It was declared a wet race and almost a third of the grid decided to use the corresponding tyres. However, those who chose slick tyres were luckier at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The third race of the weekend resembled something of a rain dance at first, with a lot of cars spinning. In the end, the Lotus team handled the roller coaster in the Ardennes best and took all of the podium places, with Emil Bernstorff on the top. Hubertus-Carlos Vier won the Trophy ranking.
Contesting for the Lotus team, Marvin Kirchhofer from Leipzig and British driver Emil Bernstorff grabbed the lead right away, closely followed by the Performance Racing drivers John Bryant-Meisner from Sweden and Thomas Jger (all in a Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) from Vienna. Everybody was struggling with the wet track. Bernstorff and Jger spun almost at the same time but were able to continue the race. Russian driver Artem Markelov (Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) passed Bryant-Meisner on the inside lane. Bernstoff was able to grab the place at the top, followed by Markelov and Bryant-Meisner. Kirchhfer dropped to the fourth place due to a spin and technical issues. This started the battle for the third position. And in the end, the Lotus team took all of the places on the podium. Kirchhfer took the third, Markelov the second place. Bernstorff was on the top.
Vier dominated the Trophy ranking of the ATS Formula 3 CupThe majority of the Trophy drivers chose wet tyres. However, Hubertus-Carlos Vier (ADAC Team Nordbayern / Dallara F307 Mercedes) did not. The driver from Inching won the rain dance and left Sebastian Balthasar (GU-Racing / Dallara F311 Mercedes) from Cologne behind him. Maximilian Hackl from Ruderting (Franz Wss Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) grabbed the third place.
Emil Bernstorff: The start was a bit crazy. I was just looking for a dry place. It was particularly hairy sometimes when we were going up and Marvin did not know where he wanted to go. We were quite lucky.Artem Markelov: It was a tough race because of the weather changes. We decided to use slick tyres and that's why we won the race. I would like to thank to the whole team for this great job today. We scored the maximum points.Marvin Kirchhfer: "It was really challenging mentally but I think we made a very positive impression this weekend. It was a great experience for me. We look ahead and do our best to improve."Hubertus-Carlos Vier: I had a good start despite the slick tyres. However, it was difficult to overtake Cup driver Sheban Siddiqi and the other Trophy drivers were pushing from behind. In the end, I succeeded.
2013 SONAX Rookie rankingMarvin Kirchhfer continues to dominate the SONAX Rookie ranking with 114 points, followed by John Bryant-Meisner with 86 and Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) with 68 points.
ATS Formula 3 Cup team rankingThe Lotus team consolidated their lead this weekend, extending the gap to 116 points. Performance Racing stays in the second place with 89 points. Van Amersfoort Racing take the third place in the newly established team ranking, scoring 75 points.
Points scored in the first six races of the 2013 ATS Formula 3 Cup (top 10):
1 Marvin Kirchhofer / GER 113
2 Artem Markelov / RUS 80
3 John Bryant-Meisner / SWE 70
4 Emil Bernstorff / GBR 62
5 Gustavo Menezes / USA 54
6 Yannick Mettler / SUI 30
7 Thomas Jger / AUT 29
8 Tomasz Krzeminski / POL 17
9 Nabil Jeffri / MAS 12
10 Matteo Cairoli / ITA 11
Off the trackIts reputation precedes the track. Some may have felt their excitement tarnish a little during the mandatory track walk. Taking it literally, the Performance Racing team check out every track on foot. Thomas Jger from Vienna posted on Facebook: Longest Track Walk of the season done!!" John Bryant-Meisner commented: We will take the car next time. Local hero Jordi Weckx in the Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine started the second race on his favourite track from the pole position. The 34-year old from Walsbets is pleased, even though he finished in the middle of the field. I am a race driver at heart and driving at home is always special. I want to make perfect use of the time in the Van Amersfoort Racing team, I want to learn and get faster. Dennis van de Laar paid a visit to the Dutch team. The Dutchman switched from the ATS Formula 3 Cup to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship this season. It feels really bad to be standing there when I know I cannot do anything, said the 19-year old. I watch the race drivers and see the small mistakes they make. I would just like to help. He probably got a chance to give a little advice!
The ATS Formula 3 Cup on TVThe ran racing magazine programme on Kabel1 will include two minutes about the ATS Formula 3 Cup. The programme is broadcast after the racing weekends, on Mondays from 02:08 to 02.23 a.m., with a repeat on Tuesdays from 02:10 to 02.25 a.m. The Sport1 Magazine also shows four minutes of highlights of the ATS Formula 3 Cup. The next programme will be shown on Wednesday, May 15th, from 3.30 to 4.30 p.m. in conjunction with the ADAC Masters Weekends.
