Hülkenberg stripped of Euro F3 win

UPDATE Hülkenberg was caught cheating and has been stripped of the win. In the final tally he was not classified. If it was NASCAR he would have kept the win, but in real racing series like Euro F3 cheaters never prosper. Mika Maki was declared the winner.

07/12/08 Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix) was the dominant winner of the ninth season round of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the 4.307 kilometers long former Grand Prix circuit at Zandvoort in The Netherlands. The 20-year old German scored a dominant lights-to-flag win from the two rookie drivers Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport) and Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix). This allowed Hülkenberg to close up to only four points behind championship leader Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus). The 21 year old Italian retired early after a driving error and failed to score any points for the first time this season.

Hülkenberg’s third season win was never in danger. On the first meters already, the test driver of the Williams Formula 1 team pulled a gap over his rival Mika Mäki and took the checkered flag with a margin of 5.098 seconds. For 20-year old Finn Mäki, it was already his third podium finish in the world’s toughest junior race series. For the second time this season, Frenchman Jules Bianchi was allowed to take part in a prize-giving ceremony, the 18-year old took the trophy for third place.

For British driver Sam Bird (Manor Motorsport), fourth place from Yann Clairay (SG Formula) was his best result in the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix): “Today, the start was decisive, as overtaking at this circuit is very difficult. I already knew that from last year, when I was stuck behind a few cars and couldn’t get past. Today, we did everything what we had planned. Therefore, I am very happy with our performance. After all, we don’t come here to finish fifth.“

Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport): “After two weekends without any points, being on the podium again is great. At the start of the race, I had the impression that I could follow Nico. But he was too quick for my, which is why I concentrated to drive the eight points for second place home."

Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix): “For me, it was a good race. I achieved my goal of finishing on the podium. I am very happy with that."

Results

Pos No. Driver Nat. Entrant Make lap. Time Diff. Gap fast
1 26 Mika Mäki (R) FIN Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 40:57.822 1:33.504
2 24 Jules Bianchi (R) FRA ART Grand Prix Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:00.427 02.605 02.605 1:33.701
3 5 Sam Bird GBR Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:17.896 17.469 20.074 1:33.880
4 34 Yann Clairay FRA SG Formula Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:19.520 01.624 21.698 1:33.951
5 30 Jean Karl Vernay FRA Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 41:25.043 05.523 27.221 1:34.141
6 9 Renger v. d. Zande NED Prema Powerteam Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:29.465 04.422 31.643 1:34.591
7 35 Robert Wickens (R) CAN Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 41:30.168 00.703 32.346 1:34.325
8 6 Niall Breen IRL Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:30.500 00.332 32.678 1:34.268
9 2 James Jakes GBR ART Grand Prix Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:31.440 00.940 33.618 1:34.576
10 8 Franck Mailleux FRA Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 41:32.079 00.639 34.257 1:34.711
11 4 Erik Janis (R) CZE Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:32.562 00.483 34.740 1:34.367
12 3 Christian Vietoris GER Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:46.534 13.972 48.712 1:34.844
13 29 Kazuya Oshima JPN Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:46.781 00.247 48.959 1:35.028
14 23 Dani Clos ESP Prema Powerteam Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:47.664 00.883 49.842 1:34.193
15 21 Richard Philippe (R) FRA Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:48.998 01.334 51.176 1:35.029
16 20 Henkie Waldschmidt (R) NED SG Formula Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:49.314 00.316 51.492 1:34.815
17 33 Cong Fu Cheng CHN RC Motorsport Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 41:50.020 00.706 52.198 1:35.186
18 31 Stefano Coletti (R) MON Prema Powerteam Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 41:51.051 01.031 53.229 1:33.957
19 18 Martin Plowman (R) GBR RC Motorsport Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 42:04.997 13.946 1:07.175 1:35.386
20 32 Jens Klingmann (R) GER RC Motorsport Dallara F308 Volkswagen 26 42:07.226 02.229 1:09.404 1:35.626
21 27 Basil Shaaban LIB HBR Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 42:10.764 03.538 1:12.942 1:35.123
22 15 Daniel Campos-Hull (R) SPA HBR Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 25 41:54.212 1 lap 1 lap 1:34.713
23 22 Rodolfo Gonzalez VEN Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 20 41:56.027 5 laps 6 laps 1:34.285
NOT CLASSIFIED
7 Edoardo Mortara ITA Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 16 25:36.938 10 laps 1:34.716
28 Koudai Tsukakoshi JPN Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 14 22:35.515 12 laps 1:34.243
25 Jon Lancaster (R) GBR ART Grand Prix Dallara F308 Mercedes 1 1:50.449 25 laps 1:50.449
EXCLUSION STEWARDS DECISION NO. 1
*1 Nico Hülkenberg GER ART Grand Prix Dallara F308 Mercedes 26 40:52.724 1:33.267