Nico Hülkenberg took another step closer to the 2008 F3 Euro Series crown in Barcelona over the weekend when the ART GP driver secured his fifth pole position of the season and his sixth victory of the season after a fantastic drive in the first race around the 2.977 kilometres Circuit de Catalunya after fighting hard to regain the lead after an average start.
Unfortunately he was unable to follow this up with a further points haul in race two on Sunday due to damage sustained in a collision in the opening laps.
Meanwhile teammate Jules Bianchi, who qualified third, was the unfortunate victim of an opening lap accident with Richard Philippe, however a brilliant drive from twenty seventh on the grid in race two saw him finish in a superb third place with a stunning start from P27 to P5 in the first corner.
Fellow teammate James Jakes, who finished fifth in race one after a brilliant drive from P11, crossed the line behind Bianchi in fourth. While his teammates all manage to score points, Jon Lancaster was the odd man out, finishing tenth in race one and twenty second in race two.
While Jules went up the inside of the first lap melee. Jon was one of the unfortunate victims, however he secured the fastest lap of the race, four tenths faster than the race winner and proving his true speed.
Nico Hülkenberg:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: Pole position Result: Winner
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 8th Result: DNF
Position in the championship: 1st, 72 points
"It was a good weekend for me. I was 3rd in qualifying and I secured pole position on the very last lap. It was pretty nice! I did not have a good start on Saturday and Philippe and Jules came up beside me. It was obvious they were going to crash so I braked early. I was P2 behind Clairay and even though I was 0.5 second faster than him, it is very difficult to overtake in Barcelona.
I did not want to take any risks because I knew Mortara was not in the points, but I kept Clairay under pressure. He eventually did a mistake on lap 21 and I could pass him. From then on, it was easy to keep the lead and to secure this nice 6th win in race 1. The next race was not as good. In Barcelona we arrive at the first corner at something like 200km/h before braking hard and it’s always an action packed turn.
There were a lot of crashes all over the place and I could not avoid a collision with a car which cut across my line and was in the middle of the track. Still, although the maths are nice to me I’m not champion yet and I won’t change my approach: I’ll try to be the fastest in qualifying and to get the best possible results in the race and if a win is within my grasp I won’t let it go!"
James Jakes:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 11th Result: 5th
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 4th Result: 4th
Position in the championship: 12th, 18 points
"Qualifying wasn’t real good … I struggled a little bit to get a good rhythm. In the first race I made a good start, and was able to get up into fifth position… and then we just stayed there really! In the second race, I got a false start, and then got involved in the first corner crash.
I was able to get out, with minimal damage, and I got up into fourth and just stayed there for the rest of the race. It wasn’t a bad finish, I was glad to get some points. It was a great tack, I enjoyed going there."
Jules Bianchi:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 3rd Result: DNF
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 27th Result: 3rd
Position in the championship: 7th, 31 points
"I missed pole position by the skin of my teeth. Some yellows at a bad time and a driver who hampered me on my fastest lap prevented me from securing my second pole position in a row. I made a good start and was ready to take the lead in the first turn when Philippe, all wheels locked, pushed me off the track.
It was a frustrating moment because being P1 on a track where I was fast and where it is difficult to overtake, the win was certainly within my grasp. On Sunday I made another good start, firstly on the outside to overtake Mäki then I dived on the inside.
I was right behind Nico in turn 1 and I said to myself it was a very cool start! I overtook James when he made a mistake, and then Clairay. Once P3, I was a fair distance from 2nd and I did not want to risk falling from the podium. I just focused enough to take the chequered flag. These points are really good!"
Jon Lancaster:
Race 1 Position on the starting grid: 21st Result: 10th
Race 2 Position on the starting grid: 10th Result: 22nd
Position in the championship: 11th, 19 points
"We showed some good pace in the pre-event tests, and we tested quite a few new things. However in qualifying, we were a bit unlucky. Every time I would come out on the track, there would be a queue of about five or six cars trying to get a good lap which made it difficult!
I lost a few tenths of seconds due to understeer, but the correction of the understeer brought on oversteer! In the race, we made a good start, getting up to tenth in the first corner, and we just stayed there. We were so much quicker than everyone else, but overtaking wasn’t easy.
Race two saw a really good start, but I was involved in the crash. We showed some good race pace, which took awhile to get to. I was able to concentrate on learning more about the car, which helped a lot. I was consistently faster than everyone for the entire race! It’s funny how things changed from qualifying to the race…"
Frédéric Vasseur: "All in all it was a good weekend even though it could have been better had Richard Philippe did not make a mistake in the first turn of the first race.
But our level of performance was good, Nico, secured his Saturday win number 6 and I think we took a decisive step towards both titles."
- Sandrine FOIX-
