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The Lola B06/30 Formula Three once again dominated proceedings at the latest rounds of the Recaro F3 Cup held at Nürburgring. Two clear victories, a 1-2-3 podium lock-out in race 2 and a 5 point series lead for HS Technik driver Joey Foster were the highlights from the weekend.
With wet but drying qualifying sessions resulting in typically mixed up grids, Joey Foster had to work hard for his success in both races but the rapid Cornishman showed why he is considered the series class act with some sensational overtaking manoeuvres clinching maximum points.
Race 1
Starting from 6th position on the grid for race one, the 2003 Formula Ford Festival winner made up one place on the sprint to the first tight hairpin. From then on, he showed that his blue and yellow Lola was clearly destined to pick off the rest of the protagonists, despite the fact that Formula Three is considered one of the toughest formulas to overtake in.
“I got close to the battle for 3rd place between Van Der Zande and Hulkenberg”, said Joey. “I was weighing them up, when they touched and ran wide, so that made it easy for me to get through. Then, I took Harald (HS Technik team mate, Schlegelmilch) which put me in position to chase (Riccardo) Azzoli. I got him at turn 4 and although he squeezed me slightly, it was quite easy to get the necessary traction out of the corner and get in to the lead.”
Foster built up an impressive gap of just under 6 seconds to score his 4th win in what was only his 7th ever F3 race.
JB Motorsport drivers, Ferdinand Kool and Ho-Pin Tung finished in 4th and 5th places respectively in their Spiess engined cars. Erstwhile series points leader Tung was close to his team mate towards the end of the race and set the fastest lap but it was Kool, who hung on to the position and who would start race two from pole position.
Race 2
With the qualifying session having mirrored that of the first with a drying track, timing and discipline were the order of the day to ensure a good starting position for the second race to be held on Sunday afternoon.
Ferdinand Kool did an impressive job in the difficult conditions to start from pole and he made an excellent getaway to sprint in to the lead. However, behind him, the fellow Lola of Joey Foster was scything through the field, coming from 4th place on the first lap to overtake Recardo Bruins and then Ho Pin Tung to claim 2nd place, before homing in on to the back of Kool’s yellow Lola.
“As in the first race, the car was fantastic,” said Foster after the race. “Ferdinand was driving well and was quick but on one lap he got baulked at the final corner and I managed to get a tow on him down to the hairpin. It was tight but I made it and held him off around the outside for the following left hander.”
From there, Foster again pulled away to win by a comfortable 6 seconds, taking the extra point for the fastest lap of the race as he did so.
“It was an excellent weekend, “ understated the jovial 22 year old. “I have never been in a team and driven a car like the Lola. They are just so good. I am very grateful to (HS Technik team boss) Mr Hascic and the HS Technik team for having the faith in me. I am sure that there will be more success in the coming races and we will be working hard to ensure that we keep and extend the points lead that we now have.”
With Ho-Pin Tung finishing just ahead of team mate Kool, the podium was an all Huntingdon affair, the first time since 1993 that any constructor other than Dallara have taken the top 3 positions.
Lola F3 project manager, Adam Airey said of the weekend; “A 1-2-3 result is very satisfying. We have two fantastic teams working very hard and to have all three drivers in the top three positions of the series points standings shows that the B06/30 is the car to have here this season.”
The next rounds of the series also take place at the Nürburgring on 17/18 June when the series supports the world famous Nürburgring 24 Hours race.
RACE ONE RESULTS
1. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 25m14.663s
2. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m20.137s
3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) HS Technik Dallara-Spiess 25m20.663s
4. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m22.137s
5. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m24.028s
6. Cyndie Alleman (CH) SMS Seyffarth Dallara Mercedes 25m46.842s
7. Johannes Theobald (D) Seyffarth Dallara-Mercedes 25m57.847s
8. Norman Knop (D) Team Leipert Dallara-Spiess 25m59.457s
9. Natacha Gachnang (CH) Bordoli Dallara-Spiess 26m00.205
10 Rolf Biland (D) Team Schuler Dallara Toyota 26m05.973s
Fastest Lap: Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 1m22.524s
RACE TWO RESULTS
1. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 25m04.663s
2. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m10.667s
3. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 25m13.804s
4. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) Seyffarth Dallara Mercedes 25m14.734s
5. Recardo Bruins (KOR) Van Amersfort Dallara Spiess 25m22. 528s
6. Johannes Theobald (D) Seyffarth Dallara-Mercedes 25m24.065s
7. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 25m24.408s
8. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) JK Racing Dallara Spiess 25m26.420s
9. Cyndie Alleman (CH) SMS Seyffarth Dallara Mercedes 25m27.041s
10.Natacha Gachnang (CH) Bordoli Dallara-Spiess 25m27.314s
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m22.634s
CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 8 ROUNDS
1. Joey Foster (GB) 59pts
2. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) 54pts
3. Ferdinand Kool (NL) 41pts
4. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) 40pts
5. Riccardo Azzoli (I) 32pts
6. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) 30pts
7. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) 24pts
8. Recardo Bruins (KOR) 16pts
9. Dominik Schrami (D) 8pts
10. Johannes Theobald (D) 6pts
For more information, please visit www.jbmotorsport.com and www.joeyfoster.com
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Joey Foster was the class of the field in Race 1 at the Nürburgring...
(Picture joeyfoster.com) |
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...as he also was in Race 2.
(Picture joeyfoster.com)
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Ho-Ping Tung moves up to second place in the Recaro F3 Cup with a second and fifth place finishes.
(Picture jbmotorsport.com)
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Ferdinand Kool took a third and a fourth at the weekend to lay third in the Recaro F3 Cup.
(Picture jbmotorsport.com)
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Joey Foster is flanked by the two JB Motorsport drivers as they celebrate their 1-2-3 in Race 2.
(Picture jbmotorsport.com)
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The two JB Motorsport men give each other plenty of room on one of the tighter corners.
(Picture jbmotorsport.com)
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