प्रेस प्रकाशनी - F3 Majors Mashup: Domination was Key in S11

F3 Majors Mashup: Domination was Key in S11

Heading into the final week of racing only 3 F3 major series are not mathematically finished. 2 of those are a matter of a top 10 finish for the series leader to clinch, and the other would take a catastrophe to upend.

F3 World series: OnlineSportManagers.com Cup
Only 4 drivers have competed for the title in this series, and with the 58-point advantage of Italy's Eros Budellacci heading into its final stage, the victory is sealed regardless of its outcome. The battle for 2nd is between two Polish drivers, separated by 34 points. At P2, Andrzej Ziemniaczek has led the most laps and won the most poles throughout this series, so the climb to the 2nd step of the podium will be tough for fellow countryman Tomasz Biernacki.

Biernacki sits 35 points ahead of P4, and barring a disaster in the short leg of the final stage, should hold off Alesky Rostin of Russia. 40 points back in 5th is the fastest single-lap driver of the series, Christoph Keim of Germany, who has taken the fastest lap of more stages than any other driver.

F3 Africa
Sami Sammallus of Finland has spent all the time at the front of this series, leading the most laps, winning the most poles, and carrying a 46-point advantage into the final stage. An appearance by Sammallus anywhere above P8 in either leg of the final stage guarantees victory for him.

Madagascar's Faneva Rakotomanana holds 2nd, 27 points ahead of Portugal's Nuno Henriques. Any mistakes from Rakotomanana could open the door for a come-from-behind grab of the 2nd step by Henriques. The fastest single-lap driver in the series sits 4th in Finland's Sami Kamarainen. At 41 points back, he'll only find the podium if Henrqiques cannot find 10 points in both legs, and Kamarainen finds 2 victories.

F3 Asia
The 2nd Italian driver to carry a big lead into the final week, Massimo Milo only needs to find the top 10, lead a lap, win the pole, or run the fastest lap to mathematically eliminate Arancha Puertas of Spain from contention for victory. 50 points separates the two before tie-breaks. Puertas along with Aidan Wong of Canada at P3 have guaranteed themselves podium spots with well over 50 points back to 4th. 41 points separates the two of them on the decision of which step each will stand on.

F3 Europe
The only series that remains tense for the leader, F3 Europe is Maxim Zimin's to lose. The Russian must be mistake free in the final leg to hold off Rostislav Safranek. The Czech sits 39 points off the lead and will be waiting to pounce on any mistakes. Spain's Ander Vilarino is also 39 points off 2nd, and will be hoping Safranek falters in leg 1.

In the race for the podium. only 25 points separate 3rd from 5th. Alex Rostek of Austria and Sergio Lourenco of Portugal at P4 and P5 will be pressing hard trying to find a spot on that 3rd step.

F3 Oceania
Pure, unfiltered, domination. That is the definition of Season 11 Oceania's series. Great Britain's Robert Headington stepped on the top of the podium 10 times, led the most laps, won the most poles, and carries an astonishing 129-point lead into the final week. His victory has been assured for weeks.

The battle for the podium on the other hand, is very very tight. Only 34 points separate 2nd from 4th and any of the 4 drivers could take the 2 remaining spots. Jimmy Smarda holds a small margin of 14 points over P3 Steffen Lehold of Denmark, who is tied with Steve Ebdon of Great Britan. On the outside looking in is the Romanian driver, Marian Pop, who hopes to take advantage of heavy battling between the 3 in front to chase back his 20-point deficit to the podium.

F3 North America: HamrHedZ Cup
Germany's Nick Schmidt recovered from a horrendous start to the season to find the podium 15 times and carry an insurmountable 55-point lead into the final week, despite the best efforts of Poland's Gerard Berger Jr. who was the fastest single-lap driver of the series and who won the most poles. Berger Jr. holds a 37-point lead over the fading Aleksandr Griboedov who has only scored 1 point in 4 weeks.

A hard-charging Swede is making a serious bid for the podium. Oscar Nilsson is coming from way back in the standings, finding 4 podiums, including 2 wins in the last 2 weeks to reel in Griboedov whose 3rd place position is down to just a 15-point advantage. One strong leg from Nilsson and another failure from Griboedov to reach the top 10 and the 3rd step will change hands.

F3 South America
A dominant performance from a Brazilian is the highlight of this series. Juca Macieira has only missed the podium in 2 legs of the tour of his home continent. He carries a 68-point advantage into the final week, meaning his victory is secured, and he will stand atop the podium in front of his home crowd at Interlagos. This comes despite an astounding performance from Andrea Jr. Cannas who led the most laps, won the most poles, and tied with Macieira as the fastest single-lap driver of the series.

Nearly 80 points behind Cannas the battle for 3rd is separated by just 6. The slightest shimmy in his car could cost Peter Pan Jr. of France the 3rd step of the podium this week. Germany's Frank Hendrich has been back and forth all season with Pan Jr., both experiencing misfortune in the weeks leading up to this final stage. The two will likely settle their quarrel one in front of the other on track as they have almost all season.