853 8. Sam Abay Dallara/Mercedes + 21.858 9. Stefan Wilson Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 23.258 10. Hywel Lloyd Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 23.546 11. Jay Bridger Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 24.735 12. Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Mercedes + 26.124 13. S.Al-Khalifa Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 36.642 14. Steven Guerrero Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 38.568 15. Henry Arundel Dallara/Mercedes + 39.163 16. Max Chilton Dallara/Mercedes + 54.934 Retirements: Driver Car Laps John Martin Dallara/Mercedes 15 Atte Mustonen Dallara/Mercedes 13 Philip Major Dallara/Mercedes 12 Sergio Pérez Dallara/Mugen-Honda 7 Ricardo Teixeira Mygale/Mercedes 7 Fastest lap: Hartley, 1:13.361 on lap 7

Rout of RSL may turn corner for D.C.

Alguersuari capitalises for race two win

Alguersuari capitalises for race two win

Vietoris on pole at Nurburgring

Christian Vietoris qualified on pole position for the first race of his local Formula 3 Euro Series round at Nurburgring this afternoon.

The Mucke Motorsport driver became only the second driver to beat ART Grand Prix's Nico Hulkenberg in a qualifying session this year, although Hulkenberg will still line up alongside his countryman on the front row.

Tom Dillman qualified third on his return to the series, driving for Jo Zeller Racing, following his departure from SG Formula after the races at Pau two months ago.

French rookie Jules Bianchi (ART) will start fourth after topping the day's earlier practice session, ahead of title protagonist Mika Maki (Mucke), Briton James Jakes (ART), and Zandvoort race two winner Renger van der Zande (Prema).

Daniel Ricciardo qualified an excellent eighth on his Formula 3 debut with SG, with Robert Wickens (Signature) the top Volkswagen-powered driver in ninth, and Jon Lancaster (ART) completing the top ten. The series' other newcomer, Brendon Hartley, qualified 25th for RC Motorsport.

Edoardo Mortara will have a fight on his hands to maintain his championship lead after qualifying just 21st, with his closest four rivals in the points race all in a position to score well.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:23.259 2. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:23.541 +0.282 3. Tom Dillmann Jo Zeller D/M 1:23.593 +0.334 4. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:23.706 +0.447 5. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:23.784 +0.525 6. James Jakes ART D/M 1:23.835 +0.576 7. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:23.850 +0.591 8. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:23.878 +0.619 9. Robert Wickens Signature D/V 1:23.948 +0.689 10. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:23.951 +0.692 11. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:24.063 +0.804 12. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:24.074 +0.815 13. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:24.076 +0.817 14. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:24.101 +0.842 15. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:24.113 +0.854 16. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:24.140 +0.881 17. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:24.177 +0.918 18. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:24.177 +0.918 19. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:24.200 +0.941 20. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:24.215 +0.956 21. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:24.273 +1.014 22. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:24.343 +1.084 23. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:24.362 +1.103 24. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:24.395 +1.136 25. Brendon Hartley RC D/V 1:24.399 +1.140 26. Cheng Cong Fu RC D/V 1:24.471 +1.212 27. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:24.552 +1.293 28. Jens Klingmann RC D/V 1:24.655 +1.396 29. Martin Plowman RC D/V 1:24.757 +1.498 30. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:25.217 +1.958

Plowman replaces Wickens at Zolder

Formula 3 Euro Series racer Martin Plowman will replace Robert Wickens at Signature for this weekend's F3 Masters at Zolder.

The Briton drives for RC Motorsport in the Euro Series but as the team have elected not to enter the Masters, Plowman was free to switch to fellow Volkswagen-powered outfit Signature for the one-off event to gain more experience in his debut F3 season.

"I'm very grateful to have this one-off opportunity with Signature," he said. "This will be my first time at the Masters and is almost certainly the biggest race of my career so far.

"My aim will be just to enjoy it and learn as much as possible. I'm going to be working with some very experienced people, so my plan is to take away as much as possible. I'm sure it will be a massive help to me in the future."

Hartman closing on MLS save mark

Plowman replaces Wickens at Zolder

Blanco says goodbye to international play

Lancaster takes maiden F3 victory

Jon Lancaster scored his maiden Formula 3 victory in the Euro Series round at the Nurburgring today.

The Briton started behind Breen on the front row thanks to his seventh place in yesterday's race and beat the Irishman round the first corner.

He was able to control the race comfortably for the duration, despite a mid-race Safety Car period splitting the race in two.

"It's been a long time coming." said a relieved Lancaster after the race. "I had a podium at Pau and have been quick in testing, but I've not been able to put it together in in qualifying yet.

"That happened again this weekend so we've still got some work to do, but I managed to take some good points from two sensible races. I pushed quite hard from the start to get a second's lead and just had to make sure I didn't make a mistake from there."

Lancaster's ART Grand Prix teammate Jules Bianchi clinched his second podium finish of the weekend in third, with Nico Hulkenberg making it three ART cars in the top four as he reduced Edoardo Mortara's championship lead to a single point.

Hulkenberg made impressive progress through the top eight during the race after yesterday's win pushed him back to the fourth row for today's race.

He dived inside Kazuya Oshima for sixth place at the first corner on lap four and quickly chased down Prema's Stefano Coletti. He spent most of the race stuck behind Coletti but eventually squeezed ahead at Turn One on lap 19.

The first four cars were nearly three seconds up the road by this point, but Hulkenberg cruised up to the back of them and the pressure paid off as fourth place fell into his lap when Tom Dillman ran wide coming onto the back straight and Hulkenberg capitalised.

It was a near perfect weekend for Hulkenberg's championship challenge as Mortara's woe continued today.

The Italian had to start from the penultimate row after yesterday's retirement and was running in the pack when he was hit from behind by Dani Clos. The contact removed Mortara's rear wing and although he continued, he was well outside the points.

Mika Maki also gave away ground to Hulkenberg today. He started fifth today but Daniel Ricciardo, immediately ahead of him on the grid, stalled at the start. Maki tried to swerve round him but clipped the SG Formula car with his left rear wheel and retired on the spot with broken suspension.

The other title hopeful coming into this weekend, Renger van der Zande, also stalled at the start from fourth on the grid, and later retired from the race in the pits.

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 40:40.779 2. Niall Breen Manor D/M +0.723 3. Jules Bianchi ART D/M +2.008 4. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M +2.636 5. Tom Dillmann Jo Zeller D/M +3.514 6. Yann Clairay SG D/M +7.182 7. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V +9.293 8. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M +13.530 9. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V +15.341 10. Jens Klingmann RC D/V +18.107 11. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M +18.964 12. Erik Janis Mucke D/M +19.975 13. Cheng Cong Fu RC D/V +22.606 14. Brendon Hartley RC D/V +24.021 15. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M +24.621 16. Robert Wickens Signature D/V +25.049 17. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M +25.393 18. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M +26.084 19. Sam Bird Manor D/M +26.833 20. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M +31.186 21. Martin Plowman RC D/V +39.618 22. James Jakes ART D/M +47.522 23. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V +55.432 24. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M +2 laps 25. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M +2 laps Retirements Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 20 laps Dani Clos Prema D/M 20 laps Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 17 laps Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 14 laps Mika Maki Mucke D/M 0 laps Fastest lap, Hulkenberg 1:24.654 on lap 6 D/M = Dallara Mercedes, D/V = Dallara Volkswagen

Lancaster takes maiden F3 victory

Ianni hopes for exciting summer