The second race of the day was probably the most thrilling of the ATS Formula 3 Cup so far. The top group battled hard against each other for twenty minutes, diverting all attention away from the rest of the grid. Austrian Thomas Jäger succeeded in the tough battle at the 3.618-km track, his first win in the ATS Formula 3 Cup. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne claimed the top place on the podium in the Trophy ranking.
Austrian Thomas Jäger (Performance Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) grabbed the lead directly after the start, leaving Swiss Thomas Amweg (CR Racing Team / Dallara F307 Mercedes) and Italian Matteo Cairoli (ADM Motorsport / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) behind him. Pushing forward from his sixth start position, Russian Artem Markelov grabbed the second place after only four laps. Marvin Kirchhöfer from Leipzig (both Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) followed suit by gaining several places within a single lap and put pressure on the driver from Moscow. In turn, he made life hard for the driver from Vienna. However, all three fought hard and pulled no punches. Benefiting from the battles behind him, Jäger managed to break away. Still, Kirchhöfer continued to put him under pressure. In the end, Thomas Jäger succeeded, winning his first ATS Formula 3 Cup race. Kirchhöfer in second place scored essential points; Markelov secured the third place. Records were broken again; Kirchhöfer beat his own record from earlier this morning, 1.20,812 min being his fastest lap.
ATS Formula 3 Cup Trophy ranking
Thomas Amweg (CR Racing Team / Dallara F307 Mercedes) dropped from the pole position to eighth in the overall standings after his start. However, he defended the lead in the Trophy ranking. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne (GU-Racing / Dallara F311 Mercedes) grabbed the victory again, followed by Amweg. Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten (GU-Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) claimed another third place.
Thomas Jäger: “It is an incredible feeling, since the result of the first race was not so great. I managed to defend myself against a few attacks from Artem. Tomorrow I will focus fully and will fight for a place on the podium.”
Marvin Kirchhöfer: “I am not lying when I say that this was by far the toughest and most exciting race of my career. My team-mate Artem Markelov and I gave everything in the final four or five laps. I am still a little speechless, it was just awesome!”
Artem Markelov: “It was a fantastic battle. I was so close to Thomas and tried to pass him, but Marvin put a lot of pressure on me. It was my first race with such tough battles. I have really learned a lot.”
Sebastian Balthasar: “The race went a lot better. I posted consistent times and was able to keep the other drivers behind me. It worked out perfectly.”