in the Rain at Donington Park
Round 4: Conway Takes Lights to Flag Win in Difficult Conditions
Mike Conway scored his second ever win in British Formula 3 with a lights to flag victory as the drivers struggled with difficult track conditions at Donington Park. Carlin Motorsport's Maro Engel took 2nd, with Fortec's Yelmer Buurman in 3rd. Bruno Senna, starting from a lowly 8th place on the grid finished 4th to extend his championship lead as nearest rival Oliver Jarvis tangled with James Walker on lap 8 and failed to score any points.
The drivers faced a wet and tricky race surface as the red lights went out and the 24 F3 cars hurtled towards Redgate for the first time. James Walker, starting on the outside of pole sitter Mike Conway, gets the better start and as the two cars head towards the first corner they are side-by-side in the spray. Conway, who has the inside line, holds his nerve and the position as they exit Redgate and head down the Craner Curves. Stephen Jelley, fresh from his podium finish earlier in the day, tried too hard to make up positions on the first lap, his race finishing in the gravel at Redgate. The Leicester driver keeps the engine running and makes it back to the pits, but only into retirement.
Behind the leading pair, Christian Bakkerud is under pressure from Carlin teammate Oliver Jarvis but is unable to hold on to the final podium place as Jarvis sweeps past him on the second lap. However Bakkerud slots in behind Jarvis and keeps him in his sights looking for an opening to retake the place.
The tricky conditions start to catch drivers out, with Stuart Hall off in the gravel at McLeans and Alex Khateeb spins as he exits the chicane with a broken front wishbone in an unseen incident.
As the race entered the 7th lap Jarvis was closer to Walker. The Carlin driver thought he saw an opening and made an ambitious move at Redgate, diving down the inside but sliding into the side of the unfortunate Walker, spinning them both into the gravel and collecting Christian Bakkerud on the way. The cars lying in 2nd, 3rd and 4th all ended up in the gravel trap with Jarvis and Bakkerud beached in a dangerous position. The safety car was scrambled as Walker recovered his car to the pitlane.
On lap 11, as the cars continued to circulate behind the safety car, Rodolfo Avila came into the pits for a new nosecone, putting the Macanese driver a lap down.
On Lap 14 the green flags were waved and battle recommenced. Conway still led the race but Maro Engel had worked his way up to 2nd place and now set off after the lead car. Fortec's Yelmer Buurman was 3rd with Bruno Senna holding station in 4th. These 4 drivers were nose to tail as they headed across the line for the 15th time.
A dry line had started to form and the drivers had to fight to keep their cars on the track as their wet tyres started to go off. The times continued to tumble as the track dried, with Conway, Engel and then Senna set fastest laps in quick succession. As the cars began the final lap Salvador Duran and Jonathan Kennard had spins at Redgate but the leaders held position to take the chequered flag.
Rodolfo Gonzalez made it four wins from four starts in the National Class, despite driving for the majority of the race with bent steering after an incident with Jonathan Kennard. Gonzalez finished 7th overall, well ahead of Martin Kudzak and Cristiano Morgado.
Mike Conway took the 20 championship points for the win and was congratulated by his manager Mark Blundell.
Senna Makes it 3 out of 3 in the wet at Donington
Bruno Senna took his third win from three starts in the 2006 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series in the wet at Donington Park. His Raikkonen Robertson Racing teammate Mike Conway led the race for the first 5 laps from pole position and looked on course to take the chequered flag but a piece of debris got lodged under his car forcing him into the gravel at Redgate. Senna then took the lead, controlling the race in the tricky conditions, taking the chequered flag ahead of James Walker and Stephen Jelley.
Rodolfo Gonzalez also made it 3 out of 3 wins in the National Class, after making up 6 places on the opening lap. Cristiano Morgado and Ricardo Teixeira were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Starting from Pole, Conway got a clean getaway but Senna, starting alongside his Raikkonen Robertson Racing teammate, pulled alongside him but in the water spray Conway held his line through Redgate to retain the lead as the cars dropped down through the Craner Curves. Maro Engel lept into third place, demoting James Walker to fourth. Further down the field Rodolfo Gonzalez made a demon start in the National Class to move up six places from a lowly 18th position on the grid and also move ahead of Rodolfo Avila to take the class lead.
Conway continued to control the race, keeping Senna behind and maintaining a 1 second gap to the Brazilian. As the cars came round to complete the fifth lap disaster struck as Conway picked up a piece of debris under his car as he exited the chicane. As he powered down the straight towards Redgate the scrapping of the debris on the track was clear for all to hear and as he attempted to turn in at Redgate the car just continued to travel in a straight line. The debris had lifted the front of the car sufficiently off of the track so Conway was unable to steer. As he bounced through the gravel trap the debris must have come loose because he regained the track and was able to steer again, but he had lost seven places and, more importantly, the lead to Senna.
Senna then started to pull away from Engel by 1.5 second per lap and in the tricky conditions, the German was unable to respond to the Brazilians charge. Engel was coming under pressure from Walker, with the Jerseyman putting his Hitech Dallara alongside the Carlin Motorsport Dallara at Redgate. Walker made the move stick but there was more disappointment for Engel as the gravel trap at The Old Hairpin claimed another victim.
As Senna controlled the pace at the front of the field it was 3rd placed Stephen Jelley that started to increase the pace, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 11. Jelley was starting to reel in the flying James Walker, but the Hitech driver was not going to be denied his first podium after the disappointments of Oulton Park. Walker responded, first stabilising the gap to Jelley and then as the race entered the final 2 laps the gap started to open up again.
This battle behind him didn't worry Senna as he seemed to cruise to win number 3 in the tyre spray of the cars he was lapping.
As the chequered flag came out at the end of lap 20, Bruno Senna held both arms aloft to salute his team on the pit wall. James Walker was equally estatic to gain his first podium in British F3, with Stephen Jelley taking the final podium position, his second of the season for the driver from Leicester. Jelley also claimed the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race.
In the National Class Rodolfo Gonzalez maintained his 100% record, taking the win and fastest lap of the race, adding another 21 points to the maximum 42 he took at Oulton Park.
