The first race of this weekend was eagerly awaited following the disqualification of Marvin Kirchhofer, which set him back to the last position on the grid. All eyes were on him. Would he be able to carve his way through the field at the 3.442-km Lausitzring? The start proved to be a challenge for the 18 drivers from ten countries. The race took off after a crash at the start and a subsequent safety car phase. Russian Artem Markelov succeeded. He secured his first victory of the ATS Formula 3 Cup season. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne won the Trophy ranking.The overall front width was 3 mm too wide, says Lotus Team Principal Timo Rumpfkeil. The team made a mistake and it did not result in a competitive advantage. However, the disqualification was correct and we did not appeal it. As a consequence, Marvin Kirchhofer from Leipzig was moved back to the last position on the grid. Nevertheless, Kirchhfer put in a brilliant performance. After two restarts and a safety car phase, Kirchhofer made a big charge, finishing the race third. Briton Emil Bernstorff grabbed the second place after putting pressure on Russian Artem Markelov. Defending his lead throughout the race, the 18-year old from Moscow (all Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) took his first victory in the 2013 ATS Formula 3 Cup season.
Balthasar extends leadBoth, Maximilian Hackl from Ruderting (Franz Wss Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) and Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten (GU-Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) were forced to retire early after a crash with Sheban Siddiqi (Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine). Consequently, two new drivers scored podium places. Stefan Neuburger (Franz Wss Racing / Dallara F311 OPC-Challenge) finished third, with fellow Austrian Christopher Hher (Franz Wss Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) ahead of him in second place. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne (GU-Racing / Dallara F311 Mercedes) grabbed the victory in the Trophy ranking again.
Artem Markelov: What an awesome race. Emil put a lot of pressure on me throughout the race and I tried my best to defend myself. I am just so happy. I have scored my first victory this year. A big thank-you to my team. They did a fantastic job. Thank you!Emil Bernstorff: My start was pretty bad and everything depends on that. That is why Im quite happy with my second place. It was the best result possible.Marvin Kirchhofer: I narrowly escaped the crash at the start and was able to pass a lot of cars. But then it was really hard behind Gustavo and John. With the push-to-pass system and a little luck in the final lap everything worked out fine.Sebastian Balthasar: It was chaotic at the start, but I did not let it bother me. It was a great race. I kept up with the Cup cars and was almost able to attack. I also managed to break away from the Trophy drivers.
