Two victories for Volkswagen drivers

Kimiya Sato and Marco Wittmann won rounds eight and nine of the season on the third race weekend of the Formula 3 Euro Series at Zandvoort. For each of the two drivers "powered by Volkswagen” it was the first victory of the year. Through his success Wittmann improved to second place overall in the highly competitive junior series.

The German from the Signature team had secured the pole position for the third race of the weekend at which he then clinched a commanding start-finish victory. After a drive-through penalty due to a collision Witmann merely finished the first race in tenth place, whereas in the second session the 21-year-old came sixth and scored valuable points in the fight for the title. Overall, after the first third of the season, the German merely ranks 23 points behind the leader of the standings, Roberto Merhi.

The Volkswagen customer team Motopark had reasons to rejoice as well. In the sprint race on Saturday Sato also managed a start-finish win. As the runner-up, the Canadian Gianmarco Raimondo perfected the first one-two result for the race team based at Oschersleben.

The Belgian Laurens Vanthoor on the other hand in fourth place barely missed a podium finish at the first race. The Signature driver took fifth and sixth place in the subsequent rounds. His team-mate Daniel Abt scored no points at the first race after a collision but managed to clinch a championship point in the second session in eighth place after having started from the last position on the grid. By showing a strong performance on Sunday Abt finished fifth.

Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director:
"It was a thrilling and successful weekend for Volkswagen. We confirmed the speed and performance we showed at Hockenheim. Particularly Marco Wittmann’s win on Sunday was a fantastic achievement. This has brought us closer to the top of the championship standings. But Daniel Abt drove a good race as well.”

#1 – Marco Wittmann (Germany)
"We’ve shown a further improvement here. I was the quickest in qualifying and am very happy about my first victory. Unfortunately, I gave away some points on Saturday. Now I’m thinking from race to race. There are still a lot of points left for scoring.”

#6 – Kimiya Sato (Japan)
"I’m really happy about my first victory in the Formula 3 Euro Series. After an unfortunate qualifying session I wouldn’t have expected this. We’ve shown that we’re capable of being among the front runners.”

Please find attached results and points’ standings from Zandvoort.