Double R Racing enjoyed a strong ending to the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series during the final event of the year at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 8th/9th October, with Scott Pye, category rookie Mitch Evans and Pipo Derani all racing to top results.In two of the three encounters at the 3.66-mile track, the Woking squad emerged as the best of the Mercedes-powered teams; first with a fantastic second place finish for Pye in Saturday afternoon's race and then a superb top four finish for teenage ace Evans in the final outing of the season. Added to those was a great fifth place result for Derani in the rain-affected second race of the weekend."It's been alright, not a bad weekend at all", said team principal Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt, "The season has certainly ended better than it started, we've had quite a good run over the last three events with a couple of wins and then another podium here so we're pretty pleased - overall it's been good.""To have been the top Mercedes team all weekend was great and I want to take this chance to thank Scott, Mitch and Pipo for the great performances they delivered. It started off quite a tough year for us but things have come good towards the end - we appreciate the effort our drivers have put in."Having enjoyed a great run during the officially timed Silverstone test last week, his first run in the Dallara-Mercedes HWA, GP3 Series race winner Evans continued his terrific form into pre-event practice on Friday, 7th October, with the fourth best time ahead of Pye in 10th and Derani in 14th spot.In qualifying, Pye repeated the team's top five pace with a best lap of 1m53.279 seconds, just 0.2 seconds shy of the 'feature race' pole position, but his consistency was that impressive his second fastest time placed him third on the grid for Saturday afternoon's opening encounter.Delivering a great start to jump recently crowned British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr, Pye made second place his own after a few laps and pulled comfortably clear of the Brazilian driver to firmly establish himself in the runner-up spot. Reeling off the laps, the Australian eased to the podium with a truly memorable drive - and set the third fastest lap in the process.Evans, who started round 28 from a terrific eighth on the grid on his first weekend in British F3, was bundled back to 11th initially but piled on the pressure to Jack Harvey during the first half dozen laps despite some very robust defensive driving from the Briton.

On lap seven though, Evans' first race in the championship came to an unfortunate early conclusion with an excursion into the gravel at the exit of Becketts. Although only marginally out of shape as he negotiated the turn, it was enough to pitch the Double R rookie into a spin and into retirement.For Derani, a competitive run to 14th position was his reward for a battling and determined drive, having slipped from 15th place at the start into 17th position. Overtaking opportunities were scarce but the Brazilian did profit from a couple of competitors receiving drive-through penalties.Derani revels in the wet as Evans saves best 'til last... Sunday morning's race, round 29, gave drivers and teams a tough call to make on tyre choice with earlier rain leaving the track very slippery in places. Pye, starting on the fourth row of the 'reverse grid' in eighth position, opted to remain on slicks in the hope the track would dry fairly quickly while team-mates Derani and Evans both changed to wets on the grid.Pye made a great start, but was immediately baulked by a sluggish Jazeman Jaafar, before deciding a change to wet-weather rubber would be necessary so he pitted at the end of the first lap. Derani, lining up in 14th place, made a sensational getaway and climbed into the top eight on lap one while Evans, who started a lowly 22nd after his non-finish on Saturday, rocketed superbly into the top 15.Derani continued his progress well by climbing into the top five over the course of the next lap and he remained there to the finish on lap 10, soaking up heavy pressure from Jack Harvey during the closing stages.Evans, on the pace throughout the weekend, continued his good early progress and made his way into the top 12 with just a couple of laps to go. Piling on the pressure to Max Snegirev, the British F3 rookie got by for 11th place on the penultimate lap to cap off a very impressive drive - a gain of 11 positions. Pye, meanwhile, took the flag in 20th position after his lap one pit-stop for slick tyres.Round 30, the final race of the British F3 season, began with a very scrappy first lap during which Pye wasn't able to make the most of his third row start and slipped to ninth. Evans, on the other hand, managed to find the space he needed to scorch through from eighth on the grid into the top five on the opening tour but Derani unfortunately dropped to the tail of the top 20.Evans rapidly got on terms with Lucas Foresti ahead and began to apply serious pressure, which told on lap six when the South American made a mistake and ran wide at Aintree to open the door for the New Zealander to take fourth place where he remained to the flag on lap 20.Pye's certain top 10 came to nothing though when a drive-through penalty during the final third of the race, after being adjudged to have exceeded track limits, dropped him to 17th in the final order. Derani, meanwhile, regained all of his lost ground - and more - to finish inside the top 12.With the British F3 season completed, Double R now turns its focus to the biggest Formula 3 event of the year, the 58th Macau F3 Grand Prix, which will take place on the famous Guia street circuit in the former Portuguese enclave between 17th and 20th November.

Rebranded Galaxy Double R Racing, in deference to a sponsorship agreement with Galaxy Macau(tm), the team will field three Mercedes-powered Dallaras - one for reigning GP3 Series Champion, and British F3 race winner, Valtteri Bottas, another for Marko Asmer and the third for Mitch Evans.Hieatt commented: "It's all about Macau now, we're putting all of our eggs in that basket to see if we can pull off a good result. We've got three great drivers onboard and a very prestigious sponsor, we're all determined to go there and challenge at the front."Final 2011 Cooper Tires British F3 International Series Standings:10th Scott Pye, 81pts; 15th Pipo Derani, 36pts; =17th Valtteri Bottas, 17pts; 19th Mitch Evans, 10pts ‏

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