F3 Euroseries points leader Roberto Merhi demonstrated another dominant display on Saturday afternoon to seal his 8th victory of the season ahead of Marco Wittmann and Daniel Juncadella.
Merhi claimed double pole positions for races 1 and 3 as the F3 Euroseries made it’s Silverstone debut in support of the Le Man Series’ 6 Hours of Silverstone event. In front of several Euroseries graduates such as Christian Klien and Alexandre Premat, Merhi got away well off the line and disappeared into the distance. Marco Wittmann slipped past 2nd placed man Juncadella after the Spaniard had an average start, whilst Daniel Abt made an impressive start to gain 5 places on the opening lap to run as high as 4th.
As Merhi opened the gap to Wittmann, light rain began to fall on the Northamptonshire circuit, but by then warm slick tyres meant the field could cope with the conditions. The changing track surface however, did bring together Abt, guest Mücke Motorsport driver Marco Sorensen, Felix Rosenqvist and Laurens Vanthoor to fight for 4th place. After a close scrap, it was Rosenqvist who emerged in front and gapped the trio by the chequered flag, Abt, Vanthoor and Sorensen following him home in that order. Kimiya Sato finished 8th ahead of Jimmy Eriksson, whilst Carlos Munoz rounded out the top 10.
Merhi’s lead was up to a gaping 18 seconds over Wittmann by the end, and the Spaniard increases his championship lead once again as the 18 year-old hones in on the 2011 F3Euroseries title.
“Today, my car was great and the race was much fun.” Merhi said, “When the rain set in, finding the limit was a nice challenge. I started sliding once, but I was able to catch the car. Now, my aim is to win the other two races at Silverstone as well.”
