Edoardo Mortara wins Le Castellet season opener

For Edoardo Mortara (Signature), there is only one goal in this year's Formula 3 Euro Series: the 2008 runner-up wants to win the title. At the 5.791 kilometres long Le Castellet circuit, the season started off according to plan for the Italian as he won from Marco Wittmann (Signature) and Alexander Sims (ART Grand Prix). Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam), who had started from pole position, was the best-placed rookie in fourth.

Edoardo Mortara (I, Signature, Dallara F308 Volkswagen) Credit: Thomas Suer/Euro F3 Series

After the start, Juncadella still held on to the lead, but Mortara overtook him on the fourth lap. One lap later, the Spaniard also had to let Marco Wittmann through. Mortara quickly established a lead of more than two seconds over Wittmann and he still was 0.788 seconds clear of the German when the chequered flag was out. For Valtteri Bottas (ART Grand Prix), who has his eyes set on the title after having been the best rookie last year, the season didn't start very well. The Fin wasn't correctly lined up in his box on the starting grid and was given a drive-through penalty as a result. After 19 laps, he just missed out on a points' scoring finish, ending up ninth.

Edoardo Mortara (Signature): "Fifth place in qualifying yesterday wasn't great, but I knew that anything was still possible here at this track with the long straight. My start was fabulous, I immediately succeeded in overtaking my two team-mates Marco Wittmann and Laurens Vanthoor. That was the key to victory. At the end, my tyres were badly worn and I was happy that the race was finally over after 19 laps."

Marco Wittmann (Signature): "I am quite happy with second place. My start wasn't good, but Edoardo's was all the better for it. That was the reason for me to finish second behind Edoardo. At the end, I wasn't able to attack him anymore as my tyres were no longer perfect."

Alexander Sims (ART Grand Prix): "Third place is all right, but it can certainly be much better still. Keeping up with Daniel Juncadella wasn't easy, because there is a lot of pressure on the front tyres in particular when driving closely behind and opponent. Tomorrow, victory should be feasible."

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