Formula 3 Euro Series 2008 – Press Release No. 16

Third pole of the season for Hülkenberg at the Norisring

Air temperature: 23.5 °C
Asphalt temperature: 29.5 °C

Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix, 0:48.696 min) was the fastest of the 29 drivers in qualifying of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the 2.3 kilometres long Norisring, The test driver of the Williams Formula 1 team will be starting from pole position for tomorrow’s seventh season round. For the German, it was already his third pole position of the season. Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport, 0:48.737 min), Koudai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport, 0:48.822 min) and James Jakes (ART Grand Prix, 0:48.946 min) ended up second to fourth in qualigying, Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix, 0:48.978 min) was best-placed rookie in fifth place.

Seven minutes before the end of the session, Hülkenberg claimed the top position. Soon after that, he improved his own fastest lap time again. At that time, he was almost 0.3 seconds clear of second place. In the final stages, Mika Mäki still came close with his personal best time, but Hülkenberg retained his first position. Mäki was able to outpace Japanese driver Tsukakoshi, who had been second up to that point.

After one third of the session, qualifying was interrupted for a few minutes. Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport, 0:49.557 min) had hit a wall and his car had to be towed away. Eventually, the Mücke driver was classified only 27th.

Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix): “Finding a clear lap with 29 cars and making no mistakes was not easy at all. However, at the Norisring, pole position doesn’t mean as much as at other circuits. After all, here it is fairly easy to overyake. The additional point is the most valuable at Norisring.“

Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport): “At the start of qualifying, it didn’t go well at all. I didn’t have a good feeling and I was stuck in traffic all the time. Things only got better towards the end. I gave everything and two laps before the end, I made it into second place.”

Koudai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport): “For me, it is the first time at the Norisring. Braking is particularly important here. Initially, my car was really good. I slightly clipped the wall with my second set of tyres and after that, handling was affected a little but. But generally, I am happy with my third place.”