Juncadella secures title in lights to finish for Rosenqvist

21.10.12
The very last race of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship belonged to Felix Rosenqvist (Mucke Motorsport).

With a lead from start to finish, the only real threat came from Pascal Wehrlein who passed Daniel Juncadella for second position. Juncadella did what he needed to do: score 4th place and lock out the title of FIA European Formula 3 Champion 2012.

Last start of the season

A clean start for all twenty gathered cars on Sunday morning the 21st of October. Felix Rosenqvist had a great start and immediately sped away from the competition. Things turned sour in the second turn, when Lucas Auer spun Carlos Sainz around. One of many cases of bad luck for the young Spanish talent. Meanwhile, Juncadella made an attempt on the lead of Rosenqvist in the hairpin during the first lap. The attempt did not turn into overtaking, leaving Rosenqvist in the lead passing the start finish line.

Painful Hairpin

The hairpin proved to be a decider in the race for many. Marciello, Bernstorff and Wolf tried to enter the corner three wide, leading to a collision of Bernstorff and Wolf.

At that moment, Pascal Wehrlein was already on the tail of Juncadella. The latter recognized that his German counterpart had much more speed on board and in order to avoid any danger to his championship, Juncadella let Wehrlein by in that same corner on the seventh lap of the race.

Wehrlein on the run

Rosenqvist had built on a gap of about two seconds towards the other participants, but with Wehrlein on second, saw the distance gradually decrease with .3 of a second per lap. The best rookie of the 2012 season closed the distance until he was at 6 tenth of a second behind his Swedish teammate. The second place seemed to be enough for Wehrlein, as he let the gap increase again in the second half of the last round this year.

Juncadella calculates

Minimizing the risk of putting his championship on the line, Daniel Juncadella showed some controlled driving. The faster Alex Lynn, not scoring points for the championship, also got by for third place. Finally, The Prema Powerteam driver settled for a fourth position, as Marciello in eighth place was no threat to the experienced Spanish Formula 3 driver.

Juncadella, Marciello and Rosenqvist 2012 winners

Swedish Rosenqvist scored the maximum out of the Hockenheim weekend. Double pole and a double win showed the Mucke Motorsport driver finally found the pace. The racing talent from Malmo extended his points and so earned the third place in the FIA standings. The top three; Juncadella, Marciello and Rosenqvist all receive a two day test in the Formula 2. Aside, Marciello tests with a DTM car this winter, and Daniel Juncadella tests the Ferrari Formula One car at Vallelunga in the first half of November.

 

Result Race 2:

1. Felix Rosenqvist* in 25 laps, 39:35.604, 2. Pascal Wehrlein* +1.325, 3. Alex Lynn +5.132, 4. Daniel Juncadella* +9.382, 5. Serralles +10.018, 6.  Sven Muller* +10.641, 7. Tom Blomqvist* +13.693, 8. Raffaele Marciello* +17.524, 9. Emil Bernstorff* +26.042, 10. Michael Lewis* +26.933

All drivers marked with * are registered for the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.

Final result FIA European Formula 3 Championship:

1. Juncadella with 252 points, 2. Marciello 228.5, 3. Rosenqvist 192, 4. Wehrlein 181, 5. Sainz 161, 6. Buller 137, 7. Blomqvist 117, 8. Muller 109, 9. Michael Lewis 101, 10. Bernstorff 66, 11. Wolf 19, 12. Roda 8, 13. Sa Silva 7.