Kiwi Blomqvist wins maiden Euro F3 race

Autosport

Tom Blomqvist claimed his maiden Formula 3 European Championship win in the opening round at Silverstone.

The Anglo-Swede perfectly justified his inclusion on the Indonesian-backed Jagonya Ayam scheme by leading from pole position to the chequered flag in his Carlin-run Dallara-Volkswagen.

Behind him, Lotus Formula 1 Junior Esteban Ocon had to work hard to stave off Jordan King for second place.

King had a great start from sixth on the grid, sweeping around theoutside of Antonio Fuoco at the Village right-hander and into third place.

An early safety car, to clean up a collision at Brooklands between

Alexander Toril and Michele Beretta, gave King an opportunity to pounce – he dived inside Ocon into Club, but ran wide and lost the position again.

From then on, Carlin racer King stayed close to the Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes of Ocon, but never got a chance for a clear-cut move.

Prema runner Fuoco claimed fourth, with Mucke Motorsport’s Lucas Auer making good progress from 10th on the grid to fifth.

Nicholas Latifi had to work hard after the safety car to fend off an attack from Felix Serralles and Ed Jones, but once he had done so the Prema man claimed sixth, with Serralles’s Team West-Tec machine and Carlin racer Jones next up.

Like Mucke team-mate Auer, Felix Rosenqvist climbed up the order, despite getting caught in an early mix-up, and was able to pass Felipe Guimaraes to claim ninth, with the Double R Racing-run Brazilian completing the top 10.

The early battles meant visits to the pits for new front wings for Jake Dennis and Spike Goddard. Once he had caught up after the safety car, Goddard – at the wheel of the T-Sport Dallara powered by the British NBE engine – was the major overtaker as he climbed to 14th.

The skirmishes also accounted for Max Verstappen, who retired to the pits with a broken front wing at the end of the first lap.

Results - 18 laps:                                

Pos  Driver               Team                                  Time/Gap  
 1.  Tom Blomqvist        Carlin Dallara-VW                   36m31.379s      
 2.  Esteban Ocon         Prema Dallara-Mercedes                 +0.490s      
 3.  Jordan King          Carlin Dallara-VW                      +1.361s      
 4.  Antonio Fuoco        Prema Dallara-Mercedes                 +1.661s      
 5.  Lucas Auer           Mucke Dallara-Mercedes                 +2.849s      
 6.  Nicholas Latifi      Prema Dallara-Mercedes                 +3.328s      
 7.  Felix Serralles      West-Tec Dallara Mercedes              +4.238s      
 8.  Ed Jones             Carlin Dallara-VW                      +4.347s      
 9.  Felix Rosenqvist     Mucke Dallara-Mercedes                 +5.214s      
10.  Felipe Guimares      Double R Dallara-Mercedes              +5.490s      
11.  Dennis van de Laar   Prema Dallara-Mercedes                 +6.885s      
12.  Antonio Giovinazzi   Carlin Dallara-VW                      +6.885s      
13.  Mitch Gilbert        Fortec Dallara-Mercedes                +7.411s      
14.  Spike Goddard        T-Sport Dallara-NBE                    +7.726s      
15.  Sean Gelael          Carlin Dallara-VW                      +8.235s      
16.  Gustavo Menezes      Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW               +8.381s      
17.  Jake Dennis          Carlin Dallara-VW                      +8.753s      
18.  John Bryant-Meisner  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes                +9.229s      
19.  Jules Szymkowiak     Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW              +12.309s      
20.  Roy Nissany          Mucke Dallara-Mercedes                +12.521s      
21.  Riccardo Agostini    EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes      +1 lap      
22.  Hector Hurst         West-Tec Dallara Mercedes               +1 lap      
23.  Tatiana Calderon     Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes              +1 lap      

Retirements:                                                                  

     Max Verstappen       Van Amersfoot Dallara-VW                 1 lap      
     Alexander Toril      T-Sport Dallara-NBE                     0 laps      
     Michele Beretta      EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes      0 laps

Kiwi Blomqvist wins maiden Euro F3 race

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