Who will be the 2013 ATS Formula 3 Cup vice-champion?

The ATS Formula 3 Cup champion was determined at the previous racing weekend. Marvin Kirchhöfer from the Lotus talent factory from Oschersleben is the outstanding winner. The 19-year old from Leipzig will give everything again at the final event of the season at Hockenheim. The ATS Formula 3 Cup Trophy ranking also has a new champion; Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne secured the title early. Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten is the new vice-champion. Both compete for the GU-Racing team from Bavaria. And while everybody is focussing on the spectacular season final with 26 drivers from twelve countries contesting the Cup, the Formula 3 Association has some exciting news for 2014.

The battle for the vice-championship title will be exciting to see with Artem Markelov from Russia in second place having only a ten-point lead over Briton Emil Bernstorff in third place. Bernstorff secured a victory in Oschersleben while the driver from Moscow had to endure his probably most disappointing racing weekend so far with two crashes in one and the same turn. Consequently, he scored a mere twelve points. Marvin Kirchhöfer has been balancing a tightly packed schedule since his title win. Last week, the 19-year old from Leipzig completed a test session for the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with the Prema Powerteam in Imola. Currently, Kirchhöfer is in Abu Dhabi in order to qualify for one of the coveted places in the promotion programme of the FIA Academy Institute. Afterwards the exceptional talent will head directly to Hockenheim to collect his trophy.

Pleasure after business is the motto in the Trophy ranking, since Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne and Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten have already won the championship and vice-championship titles respectively. Both compete for the GU-Racing team from Velden, Bavaria. “To win both the championship and the vice-championship title in our first year back in Formula 3 is just fantastic,” says the happy Team Principal Günter Unterreitmeier. “We have a great team with excellent mechanics, brilliant engineers and the best drivers all around.”

The 2014 season is taking shape
The annual meeting of the Formula 3 Association took place at the end of August for the first time this year instead of December. That paid off, since several plans are already being realised. One of them is that all races of the 2014 ATS Formula 3 Cup will take place in the support programme of the ADAC GT Masters series. “We are relying on our trusted partner,” says member of the board and Head of Organisation, Sebastian Wittrisch and continues, “We are also pleased to be able to offer more planning security to the teams.” The two subsequent years were also secured in collaboration with the team principals. As a result, the ATS Formula 3 Cup will continue to use the Volkswagen Power Engine in 2014 and 2015.