Lola’s Formula Three car - the B06/30 made a stunning debut in the Recaro F3 German Cup at Oschersleben over the weekend, winning both races and proving to be the fastest of the three chassis represented in the series.
Both Joey Foster (HS Technik Lola) and Ho-Pin Tung (JB Motorsport Lola) took a win apiece on the twisty circuit near Magdeburg. Foster also cemented his growing reputation by claiming fastest laps in both events.
The first race was held on Saturday afternoon after the grid had been decided during a wet qualifying session. Ho-Pin Tung put his yellow Opel-Spiess Lola on to the front row of the grid and sprinted off the line in to an instant lead, perfectly executing a convincing win which emulated his success at the same venue last season.
"It is fantastic to score a first win in the Lola chassis," said Tung after the race. "It hasn’t been easy with so little testing but this is a great to start the season for us. The team did a great job as usual."
The Dutch/Chinese drivers team mate, Ferdinand Kool drove through from 8th on the grid to secure 5th position, delighting the Belgium based JB Motorsport squad.
Race one saw some appalling luck for the HS Technik team as Joey Foster’s team mate Martin Hippe spun off on the warm up lap.
Foster himself had started in the midfield pack after being among many drivers to be penalised for a yellow flag infringement in qualifying. He soon moved his way up through the field to as high as 6th place before a car ahead spun, clipping the unlucky black and white Lola. This incident necessitated a lengthy pit stop and effectively ended his race. However, the tenacious Cornishmen set the fastest lap of the race despite feeling his car was
not handling as well after the incident.
As in the first qualifying session, the second one, held on Sunday morning, was also held in wet conditions. This time Foster claimed 3rd position on the grid with Tung lining up 11th and Kool 12th.
"I actually didn’t get a great start,” confirmed Foster. “I could see that there was an accident behind me as well which helped with a slight breakaway for the front running cars. As soon as my tyres kicked in on around lap 3, the Lola was really strong and I easily caught and overtook Azzoli (Target SLC) and was then
following Bruins (Van Amersfort Dallara) very closely, looking for a way to take the lead.”
"Coming on to the back straight he (Bruins) made a slight mistake and I took advantage. Unfortunately he turned in and we touched, he went off in to the wall and I broke my front wing and did a quick 360!"
On a track which is usually deemed almost impossible to overtake on, Foster was almost irresistable as he took the lead. However, with spots of rain falling on the track, Foster was now under pressure from the highly rated Nicolas Hulkenburg (JK Dallara) but the cool, former Formula Ford Festival adapted his driving with the damage to his car, to claim
a superb win on his Formula Three debut.
"It feels brilliant to have won on my F3 debut," said Foster from the podium. "But most of all I need to thank the team and Lola for a great job this weekend. We have shown that the chassis has so much potential and Michael Hascic (HS Technik owner) deserves the success for running such a professional team."
Rounding off a great weekend for Lola was Ferdinand Kool who came through to 5th, scoring more points for the JB Motorsport squad. Ho Ping Tung went to the head of the points table after finishing in 6th place just behind his team mate.
Martin Hippe battled away for a 12th placed finish in his HS Technik Lola. The young German recovered from an earlier spin and lapped quickly, boosting his confidence for the following rounds of the series whih take place at the home of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim near Heidleberg this weekend.
RACE ONE RESULTS
1. Ho Ping Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m02.508s
2. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) SMS Dallara-Mercedes 25m04.751s
3. Dominik Schrami (D) Swiss Team Dallara-Spiess 25m10.576s
4. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m11.566s
5. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m11.892s
6. Recardo Bruins (KOR) Van Amersfort Dallara-Spiess 25m12.206s
7. Salvatore Gatto (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m14.946s
8. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) HS Technim Dallara Spiess 25m15.402s
9. Hiroyuki Matsumura (JPN) Swiss Team Dallara- Spiess 25m15.873s
10. Ronny Wechselberger (D) SMS Dallara-Spiess 25m16.690s
23. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess + 1 lap
DNF Martin Hippe (D) HS Technik Lola-Spiess
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m22.810s
RACE TWO RESULTS
1. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 25m16.490s
2. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) JK Racing Dallara Spiess 25m16 .976s
3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) HS Technik Dallara-Spiess 25m22.092s
4. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m26.405s
5. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m28.109s
6. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m31.345s
7. Dominik Schrami (D) Swiss Team Dallara-Opel 25m42.722s
8. Ronny Wechselberger (D) SMS Dallara-Spiess 25m49.941s
9. Natacha Gachnang (CH) Bordoli Dallara-Spiess 25m50.480s
10. Salvatore Gatto (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m51.124s
12. Martin Hippe (D) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 25m51.954s
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m21.926s
CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 2 ROUNDS
1. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) 13pts
2. Joey Foster (GB) 12pts
3= Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) 10pts
3=Riccardo Azzoli (I) 10pts
5=Renger Van Der Zande (NL) 8pts
5=Dominik Schrami (D) 8pts
5= Ferdinand Kool (NL) 8pts
8 Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) 7pts
9. Recardo Bruins (KOR) 3pts
10. Salvatore Gatto (I) 2pts
