Hurst holds off Mason to score maiden F3 Open win

Photo: F3 Open/Fotospeedy

Hector Hurst secured his first win in the F3 Open in race two at the Nurburgring from pole position, but he had to work hard to keep Nelson Mason at bay.

Hurst kept the lead off the start and set about opening up a gap over Mason, but that was eliminated when the safety car was deployed on lap four after Artur Janosz went off at high speed after clipping Sean Walkinshaw under braking for turn one, taking out Gerardo Nieto as he went.

After the restart, Mason closed right up on Hurst at the start of lap ten, forcing Hurst to defend his position into the first corner. The gap then remained at around just over half a second until the final lap, when Hurst crossed the line 0.413s ahead.

Sandy Stuvik finished seven seconds back in a distant third place, five seconds ahead of the battle between his RP Motorsport team-mates Santiago Urrutia and?Alexander Toril. Urrutia stayed ahead until the chequered flag, only to be handed a three second penalty afterwards and relegated behind Toril.

Saturday winner Ed Jones finished sixth ahead of a close three-way fight for seventh. Yarin Stern claimed the place two laps from the end after running side-by-side with Emilio de Villota Motorsport team-mate Andres Saravia, with Alexandre Cougnaud finishing close behind. Richard Gonda secured victory in the Copa class in tenth overall.

The consistent Stuvik holds a 32 point lead in the standings over Hurst, with Jones just one further behind. Round four takes place at Jerez in two weeks’ time.

Race results