Bianchi beats Hulkenberg in Masters of F3 race

Jules Bianchi drove an outstanding race in the wet to claim his maiden Formula 3 victory in the Masters of F3 at Zolder today.

The French rookie started alongside his ART Grand Prix teammate Nico Hulkenberg on the front row and took the lead at the start when Hulkenberg choked and was slow off the line despite having the pole position.

He was able to maintain a gap over the race favorite for the first half of the race and then pull clear to take a 4.4 second victory in tricky drying conditions.

Amazingly, Bianchi has been driving race cars for less than two year, yet traded fastest laps with Hulkenberg throughout the race run in very tricky conditions. His more experienced teammate had no answer for him and had to settle for second.

"I'm really happy to get my first win in the Masters," said Bianchi. "I tried to make a gap in the first laps but Nico was quick. After it dried a bit it was easier for me, although it was very difficult at the end because the front tires were finished.

"My grandfather and uncle were Belgian racing drivers (Turn Four is named after his uncle) so it's very special for me to win here."

Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Gap
1.	Jules Bianchi	ART	D/M	45:19.275
2.	Nico Hulkenberg	ART	D/M	+4.495
3.	Jon Lancaster	ART	D/M	+20.539
4.	Mika Maki	Mucke	D/M	+27.030
5.	Brendon Hartley	Carlin	D/M	+34.170
6.	Atte Mustonen	Double R	D/M	+40.536
7.	Sam Bird	Manor	D/M	+53.861
8.	Jaime Alguersuari	Carlin	D/M	+57.479
9.	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Carlin	D/M	+1:03.294
10.	Jean-Karl Vernay	Signature	D/V	+1:10.049
11.	Erik Janis	Mucke	D/M	+1:14.649
12.	Michael Devaney	Ultimate	M/M	+1:14.810
13.	Henry Arundel	Double R	D/M	+1:18.153
14.	Martin Plowman	Signature	D/V	+1:20.051
15.	Edoardo Mortara	Signature	D/V	+1:27.377
16.	Tom Dillman	Jo Zeller	D/M	+1 lap
17.	James Jakes	ART	D/M	+1 lap
18.	Christian Vietoris	Mucke	D/M	+1 lap
19.	Esteban Guerrieri	Ultimate	M/M	+1 lap
20.	Kazuya Oshima	Manor	D/M	+1 lap
21.	Max Chilton	Hitech	D/M	+2 laps
22.	Niall Breen	Manor	D/M	+2 laps
23.	John Martin	Double R	D/M	+2 laps
	Retirements
	Yann Clairay	SG	D/M	25 laps
	Stefano Coletti	Prema	D/M	24 laps
	Nick Tandy	JTR	M/M	23 laps
	Roberto Merhi	Hitech	D/M	21 laps
	Daniel Campos-Hull	HBR	D/M	19 laps
	Richard Philippe	Carlin	D/M	16 laps
	Henkie Waldschmidt	SG	D/M	15 laps
	Dani Clos	Prema	D/M	6 laps
	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Manor	D/M	1 lap
	Renger van der Zande	Prema	D/M	0 laps
	Daniel Ricciardo	SG	D/M	0 laps
	Basil Shaaban	HBR	D/M	0 laps
	Franck Mailleux	Signature	D/V	0 laps
	Ricardo Teixeira	Ultimate	M/M	0 laps

Fastest lap, Chilton 1:31.197 on lap 24