Lawson back on the podium in Hungary for opening race in Euroformula Open

Liam Lawson returned to the podium in Hungary when he finished third in the opening race of the weekend and maintained his second place in the Euroformula Open Championship.

The 17-year-old Kiwi driver finished best of the Red Bull Juniors and keeps his lead in the Rookie championship over Motopark teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished one place behind Lawson.

There was little action is the 17-lap race apart from winner Marino Sato (Motopark) passing poleman Lukas Dunner on the opening lap. Lawson started where he finished, as did Tsunoda. Linus Lundqvist meanwhile got by Teppei Natori to finish fifth and sixth respectively.

Dunner had one lunge at Sato to retake the lead during the race in his team Teo Martin Motorsport car but his effort was never really a threat.

The podium reflected the tense Qualifying session earlier in the day when the grid was set by the top three drivers in the final minute of the 25-minute session. Sato set the benchmark with just over 60-seconds to go, Tsunoda was next but on a last-lap dash to the finish line Dunner took the Pole off Sato and Lawson leapt into third place.

The championship format is repeated on the second day, with another morning qualifying and 17-lap race in the afternoon.

Lawson’s racing campaign in Europe is proudly supported by the Porter Group, Turners, and Giltrap Group.

Euroformula Open: Hungoraring Qualifying 1 – Top 10

1. 1. Lukas Dunner (Teo Martin) 1:35.058
2. Marino Sato (Team Motopark) +0.266
3. Liam Lawson (Team Motopark) +0.451
4. Yuki Tsunoda (Team Motopark) +0.472
5. Teppei Natori (Carlin Motorsport) +0.757
6. Linus Lundqvist (Double R) +0.778
7. Christian Hahn (Carlin Motorsport) +0.846
8. Jack Doohan (Double R) +0.916
9. Calan Williams (Fortec) +1.043
10. Cameron Das (Motopark) +1.113

 

Rookie – Top 3

1. Lawson
2. Tsunoda
3. Lundqvist

 

Euroformula Open: Hungoraring Race 1 (17 laps) – Top 10

1. Sato
2. Dunner +0.403
3. Lawson +3.948
4. Tsunoda +4.772
5. Lundqvist +7.471
6. Natori +8.603
7. Christian Hahn (Carlin Motorsport) +9.418
8. Williams +11.854
9. Javier Gonzalez (RP Motorsport) +14.556
10. Das +18.575

Championship Classification

1. Mario Sato 183 points
2. Liam Lawson 119
3. Lukas Dunner 111
4. Yuki Tsunoda 98
5. Julian Hanses (Motopark) 86

Caption: Liam Lawson heads for a podium in the first race in Hungary.  

Media release: Grant McDonald