Home Formula 3Euroformula Mason dominates F3 Open Paul Ricard race

Mason dominates F3 Open Paul Ricard race

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Photo: F3 Open/Fotospeedy

Nelson Mason, the 25-year-old Canadian series rookie, has continued his astounding dominance over the rest of the competitors in the European F3 Open Winter Series, winning the race at Paul Ricard from pole and grabbing the fastest lap as he went along.

Starting alongside his teammate Ed Jones on the front row, Mason got away nicely and led every lap on his way to a very impressive victory. Brit Hector Hurst, who was third on the grid, overtook Jones on lap three, and cruised to second, as the driver from UAE held off Sandy Stuvik to complete the podium.

The top Copa driver, Matteo Davenia, finished a remarkable fifth, ahead of Andres Saravia and another Copa driver – Alex Toril. Denis Nagulin, Valeria Carballo and Artur Janosz took the remaining points-scoring positions as Cameron Twynham, Che One Lim and Igor Urien rounded out the top five in the Copa standings.

The race saw quite a few retirements as podium contenders Alexey Chuklin and Alexandre Cougnaud retired early on, while Santiago Urrutia sustained damage on lap four and was forced to run at the back for the remainder of the race.

The second and final round of the Winter Series will take place at Jerez on 1-2 March.

Race results
Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap
1 Nelson Mason Team West-Tec F312 29m15.391s
2 Hector Hurst Emilio de Villota F312 +6.159s
3 Ed Jones Team West-Tec F312 +13.463s
4 Sandy Stuvik RP Motorsport F312 +13.829s
5 Matteo Davenia DAV Racing F308 +19.411s
6 Andres Saravia Emilio de Villota F312 +27.403s
7 Alex Toril RP Motorsport F308 +31.800s
8 Denis Nagulin Campos Racing F312 +33.501s
9 Valeria Carballo Campos Racing F312 +33.846s
10 Artur Janosz Campos Racing F312 +40.389s
11 Cameron Twynham Team West-Tec F308 +49.308s
12 Che One Lim Emilio de Villota F308 +51.970s
13 Igor Urien Emilio de Villota F308 +52.176s
14 Jordan Perroy Top F3 F312 +1m07.880s
15 Sean Walkinshaw Team West-Tec F308 +1m09.176s
16 Nicholas Pohler DAV Racing F308 +1m09.744s
17 Lorenzo Paggi Corbetta Competizioni F308 +1m23.250s
18 Santiago Urrutia RP Motorsport F312 +1m46.910s
19 Luca Orlandi Team West-Tec F312 +1 lap
DNF Alexandre Cougnaud RP Motorsport F312 +9 laps
DNF Mattia Vita Top F3 F308 +10 laps
DNF Alexey Chuklin Emilio de Villota F312 +11 laps
DNF Richard Gonda Drivex School F308 +14 laps
DNS Liam Venter Team West-Tec F308 DNS
Fastest lap: Nelson Mason – 2m04.113s