ATS Formel 3 Cup – Start-finish victory for Marvin Kirchhöfer

The weather meant well with the ATS Formula 3 Cup at Sachsenring. 16 drivers from ten countries started into the first race of the weekend in sunshine and warm temperatures. Local favourite Marvin Kirchhöfer handled the 3.645-km roller coaster track best. Having started from the pole position the rookie from Leipzig finished first. Hubertus-Carlos Vier from Inching left everybody behind in the Trophy ranking. 

Marvin Kirchhöfer’s plan worked out perfectly. He had a good start from the pole position and defended his place until the very end. Briton Emil Bernstorff also started off well and was able to defend his second place for a long time. Russian Artem Markelov (all Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) defeated American Gustavo Menezes (Van Amersfoort Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) who was later passed by Austrian Thomas Jäger (Performance Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) and Nabil Jeffri (Eurointernational / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) from Malaysia. The race was already finished for John Bryant-Meisner (Performance Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) before the start, when his car did not move. The field stretched after a safety car phase. Individual battles brought excitement, and Markelov managed to overtake his team-mate. Kirchhöfer took the chequered flag as winner, with Markelov and Bernstoff following behind. The podium at Sachsenring was therefore dominated by the Lotus team from Oschersleben again.

Competition for points in the Trophy ranking
Hubertus-Carlos Vier (ADAC Team Nordbayern / Dallara F307 Mercedes) from Inching overtook Sebastian Balthasar (GU-Racing / Dallara F311 Mercedes) and therefore grabbed the lead in the Trophy ranking. The driver from Cologne remained second, followed by his team-mate Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten (GU-Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge), who managed to finish third in the Trophy ranking despite driving through the gravel. Ahead of him finished Balthasar and Vier in first place. Since all three drivers placed in the Top10 of the overall standings they scored extra points.

Marvin Kirchhöfer: “My start was good and the race was great. Emil tried to attack but I was able to extend the gap. It definitely was not boring considering all the lapping. I did not want to take any risks.”
Artem Markelov: “I am having the time of my life right now. I always try to take maximum points and do my very best. I am second and I am happy.”
Emil Bernstorff: “I was a bit disappointed because I lost speed and Artem got me. That was unlucky but there were so many slow cars. It is like racing in Le Mans.”
Hubertus-Carlos Vier: “That was a challenging race. Overtaking John Bryant-Meisner was really difficult, and then I tried constantly to push.”