Podium For Wells On British F3 Debut With Double R‏

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Championship debutant Dan Wells secured a podium finish on his maiden outing in the category at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 30th/31st August, after claiming third place in the first of the event’s three races for Double R Racing.Taking part in the penultimate race meeting of the British F3 campaign with the Woking squad to familiarise himself with Formula 3 machinery ahead of a planned season in Japanese F3 next year, the Hong Kong-based British racer also added a brace of top fours in the other two contests.Double R regular Camren Kaminsky produced a best result of fifth in round 17 on Sunday morning, and he rounded-out the weekend an improved third in the championship, while eleventh hour returnee Max Marshall delivered a best result of fifth also in the opening encounter, round 16.American youngster Kaminsky was the fastest of the Double R drivers in qualifying with a best lap of 1m20.274 seconds (109.12mph), securing him the fifth best time just 0.069 seconds quicker than new team-mate Wells, while Marshall was seventh.With second fastest times determining the grid order for race one, round 16, Wells started in fifth ahead of Kaminsky and Marshall and the F3 newcomer made good early progress by taking fourth position on lap six.Remaining there into the closing stages, Wells was able to get ahead of championship contender Matt Rao three laps from the finish to grab third place which he held to the chequered flag on lap 23, a debut podium just reward for a strong performance in his Dallara-Mercedes.Marshall managed to hold-off Kaminsky by just under 0.2 seconds to secure fifth place, too much wheelspin at the start spoiling the American’s hopes and seeing him drop to seventh. On lap six, Marshall climbed into fifth place and they remained in those positions until lap 16 when Kaminksy moved into the top six at the expense of Li Zhi Cong.Wells started round 17 on Sunday morning from the front row of the grid but slipped back to fourth on lap one, while team-mates Marshall and Kaminsky maintained fifth and sixth respectively. The race was a largely processional affair thereafter with the only change for Double R coming on lap 14 when Marshall unfortunately slid into the gravel at Druids, elevating Kaminsky into fifth position.Kaminsky was the highest placed of the Double R drivers on the grid for round 18 in fifth place, with Wells sixth and Marshall seventh. Wells was able to get the jump on Kaminsky at the beginning to move into fifth and when Li Zhi Cong dropped out on lap seven Wells inherited fourth position with Kaminsky fifth and Marshall sixth – and that’s how it stayed to the chequered flag on lap 19.“We’re obviously delighted for Dan to see him on the podium in his first ever F3 race, he did a good job this weekend and we enjoyed working with him”, said Double R team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “Unfortunately the races weren’t the most spectacular, overtaking wasn’t all that easy, but Camren took the points he needed to move into the top three in the championship.“The deal for Max to race with us again came very late in the day, we were still putting a car together for him on Friday as Dan was in the car Max raced at Thruxton. He’s on a steep learning curve but he did another solid job, now we’re looking forward to Donington where we can hopefully end the season with some more trophies.”Only a fortnight now remains until the finale of the Cooper Tires British F3 Championship season with rounds 19, 20 and 21 taking place at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit on 13th/14th September.Provisional 2014 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Championship Standings (after Rd18):3rd Camren Kaminsky, 126pts; 5th Andy Chang, 103pts; 9th Max Marshall, 51pts; 10th Dan Wells, 41pts; 11th Roberto Merhi, 39pts

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