ATS: Series Oschersleben summary

Rookies impress in the season opener

In 2010, the ATS Formula 3 Cup again has joined forces with the spectacular GT vehicles of the ADAC Masters Weekends. Traditionally, the up-and-coming event package celebrates its season kick-off at the Motorsportarena Oschersleben. The circuit doesn't feature a lot of overtaking opportunities but is one of the technically most demanding venues on the calendar.

As usual, the weather conditions were changeable with low temperatures, thus representing an additional challenge for the drivers. On Sunday, for instance, the maximum temperatures amounted to 7o. C and an occasional drizzle didn't make things easier. Nonetheless, a lot of spectators travelled to Oschersleben to witness the ATS Formula 3 Cup action live on site.

With immediate effect, there are two TV programmes offering the ATS Formula 3 Cup enthusiasts the opportunity to inform themselves about Germany's fastest single-seater series: in the night of the race Sunday, Kabel 1 brings an informative single-seater magazine and on the weekend following the respective event, the German sports channel Sport 1 - formerly known as DSF - broadcasts its popular 60-minute magazine.

Paddock News

On Sunday, Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen travelled to Oschersleben to officially hand over a red Scirocco to the German Formula 3 Association. The 200bhp Volkswagen sports coupe will be used in the coming races as Pace Car and at the end of the season, it will be an additional reward for the 2010 ATS Formula 3 Cup Champion.

The 2010 season opener was the first ATS Formula 3 Cup race Gary Hauser had to contest without his brother David also being on the grid. David focuses on his engineering studies, this year. Nonetheless, David is on site on the race weekends to support his brother. Gary made a very good start into the season and finished sixth in round one. In the second race, however, a first-corner incident forced him into early retirement.

On Sunday morning, one of the Van Amersfoort engineers was quite lucky under the circumstances. On the way from his hotel to the circuit he went off the road and somersaulted several times. The result: the car a total write-off but the engineer survived the incident with cuts on the head and certainly aching numerous bruises.

Team Motopark Academy had the shortest travel to the circuit. After all, the headquarters of the ATS Formula 3 Cup newcomers are located right at Oschersleben's racetrack.

Team STROMOS Artline contests the 2010 season with three Arttech F24 single-seaters. The formerly Russian squad has merged with Finland's Team ADRF and is based in Helsinki, now.

With Angola's Luis Sa Silva, the German Formula 3 scene can welcome the first dark-skinned driver on its grid. Sa Silva has been entered by the oil company China Sonangol, lives in Macau and resides temporarily - due to the shorter travels to the race venues - in Portugal. It couldn't be much more international, could it?

Driver of the weekend

...was Denmark's Kevin Magnussen. The ATS Formula 3 Cup rookie made two sensational starts. He was fourth on the grid for race one but virtually rocketed away to take the lead right away and win the race, in the end. And in the start of race two, he leaped up to third from his sixth grid position. Following the penalty for Tom Dillmann, he even was rewarded with the points for second place. So, the 17-year old will travel to the Sachsenring as championship leader.

The races

The rookies demonstrated right in race one that they will be a factor you have to keep an eye on, this year. Abt secured the pole for round one - followed by his team-mates Dusseldorp and Steindl as well as Magnussen. But the Dane surprised Abt in turn one and took the lead. Afterwards, he defended his position at the very top throughout the race and celebrated his maiden ATS Formula 3 Cup win, with Abt and Dillmann finishing second and third respectively.

The French had secured the pole for round two and made perfect use of his pole by taking the lead and crossing the finish line as provisional race winner, with Stef Dusseldorp also defending his second grid position and finishing runner-up. Meanwhile, Magnussen again succeeded in surprising Abt in turn one and finished third, ahead of the German.

After the race, however, Dillmann lost his win. While the five starting lights had been switched on one by one, Dillmann's car had moved twice - a jump start that was penalised by the race control with a subsequent 30-second time penalty. Consequently, Dusseldorp was the new winner, Magnussen runner-up and Abt third. While Dillmann had to settle for having finished seventh.

The rankings

Short after round two Tom Dillmann seemed to be the championship leader. Due to his time penalty, however, Kevin Magnussen took the lead with 18 points on his tally. Two points behind the Dane, another rookie holds second position: Daniel Abt. While Stef Dusseldorp (15 points), runner-up in the 2009 ATS Formula 3 Cup, follows in third place. Tom Dillmann dropped back to fourth position, ahead of fifth-placed Markus Pommer.

The situation in the SONAX Rookie Cup is similar: again, Magnussen is the leader followed by Abt - but here, third position is held by Sweden's Jimmy Eriksson.

In the AvD-Speedpokal that rewards both the pole positions and the fastest race laps, a rookie and an experienced driver are joint leaders: with one pole position and one fastest race lap each, Daniel Abt and Tom Dillmann share the lead.

In the ATS Formula 3 Trophy, Germany's Riccardo Brutschin left the Magdeburger Borde region as leader. Second position is held by his STROMOS Artline team-mate, Russia's Alexey Karachev. Finland's Aki Sandberg finished third twice and now also holds third position in the Trophy ranking.

-source: formel3.de