Second Masters victory for Felix Rosenqvist-

Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) appears to be unbeatable at the moment: having won all three races at the Red Bull Ring at the beginning of June, he secured his second victory in the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 this weekend. Two years ago, the Swede had already been the popular winner of Europe’s most prestigious Formula 3 race. At the 4.307 kilometres long circuit in Zandvoort, embedded in the North Sea dunes, he won the 23rd running of the Masters of Formula 3 from Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam). Emil Bernstorff (Prema Powerteam) claimed third place. 

Having started from pole position, Rosenqvist won the dash towards the first corner and drove a safe and undisputed lights-to-flag victory home. Only on lap 16, the Swede had a hairy moment when he suddenly lost 1.6 seconds to his closest rival Alex Lynn. The reason was a medical car that was on the track. After that, Rosenqvist completed his laps in a seasoned manner and gradually extended his lead until taking the chequered flag as the winner at the end of lap 25. 

The battle for second and third place, occupied by the two Prema Powerteam drivers Alex Lynn and Emil Bernstorff, was also decided in the opening stage already. There was more action in the midfield: Lucas Auer (Prema Powerteam) attacked Sven Müller (ma-con) in the battle for fifth on lap five. Both drivers tangled and retired. Formula 3 rookie Jordan King (Carlin) secured fifth place from Eddie Cheever (Prema Powerteam), Nicholas Latifi (Carlin), Luis Felipe Derani (Fortec Motorsports), William Buller (Fortec Motorsports) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Double R Racing). Local hero Dennis van de Laar (Van Amersfoort Racing), who is living in Zandvoort, only just missed out on a top ten finish as he came home eleventh. 

Felix Rosenqvist (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) 
“Pole position, victory and the fastest race lap: it was a perfect weekend for me. Prior to the event, I didn’t very much focus on this race, because this year, I am clearly concentrating on the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. I regarded the Masters as an additional race and just wanted to have a good time. Nevertheless, the goal was, of course, to win here and even more so after things went so well in the free practice sessions and in the two qualifying heats. I had the only hairy moment of the race when all of a sudden, a medical car was in front of me at the track. Apart from that, I was in control throughout.”

Alex Lynn (Prema Powerteam)
“Today, Felix was the quicker driver and he has won while I can be happy with second place, too. My start was food and I was able to gain one place, but I didn’t have any possibilities to keep up with Felix’s speed in the race. As I had a little bit of oversteer, my tyres degraded towards the end of the race, allowing Emil Bernstorff to close up to me more and more.”

Harry Tincknell (Carlin)
“At the start, I tried to overtake Felix, but I probably was a little bit too aggressive and therefore I had too much wheelspin. I was racing at Zandvoort for the first time and I reckon that fourth place isn’t a bad result. It is only slightly disappointing as I started the race from second place on the grid. However, it was good practice for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship round here at Zandvoort at the end of September.”