Juncadella victorious in F3 Masters

Daniel Juncadella scored a dominant win in the 2012 Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort.

The Spaniard was a heavy favourite for the race as soon it was clear the morning’s rain would dry before the start, particularly given his sizeable advantage in qualifying.

In contrast to last year, when he was eliminated on the run down to the first corner, a good start allowed Juncadella to convert pole into an easy lead which he set about extending throughout. Regularly the only man in the 1m33s, the Prema driver was never headed and eventually sealed victory by a comprehensive margin of 7.594 seconds.

Like last year however second on the grid did prove unhappy. Carlin’s Carlos Sainz Jr lost momentum at the start and had dropped behind Prema’s Raffaele Marciello before the field got to Tarzan.

On the inside, the Spaniard also lost out to local man Hannes van Asseldonk (Fortec), who drove around the outside to snatch third.

Sainz would come back at the Dutchman as the race wore on, closing to within four tenths in the final laps. His challenged faded at the death however, allowing van Asseldonk to claim the final step of the podium.

Marciello was never able to challenge Juncadella, but he was able to move away from the fight behind him and eventually seal a quiet second in his first race at Zandvoort.

Behind the lead four things were much closer, particularly at the start. Mucke’s Felix Rosenqvist, winner of last year’s race, was the big loser away from the line as he dropped four places to ninth, putting him in the midst of a multi-car battle which included Pascal Wehrlein (Mucke), Will Buller (Carlin), Alex Lynn (Fortec), and Prema duo Michael Lewis and Sven Muller.

The group did eventually separate, with Wehrlein driving away from the rest to claim fifth. Lynn meanwhile put Buller under pressure but was unable to find a way through and had to settle for sixth.

Lewis was under far heavier pressure from Rosenqvist throughout but held on to seal eighth, with the Swede and Muller covered by less than two seconds at the flag.

Felix Serralles (Fortec) was a casualty of the first lap, while Luis Sa Silva (Angola Racing Team) spun out while trying to find a way past Connor Daly (Double R) four laps from the finish.

He still finished ahead of Sandro Zeller, who was forced to start from the pitlane after being forced into late repairs as the rest of the field lined up on the grid.

Results – 25 laps:
 
Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
  1.  Daniel Juncadella     Prema Dallara-Merc       39m28.564s
  2.  Raffaelle Marciello   Prema Dallara-Merc         + 7.594s
  3.  Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 17.394s
  4.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 18.473s
  5.  Pascal Wehrlein       Mucke Dallara-Merc        + 22.008s
  6.  Will Buller           Carlin Dallara-VW         + 28.611s
  7.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 29.450s
  8.  Michael Lewis         Prema Dallara-Merc        + 29.975s
  9.  Felix Rosenqvist      Mucke Dallara-Merc        + 31.793s
 10.  Sven Muller           Prema Dallara-Merc        + 32.613s
 11.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 34.110s
 12.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Merc     + 41.954s
 13.  Dennis van de Laar    Carlin Dallara-VW         + 48.363s
 14.  Andrea Roda           Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc    + 50.978s
 15.  Conor Daly            Double R Dallara-Merc     + 56.787s
 16.  Josh Webster          T-Sport Dallara-Mugen   + 1m27.234s
 17.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen       + 1 lap
 
Retirements:
 
     Luis Sa Silva         Angola Dallara-Merc         21 laps
      Sandro Zeller         Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc      16 laps
      Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc          0 laps
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/juncadella-victorious-in-f3-masters

Geki Olivier Gendebien Marc Gené Elmer George Bob Gerard