UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > EF3: Round 3

Wins for Jakes and Mortara

PAU

Going into the Pau event Mika Maki of Mucke Motorsport and Eduardo Mortara of Signature-Plus were tied leaders of the championship with nineteen points while Nico Hulkenberg of ART was not far behind with fourteen.

Race one in the tight streets was a chaotic affair that saw only ten of the thirty starters complete the full race distance.

James Jakes of ART started on pole and was squeezed against the pit wall by Maki in the battle for the lead on the opening lap but Jakes won the battle after Maki crashed out of the race on lap two.

With very little overtaking possibilities Jakes just needed to keep the car out of the barriers to record his first win, which he did, claiming victory crossing the line just 0.662 seconds clear of Mortara in second place. Jakes team mate Jon Lancaster scored his first points of the season by finishing third. He was struggling with an under –steering car but make the most of the accidents ahead of him to gain places.

He did how ever make on overtaking move on Frank Mailleux of Signature-Plus to relegate the French driver to fourth place. The rest of the points, and indeed, the rest of the finishers, were: Christian Vietoris fifth for Mucke, Dani Clos sixth for Prema, Michael Klein sixth for Jo Zeller Racing, Ranger van der Zande was eighth for Prema.

Ninth place went to Robert Wickens on his debut driving for Signature-Plus, after making the switch from World Series by Renault. The final point went to Kazuya Oshima of Manor Motorsport.

Race two was less dramatic and only saw three retirements before Mortara won his first race of the year, after great consistency helped him lead the championship without a victory before this race after a impressive drive through the field.

In wet conditions the safety car was needed, which bunched the field together helping Montana, then in seventh, to pick off his rivals one by one to claim victory.

Van Der Zande finished second ahead of teammate Clos finishing in third place. The top ten in race two was the same as race one, only with the names re-arranged. Vietoris was fourth, Mailleux fifth, Jakes sixth, Lancaster seventh, Wickens eighth, Klein ninth and Oshima tenth.

Montana has extended his championship lead, now having thirty-three points, Maki is still second despite a pointless weekend and Van Der Zande has jumped to third with seventeen points.

Written: Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:07:50