JUNE 27, 2004

Hamilton shows his paces

McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton won his first victory in the Eurocup Formula 3 Championship at the Norisring on Saturday after his major rivals in the race ran into trouble. Nicolas Lapierre was penalised for having jumped the start and Alexandre Premat (ASM Formule 3) led until eight laps froom the end when his suspension broke.

Hamilton came home ahead of Loic Duval (Opel Team Signature) and Toyota protege Franck Perera (Prema Powerteam). Overall series leader Jamie Green (ASM) had to start from the back because of an engine change but managed to get through to sixth place.

In the second race Premat beat Jamie Green to the finish line by just half a second with Hamilton just three-tenths behind them.