Oschersleben: Volkswagen race report

Mika Maki on podium -- Vernay defends third place in standings

Wolfsburg (02 August 2009) He broke his duck: Volkswagen driver Mika Maki celebrated his first podium finish of the season at the tenth race of the Formula 3 Euro Series at Oschersleben. The Red Bull Junior from the Signature team finished third on Sunday after occupying eighth place in the race on Saturday. His team-mate Jean Karl Vernay scored important championship points in the first race which he finished in sixth place and in the second barely missed a points' finish by coming in seventh. The 21-year-old Frenchman is ranking third halfway through the leading junior racing series' season -- ten out of 20 races have been run -- and continues with good prospects in the fight for the championship.

The results of the race on Sunday were marked by a decision of the race directors: 21 of the 25 contenders received a 30-second time penalty because they had set a sector best time under a yellow flag. Christian Vietoris (Gonnersdorf/Dallara-Mercedes), who crossed the finish line in seventh place but was classified as the winner, was the driver who most benefited from the decision.

Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director:
"We're absolutely happy with the performance capability of our Formula 3 engine, but the results in the Formula 3 Euro Series are not par with our expectations yet. The potential is higher, as results in the British Formula 3 Championship and in the German Formula 3 Cup clearly show. I rate our home round on the outskirts of Wolfsburg as a resounding success - we were very pleased about the visit of the employees of Volkswagen Motorsport, our colleagues from the plants and the many performance athletes who accepted our invitation. Consequently, not only racing but also numerous other sports were the subject of lively discussions."

#3 - Mika Maki (FIN) - Volkswagen Dallara F308 - Team Signature
Qualifying: 6th place - race 1: 8th place - race 2: 3rd place

"It was a difficult weekend for me; we did not find the optimum setup for my car. In qualifying I had to stop my fastest trial due to a yellow flag which cost me several grid positions. I'm not happy with the two races either. There are a lot of details we'll be working on now in order to be really quick again."

#4 - Jean Karl Vernay (F) - Volkswagen Dallara F308 - Team Signature
Qualifying: 5th place - race 1: 6th place - race 2: 7th place

"Of course defending third place in the standings is positive - that's a good base for the second half of the season. However, the two races at Oschersleben did not go the way I'd expected. Particularly my start to the second race was less than perfect. Afterwards, I was able to overtake Vietoris and was running in the points until the race directors imposed the time penalty. Two weeks from now, the Nurburgring is on the calendar and I'm hoping for us to manage a better result there."

-credit: vw