Silverstone Euro F3: Raffaele Marciello triumphs in finale
Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello took victory in Sunday's final FIA Formula 3 European Championship race of the weekend at Silverstone
Marciello did it in dramatic fashion, hunting down long-time leader Felix Rosenqvist and sweeping ahead on the outside into Stowe Corner on the penultimate lap.
Rosenqvist, from third on the grid, had launched his Mucke Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes ahead of the polesitting Prema Powerteam Dallara-Merc of Alex Lynn and front-row starter Marciello.
The Swede immediately opened a big lead on a track still slippery after yesterday's rain, but with seven cars off the safety car emerged, primarily because Sven Muller was stranded too close to the track at Becketts.
At the restart, Marciello outbraked Lynn after the safety car line into the Club chicane and hunted down Rosenqvist. He made a succession of attempts on the 14th lap of 16, but had to wait until the following lap to move ahead, thanks to Rosenqvist straying onto a wet patch at Becketts and having "a full-lock" moment.
"He went onto the wet patch at Becketts and had some oversteer," said Marciello. "It was not too difficult to pass because he had a very bad exit."
Lynn was disappointed to fall away in third, and was being caught near the end by his old team-mate Felix Serralles, the Puerto Rican having charged through from 19th on the grid to fourth in just four racing laps. He set fastest lap as he caught Lynn.
Will Buller did a sound defensive job in ThreeBond T-Sport's Dallara-Nissan to fend off the Carlin Dallara-Volkswagens of Jordan King and single-seater newboy Jann Mardenborough for fifth. Welshman Mardenborough lost seventh to Lucas Auer on the final lap.
Saturday winner Harry Tincknell took a lonely ninth amid gear selection problems, while team-mate Nicholas Latifi made it four Carlin cars in the points.
Of the other Brits, Tom Blomqvist started from the back of the grid due to his wheel falling off before he completed a lap in qualifying, and had to pit before finishing 14th. Josh Hill was a first-lap casualty.
Two drivers started the race on rain tyres: Lucas Wolf charged to fourth early on before slipping back to finish last, while Eddie Cheever clashed with Michael Lewis on the first lap at Becketts, putting both out of the race.
Results - 16 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 35m13.207s 2. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc + 1.511s 3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc + 4.674s 4. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc + 5.460s 5. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 19.919s 6. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW + 20.688s 7. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc + 21.355s 8. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW + 21.641s 9. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW + 28.931s 10. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW + 29.448s 11. Antonio Giovanazzi Double R Dallara-Merc + 46.246s 12. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 56.110s 13. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 1m18.887s 14. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc + 1m27.555s 15. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc + 1m32.043s 16. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW + 1m44.645s 17. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc + 1m52.136s 18. Sean Geleal Double R Dallara-Merc + 1 lap Retirements: Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 10 laps Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 10 laps Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 3 laps Dennis van der Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1 lap Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 0 laps Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 0 laps Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 0 laps Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 0 laps Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 0 laps Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 0 laps
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