British F3 International Series: Round 15 Report and Results‏ - Spa Francorchamps - 01 August 2008

 Oliver Turvey scored his second win of the 2008 season after a race long battle with Brendon Hartley at Spa in Round 15 of the 2008 British F3 International Series.  Jaime Alguersuari completed a podium lockout for Carlin Motorsport, with Sam Abay coming home in 4th to complete a Carlin 1-2-3-4.  Stefan Wilson also took his second win of the year, passing Salman Al Khalifa on lap 7 after the Bahraini made up six places on the opening lap.

Twelve laps of Spa awaited the twenty seven drivers as they came onto the grid to start the race.  The engine notes rose as the red lights came on and Turvey shot off the line from pole position as the lights went out.  However the British driver’s start wasn’t as good as his teammates as Brendon Hartley got down the inside of Turvey into the first corner to take the lead.  As Hartley headed down the hill into Eau Rouge for the first time Turvey fought back and was alongside the Red Bull car as they headed up the hill to Les Combes with Turvey getting the better line to regain the lead.

Meanwhile further back other drivers made up places as other floundered.  Marcus Ericsson got past Sam Abay and as the cars came into the final corner for the first time the Swede dived to the inside of Jaime Alguersuari to cross the line in 3rd.  However on the next lap Ericsson lost all the ground he had made to finish the second lap back in 5th and coming under pressure from John Martin.  Invitation Class driver Basil Shaaban had a short lived return to British F3 as he pulled into the pits at the end of the opening lap to retire.

In the National Class Jay Bridger got boxed in as Salman Al Khalifa made possibly his best ever start in British F3 to take the National Class lead.  Bridger was then demoted another place by his Fluid Motorsport teammate Stefan Wilson as the driver from Sheffield fought to get on terms with the lead car.  Bridger was then passed by the International Class car of Ricardo Teixeira, which meant he couldn’t get back at Wilson while in turn he was now under pressure from Steven Guerrero in the T Sport Dallara.

Meanwhile back at the front Turvey and Hartley were pulling away from 3rd placed Alguersuari who was maintaining a comfortable gap to Abay in 4th.  On lap 4 Marcus Ericsson lost another place to Sergio Perez for 6th as John Martin continued to maintain a gap to the duelling pair in 5th.

On lap 5 Walter Grubmuller  slipped past the Invitation Class Dallara of Daniel Campos Hull on lap 6 to move into 9th overall, with the Spaniard then coming under pressure from Atte Mustonen and Sebastian Hohenthal.  Mustonen got past on lap 7 but Hohenthal and Campos Hull collided forcing both cars out of the race.

Al Khalifa was trying desperately to hold onto the National Class lead but on lap 7 Wilson made a move at Les Combes which propelled him into the lead.

The final few laps were pretty static as the chequered flag approached, with Ericsson trying to regain 6th from Perez on the final lap.  However as Turvey approached the finish line for the 12th time there was confusion as the chequered flag failed to appear and the cars continued round for another lap.  The race was declared on lap 12 despite the lack of a chequered flag which meant a 1-2-3-4 for Carlin Motorsport led by Oliver Turvey.  Brendon Hartley was second and set the fastest lap of the race just two tenths outside of Jonathan Kennard’s lap record set in 2007.  Jaime Alguersuari’s third place gives him a four point lead over Oliver Turvey in the championship table with Sergio Perez now six points behind the Spanish driver.

Round 16 of the 2008 British F3 International Series is due to start at 13:00 on Saturday 02 August.

Round 15 - Result

1 - 17 - I - Oliver TURVEY - GBR - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:10.800 - 12 -  - 185.53

2 – 3  - I - Brendon HARTLEY - NZL - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:12.031 - 12 - 1.231 - 185.39

3 - 4 - I - Jaime ALGUERSUARI - ESP - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:18.340 - 12 - 7.54 - 184.68

4 - 18 - I - Sam ABAY - AUS - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:19.451 - 12 - 8.651 - 184.55

5 - 24 - I - John MARTIN - AUS - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:23.022 - 12 - 12.222 - 184.15

6 - 9 - I - Sergio PEREZ - MEX - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - 27:28.850 - 12 - 18.05 - 183.50

7 - 8 - I - Marcus ERICSSON - SWE - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:29.237 - 12 - 18.437 - 183.46

8 - 16 - I - Michael DEVANEY - IRL - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - 27:35.900 - 12 - 25.1 - 182.72

9 - 2 - I - Walter GRUBMULLER - AUT - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:36.426 - 12 - 25.626 - 182.66

10 - 26 - I - Atte MUSTONEN - FIN - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:40.399 - 12 - 29.599 - 182.22

11 - 11 - I - Alistair JACKSON - GBR - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - 27:47.194 - 12 - 36.394 - 181.48

12 - 6 - I - Henry ARUNDEL - GBR - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:48.811 - 12 - 38.011 - 181.31

13 - 15 - I - Oliver OAKES - GBR - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:49.435 - 12 - 38.635 - 181.24

14 - 51 - N - Stefan WILSON - GBR - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - 27:55.667 - 12 - 44.867 - 180.56

15 - 57 - N - Salman AL KHALIFA - BHR - Dallara F307 Mugen Honda - 27:56.423 - 12 - 45.623 - 180.48

16 - 50 - N - Jay BRIDGER - GBR - Dallara F307 Mugen Honda - 27:56.603 - 12 - 45.803 - 180.46

17 - 1 - I - Max CHILTON - GBR - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 27:57.230 - 12 - 46.43 - 180.40

18 - 53 - N - Steven GUERRERO - COL - Dallara F307 Mugen Honda - 28:02.211 - 12 - 51.411 - 179.86

19 - 52 - N - Hywel LLOYD - GBR - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - 28:02.718 - 12 - 51.918 - 179.81

20 - 14 - I - Phillip MAJOR - CAN - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 28:03.840 - 12 - 53.04 - 179.69

21 - 54 - N - Kristjan EINAR - ISL - Dallara F305 Mugen Honda - 28:13.143 - 12 - 01:02.3 - 178.70

22 - 55 - N - Craig REIFF - GER - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - 28:36.832 - 12 - 01:26.0 - 176.23

23 - 28 - I - Nick TANDY - GBR - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - 28:40.628 - 12 - 01:29.8 - 175.85

Not Classified

12 - I - Ricardo TEIXEIRA - ANG - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - 18:44.575 - 8 - D.N.F. - 179.37

73 - INV - Daniel CAMPOS HULL - ESP - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 13:52.889 - 6 - D.N.F. - 181.64

7 - I - Sebastian HOHENTHAL - SWE - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 13:53.492 - 6 - D.N.F. - 181.50

74 - INV - Basil SHAABAN - LIB - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 03:04.965 - 1 - D.N.F. - 136.32

Fastest Laps

3 - I - Brendon HARTLEY - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 02:15.362 - 6 - 115.74mph - 186.27

50 - N - Jay BRIDGER - Dallara F307 Mugen Honda - 02:16.738 - 10 - 114.58mph - 184.39

73 - INV - Daniel CAMPOS HULL - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - 02:16.799 - 3 - 114.53mph - 184.31

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