Edoardo Mortara emerged from the opening round of this year's F3 Euroseries in the joint lead of the championship, sharing first place with rookie racewinner Mika Maki.
The reigning rookie of the year claimed two third-place finishes at Hockenheim to establish his position at the head of the table alongside race one winner Maki, racking up the first podiums for Volkswagen's new F3 engine in the process.
It was an eventful weekend, as heavy rain meant that the scheduled qualifying session on Friday had to be abandoned, with a short session on Saturday to determine grid positions. Signature driver Mortara qualified fourth on the grid for race one and improved one position to claim third place, although he had a chance of finishing second. Unfortunately earlier contact had damaged his rear diffuser, depriving him of downforce on slow corners and causing him to run wide at the hairpin when poised the challenge.
Under Euroseries rules, the result of race one decides the grid for race two, but with the top eight positions reversed, which meant that the 21-year old started from sixth place on Sunday morning. Once again, he made an excellent getaway and, with some opportunist overtaking moves, managed to claim his second podium of the weekend.
It's been a fantastic weekend - and it's great to lead the championship for the first time in my career, the Italian said, We just concentrated on getting the job done and avoided any unnecessary risks throughout the weekend.
"I'd like to thank both the Signature team and Volkswagen for making this possible. For a manufacturer to come in with a brand new engine that is quick and reliable straight away is a very impressive achievement. We've still got plenty of potential left for the future too, so it's been more than a positive start to the year.
