Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium will host the seventh event of the 2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series this weekendthe final mainland European race meeting of the yearwhere Double R Racing will be aiming to secure its best results of the season so far. Taking place this Friday, 27th July, and Saturday, 28th July, at the famous 4.3-mile venue, the British F3 competitors will be joined by their counterparts from the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, as has been the case at several race meetings this year, meaning a bumper grid of almost 30 cars.Following the Woking squads outing at the RTL GP Masters of F3 just over a week ago with team regular Geoff Uhrhane and GP3 Series racer Conor Daly, Malaysias Fahmi Ilyas will return to the wheel of his Dallara-Mercedes in place of American driver Daly. The Belgian jaunt will also see National Class race winner Duvashen Padayachee resume his challenge in his Dallara Mugen-Honda. We always look forward to Spa, said Double R team principal Anthony Boyo Hieatt, Its such a fantastic circuit with a massive heritage and always provides great racing, hopefully Fahmi, Geoff and Duvashen will all have a strong weekend there. With the European boys added in again its going to be a big challenge but one were really looking forward to.Australias Uhrhane will arrive at Spa off the back of a strong race performance in the Masters of F3 at Zandvoort and a season-best outing at the Norisring in Germany two weeks prior where he posted his, and Double Rs, best finish of the campaign with fourth place in round 15.Having only agreed his deal to graduate to F3 from Formula Ford less than a week before the start of the 2012 season, the Queensland native has been on a massive learning curve but has progressed well and is really beginning to show more and more potential with every outing.Ilyas, who has a seasons best and career best result of fifth place so far from round 13 at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, is currently 11th in the driver standings 17 points ahead of Uhrhane. The London-based Malaysian has had a couple of opportunities to fight for podium results so far in 2012 but misfortune on both occasions, at Monza in Italy and Brands Hatch, has proven costly.Much like his team-mate, Ilyas has been improving his pace and standard of performance as the championship has progressed. Last time out at the Norisring though, the 20-year-olds weekend was badly impacted by two non-finishes, due to suspension damage, so hell be keen to come back more competitive than ever at Spa next weekend.Padayachee, who also chose not to race at the standalone Masters of F3, is second in the National Class standings but only 38 points shy of the championship lead. So far in his maiden season of F3 competition, the Australian has four class victories to his credit and will be keen to try and add more on his first ever visit to Belgium.Following two free practice sessions at Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday, 26th July, Cooper Tires British F3 International Series qualifying will take place at 17.30 (local time). The first race of the weekend, round 18, will begin at 12.00 (local time) on Friday, 27th July, with round 19 set to start at 15.35 (local time). On Saturday, 28th July, round 20 is timetabled to commence at 11.55 (local time).2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Driver Standings (after Rd17):11th Fahmi Ilyas, 39pts; 12th Geoff Uhrhane, 22pts2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series National Class Standings (after Rd17):2nd Duvashen Padayachee, 232pts
Click here for the Official Double R Racing web site - designed and built by Racecar