Jon Lancaster endured the usual highs and lows of an F3 Euroseries double-header at the Norisring, but did enough to underline the potential that saw the crack ART team pluck him from FRenault after just one season of racing cars.
The Briton has already shown that is he not out of place in the competition and reinforced his reputation by finishing race one at the tricky street circuit just off the podium. The 19 year old started from ninth on the grid and eventually had to settle for fifth after a strong battle for third that last for much of the 48 laps as he closed in on the Signature-Plus pairing of Jean Karl Vernay and Edoardo Mortara. He appeared on course for more of the same in race two, before an ambitious move by championship leader Mortara at the Grundig hairpin forced him out of the race with a broken left front wheel.
“I'm happy with the result [of race one] as, towards the end of the race, we were easily one of the fastest cars on the track,” Lancaster said, "The car took a while to come in, possibly due to tyre pressures, but when it did it was great and I was really able to close down the gap and mount a strong challenge for third.
“I had a great start, making up three places, but had to take avoiding action when my team-mate spun in front of me. After that, I had to bide my time a bit, waiting for the tyres to get up to temperature and stop locking up before I was really able to close down the gap. I struggled a bit with some backmarkers too, but the pace was there so I'm confident of being able to retain that form and repeat the performance."
![Jon Lancaster - ART Grand Prix Mercedes [pic credit: F3 Euroseries Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/463022.jpg)
