inland’s Mika Mäki (20) driving for Mücke Motorsport and Dutch driver Renger van der Zande (22) of the Prema Powerteam won the two races of the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series season opener in Hockenheim respectively. Mäki won Saturday’s race ahead of Charlie Kimball (USA/23) at the wheel of a Prema Powerteam Dallara Mercedes and Italian Edoardo Mortara (21) in a Dallara Volkswagen of Signature-Plus. It was Mäki’s first win in his ever Formula 3 race.

On Sunday, van der Zande claimed victory ahead of Germany’s Christian Vietoris (19) of Mücke Motorsport and Mortara. After the first two of 20 races, Mäki took the lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Mortara, both are tied on 10 points. 22 out of 29 drivers in the event were at the wheel of Dallara cars powered by the Mercedes-Benz Formula 3 engine M271 developed from the four-cylinder production engine of the C- and E-Class.
 
Race 1: Nico Hülkenberg (Germany/20), racing for ART Grand Prix, started from pole position and accelerated into an immediate lead ahead of Mäki. Following an accident of Briton Jon Lancaster (19/ART Grand Prix) the Safety Car was deployed. The race was re-started on lap 13 and Hülkenberg retired on that lap due to an engine failure. Mäki took first place and won after 23 laps ahead of Kimball and Mortara. On lap 21, he posted the fastest lap of the race with a 1m35.108.
 
2008 Formula 3 Euro Series, Hockenheim

Race 1 – Pole Position: Nico Hülkenberg, 1:45.474 – fastest lap: Mika Mäki, 1:35.108 (lap 21)
Race 2 - fastest lap: Dani Clos, 1:34.289 (lap 9)
 
van der Zande was on pole whilst Mäki started eighth. Van der Zande took the lead at the start and extended it to 4.5sec at the finish line. On the opening lap, Mäki improved to sixth place. As the consequence of a start incident, the Safety Car was deployed for three laps. On lap 21, Mäki retired following a collision with Jean-Karl Vernay (France/20) at the hairpin. Vietoris maintained second place against charging Mortara until the chequered flag; the Italian came home third.