Juncadella and Sainz claim podium at Spa-Francorchamps…

Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) finished second in the first race at the 6.968 kilometres long Spa-Francorchamps circuit. As race winner Felix Serralles (Fortec Motorsport) hasn’t been registered for the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, Juncadella scores the maximum number of 25 points in the eleventh round of the FIA European Formula 3 European Championship. Carlos Sainz (Carlin), who, like Juncadella, is a regular from the Formula 3 Euro Series, finished third.

Carlos Sainz led in the early stages of the race, but on lap three, Felix Serralles overtook the Spaniard. On lap five, Daniel Juncadella also overtook his compatriot, demoting Sainz to third. Behind the first three drivers, Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin), Jack Harvey (Carlin), Alex Lynn (Fortec Motorsport) and Michael Lewis (Prema Powerteam) were involved in a battle for fourth place, from which Jaafar came out on top. Following an unsuccessful attack against Jaafar on the final lap, Euro Series driver Michael Lewis lost his sixth place to Alex Lynn, but still ended up as the third-best Euro Series driver. Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) and Tom Blomqvist (ma-con Motorsport) rounded out the top ten in the 30 minutes’ race.

Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam): “Considering that we still had many problems in free practice, I am very happy with second place. My start wasn’t great, but I still was able to move up into second place.”

Carlos Sainz (Carlin): “Of course, I wanted to win, because I want to win every race. But especially the combination of the Mercedes engine and the Fortec team was simply too fast today. Actually, I can be happy with my third place.”

Michael Lewis (Prema Powerteam): “The race really was fun. My goal was a top five finish. In the overall race classification, I am only seventh, but in the ranking of the European Formula 3 Championship, I have scored many points for finishing third. That was important for me.”