A lights-to-flag victory and second place in the points for Tom Blomqvist

With his sixth race win of the season in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) moved up to second place in the drivers’ standings. At the 4.574 kilometres long Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, he won from Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) and Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport).

Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam), who already secured the FIA Formula 3 European Championship title at Imola, finished fourth in the penultimate race of the season ahead of Max Verstappen (Van Amersfoort Racing).

Tom Blomqvist used his pole position and moved up into the lead from Lucas Auer and Antonio Giovinazzi. Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam) was turned around by Sean Gelael (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin) while driving through the hairpin for the first time and dropped back to the end of the field. His opponent Gelael had to turn into the pits, but then also continued.

Track conditions changed massively from the first to the second race, which was perhaps due to the rubber from the tyres of the DTM cars.

Tom Blomqvist

On lap two, Max Verstappen was overtaken by Tatiana Calderón (Jo Zeller Racing), the only lady racer in the field, in the battle for seventh. The Dutchman countered soon after that and overtook both Calderón and Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) to claim sixth place.

A few minutes later, Michele Beretta (Eurointernational) lost the rear wing of his car. In order for parts of this wing to be removed from the track, the clerk of the course sent the safety car out. At the restart, Tom Blomqvist remained in the lead while Lucas Auer and Antonio Giovinazzi also held on to their respective positions.

The order in the following positions changed on lap 16 as Giovinazzi overtook Lucas Auer and claimed back second place. While Blomqvist managed to pull clear more and more out in front and Giovinazzi also built up a slight advantage over Auer towards the end of the race, the Austrian had to work to keep Esteban Ocon at bay until the finish.

The race was red-flagged just before the planned end following a collision between Antonio Fuoco and Jake Dennis (Carlin). Tom Blomqvist won from Antonio Giovinazzi, Lucas Auer, Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen. With Felix Rosenqvist and Roy Nissany (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), two drivers of the kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport team finished in sixth and seventh place ahead of Tatiana Calderón, Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Dennis van de Laar (Prema Powerteam).

Quotes

Tom Blomqvist (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin): “Track conditions changed massively from the first to the second race, which was perhaps due to the rubber from the tyres of the DTM cars. Generally, this race wasn’t an easy one, but went well nevertheless. After the start, I managed to pull a gap and I controlled the race. For me, it was mainly about not making any mistakes.”

Antonio Giovinazzi (Jagonya Ayam with Carlin): “I had a good start, but Lucas had an even better start. Thus, I lost second place going into the first corner, but I was able to claim it back during the race. I am very happy with my second place and victory for my team-mate Tom Blomqvist.”

Lucas Auer (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport): “My start was mega. Unfortunately, my car got stuck in third gear once again during the race, so that it was relatively easy for Antonio to overtake me. We already had that problem in the first race and now have to do everything to solve it.”

Race 2 Results

1st – Tom Blomqvist, GBR, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Volkswagen
2nd – Antonio Giovinazzi, ITA, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Volkswagen
3rd – Lucas Auer, AUT, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz
4th – Esteban Ocon*, FRA, Prema Powerteam, Mercedes-Benz
5th – Max Verstappen*, NED, Van Amersfoort Racing, Volkswagen
6th – Felix Rosenqvist, SWE, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz
7th – Roy Nissany, ISR, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz
8th – Tatiana Calderon, COL, Jo Zeller Racing, Mercedes-Benz
9th – Gustavo Menezes, USA, Van Amersfoort Racing, Volkswagen
10th – Dennis van de Laar, NED, Prema Powerteam, Mercedes-Benz
11th – Felix Serralles, PRT, Team West-TecF3, Mercedes-Benz
12th – ake Dennis*, GBR, Carlin, Volkswagen
13th – Antonio Fuoco*, ITA, Prema Powerteam, Mercedes-Benz
14th – Jordan King, GBR, Carlin, Volkswagen
15th – Edward Jones, UAE, Carlin, Volkswagen
16th – Jules Szymkowiak*, NED, Van Amersfoort Racing, Volkswagen
17th – Alexander Toril, ESP, ThreeBond with T-Sport, NBE
18th – Santino Ferrucci*, USA, Fortec Motorsports, Mercedes-Benz
19th – Sean Gelael, IDN, Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, Volkswagen
20th – Nick Cassidy*, NZL, ThreeBond with T-Sport, NBE
21st – Sandro Zeller, SWI, Jo Zeller Racing, Mercedes-Benz
22nd – Richard (Spike) Goddard, AUS, ThreeBond with T-Sport, NBE
23rd – Wing Chung (Andy) Chang, MAC, Team West-TecF3, Mercedes-Benz