ATS: Series Oschersleben race report

Point hunt on the Easter weekend

The 22 ATS Formula 3 Cup drivers turned the famous egg hunt on the Easter weekend into another activity: in the Magdeburger Borde region, they hunted for fast lap times and points. During the 2009 season kick-off held at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, both competitors and spectators had to cope with a somewhat unusual time schedule. Following the two days of testing on Wednesday and Thursday, there was no race action on Good Friday. Consequently, the practice and qualifying sessions were held on Saturday while the two races were contested on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday respectively

Despite the holidays, the first ATS Formula 3 Cup weekend was attended by a big crowd and numerous VIPs. On Sunday, the beaming race winner Laurens Vanthoor received his trophy from Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. And on Monday, Volkswagen board member finances Dieter Potsch was delighted with having the opportunity to present the winner's trophy to Stef Dusseldorp. Both drivers contest the season with Volkswagen powered single-seaters for Team Van Amersfoort Racing. A nearly perfect season kick-off at the racetrack located close to Volkswagen Motorsport headquarters in Hannover.

Former ATS Formula 3 Cup drivers also attended the event. Five years ago, Jan Seyffarth successfully raced in the Formula 3 Cup to then be signed as Porsche Junior. Today, he contests the Porsche Carrera Cup for Team tolimit. Kevin Mirocha and Jens Hoing contested the 2008 Formula 3 Cup season and also make their next steps on the motor-racing ladder, this year. Mirocha advanced to the Formula 3 Euro Series and Hoing is going to compete in the new Formula 2. "Nonetheless, I want to try to make some guest appearances on the ATS Formula 3 Cup grid," revealed Hoing. "Here, you can learn more than anywhere else."

Austrian Willi Steindl and Luxembourg's David Hauser made for a first moment of shock right at the start of round one: Steindl stalled his engine and Hauser hit the rear of his car at a speed of about 100kph. "I was passed by another car and therefore, I took a short glance at this car," explained the Racing experience driver. "And when I looked back at what was going on in front of me, Steindl's car was already there and I just couldn't avoid hitting it." As Hauser complained about pains and seemed to be slightly dizzy, following the accident, the race control opted for deploying the extrication team to safely and professionally rescue the driver. Nonetheless, the spectacularly looking incident was another proof of the high ATS Formula 3 Cup safety standards in both the chassis and the rescue-crew areas. The only injury 19-year old David Hauser suffered in the incident was a rupture of capsule at his thumb.

By winning one of the season kick-off rounds and finishing runner-up in the other, Stef Dusseldorp took the championship lead with 10 points on his tally. Six points behind him, his team-mate Laurens Vanthoor, who failed to score points in the Monday race, holds second position. Having scored 11 points and finished third in one of the races each, Switzerland's Rahel Frey (Dallara F307 Mercedes) and Brazilian Rafael Suzuki (Dallara F307 Volkswagen) are tied for third place. While Austria's Bernd Herndlhofer (Dallara F307 Mercedes) has got ten points on his tally and follows in fifth position.

In the ATS Formula 3 Trophy, Sergey Chukanov demonstrated the competitiveness of the Arttech chassis by winning both rounds to take the lead, in this internal ranking. Here, German Francesco Lopez (16 points) holds second position, four points ahead of Finland's Mika Vahamaki.

-credit: ats