ATS Formel 3 Cup – Sam MacLeod celebrates third win of the season

The reversed-grid race at 3.645-km Sachsenring saw exciting battles and lots of changes in positions. Briton Sam MacLeod handled the track, which was wet at first and later started to dry, best grabbing his third victory of the season. After his podium finish in race 1 Weiron Tan from Malaysia has every reason to be pleased once again, having scored second this time. Both Van Amersfoort Racing drivers finished at the top. Markus Pommer from Neckarsulm, who contests for Team Lotus, took third. He had just secured the 2014 ATS Formula 3 Cup championship title earlier this afternoon.

Pole-sitter Nikita Zlobin from Moscow (SMP Racing by ADM Motorsport / Dallara F311 Volkswagen) was defeated by Brazilian Pipo Derani (ADM Motorsport / Dallara F311 Volkswagen) after only a few metres into the race. Briton Sam MacLeod (Van Amersfoort Racing / Dallara F11 Volkswagen) defended his third position and then overtook Zlobin. Behind them, Dane Nicolai Sylvest (JBR Motorsport & Engineering / Dallara F311 Volkswagen), Weiron Tan from Kuala Lumpur (Van Amersfoort Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen) and Neckarsulm-based Markus Pommer (Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen) were fighting hard while the order at the top changed. MacLeod left the Brazilian in second place. The field behind them saw exciting battles and lots of changes in positions. On the drying track, Zlobin had to give his place to Sylvest, Nabil Jeffri (Motopark / Dallara F311 Volkswagen) followed suit in overtaking him.

At the top, MacLeod broke away from the field. Obviously highly motivated by his podium finish in race 1, Tan overtook Derani, who had Pommer on his tail. Subsequently, he also had to give his place to him. However, Pommer did not get a chance anymore for overtaking Tan. The driver from Kuala Lumpur put in a phenomenal performance in defending his place – he seems to have cracked it. And the brand-new ATS Formula 3 Cup champion mounted a furious pursuit.

Van Amersfoort Racing has every reason to celebrate. All drivers scored podium finishes after all, Sam MacLeod claimed the victory, Weiron Tan grabbed second. In addition, Markus Pommer from Lotus took third.

Sam MacLeod: “I finished first and had a huge gap. I’m really happy about that! When I took the lead in the race, it was easy to drive a controlled race in the rain. When you have no car ahead of you it’s a lot easier.”
Weiron Tan: “It’s still not perfect but a lot better than the previous racing weekends. The rain was not as strong as in race 1 but it was pretty slippery. I had to learn to adapt initially.”
Markus Pommer: “I guess I had a little more downforce than Weiron. That’s why I wanted to build a little gap in the final lap in order to sail past him with a lot of momentum. However, Weiron was very fast in the turn in that lap. I didn’t want to take a risk.”