GERMANY’S Norisring circuit proved to be a happy hunting ground for Dunmow’s Alex Lynn as he bagged a hat-trick of podiums in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the weekend.
Victory and two third places elevated the Prema Powerteam man to third in the championship standings behind team-mate Raffaele Marciello and Mücke Motorsport’s Felix Rosenqvist with four rounds to go.
Lynn barely put a foot wrong all weekend and called it his “best all round performance of the year so far” when speaking to the Broadcast afterwards.
“It was a really good weekend, certainly the most consistent of the season and nice to move back up to third in the championship,” the 19-year-old said.
“I think I’ve had race weekends where I’ve been faster but this has been my best by quite a long way in terms of the points scored and a complete performance in qualifying and the races.”
Having only raced on the tricky streets of Nuremberg once before, Lynn was expecting a tough outing in his Mercedes-powered Dallara.
But after qualifying fourth, second and third, including missing out on pole by seven thousandths of a second for race one, it was clear the Dunmow man would be battling it out at the head of the field.
A dramatic first race, hampered by two safety car periods, saw Lynn move up to third at the start, but he was unable to get past Rosenqvist in second and was forced to settle for a podium finish.
Lynn made a terrific start in race two to beat poleman Marciello into the first corner and then built a one-second lead over Rosenqvist in second. That is how it stayed as the Prema racer took the chequered flag for his second win of the season.
He added: “It was a really hard race, especially when you’re out front leading the way. I wasn’t very strong here last year, so I’ve come away with a win that I really wasn’t expecting.”
In the final race, Lynn maintained his third position from the start to complete a hat-trick of strong results as the championship moves into a five-week summer break.
Looking ahead to the final four races, the Dunmow driver has his sights firmly set on hunting down the two main title contenders, Marciello and Rosenqvist. The former leads the championship by 24.5 points and is a further 109 points ahead of Lynn.
“The two in front of me are going to start battling each other, so I’m in a great position if I just do the best I can do and continue picking up as many strong results as I can,” Lynn added. “Stranger things have happened in motor racing and, as we have seen over the last few races, Lello is not unbeatable, so there is always a chance of catching them both.”
The drivers return to Germany on August 16-18 as the championship heads to the Nürburgring for round seven.
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