Ho-Pin Tung retained the championship lead in the German Recaro Formula Three Cup but was disappointed to come away with just a fifth and sixth place finish at Assen, Holland.
A Chinese Dutch driver, Tung was competing on something of home soil around the twisty circuit for the second time this year, but failed to take advantage of his fastest time in practice through into qualifying, struggling with various yellow flag periods and to record two fifth place starting positions.
Things were looking up in the first race as Tung managed to find his way into third position behind pole sitter Harald Schlegemilch, a position that then became second when Marcello Thomaz made a mistake.
However, in Thomaz's attempts to battle back into contention he slipped back down the inside of Tung and hit the JB Motorsport Lola, causing several parts to become detached and forcing Tung down to sixth place by the finish.
“I had a great start, was in third position and was faster as Thomaz who made a mistake in one of the earlier laps,” he said. “He tried to overtake me with a stupid move and hit me. I lost my bargeboard and some other parts which affected the handling of the car".
The second race was equally difficult, with the even pace of the leading drivers, as well as the lack of overtaking opportunities, forcing Tung to start fifth and finish in exactly the same position.
It was a weekend that mirrored his fifth and sixth place finish at Assen earlier in the year and with team-mate Ferdinand Kool claiming second and third, he moves into second in the championship at the expense of the injured Joey Foster. Tung however, maintains a 20 point lead.
“I started fifth and finished fifth. I had problems with the handling. Sometimes I had oversteer and other times I had understeer. At the front of the field the laptimes are almost the same and therefor it's almost impossible to overtake. I still have a comfortable lead in the championship and I look forward to go to the next races at Salzburgring and Oschersleben because I have always done very well on those tracks”.
