Round 17
Christian Bakkerud finally joined Maro Engel and Oliver Jarvis as a winner in 2006 for Carlin Motorsport. Narrowly avoiding the problems at the start of the race which saw Engel and Jarvis retire and Conway knocked down the field, the Dane took complete control of the race to lead by a large margin. Stephen Jelley claimed a distant second to score his 4th podium of the year, but it was all smiles for the third placed driver as Alberto Valerio took his debut British F3 podium for himself and the Cesario Formula team.
Rodolfo Gonzalez made it 13 wins from 17 starts in the National Class and was overjoyed to have beaten Bruno Senna to the flag. Promatecme's Alex Waters took second in only his third race in British F3, with Rodolfo Avila a distant third. Italian F3 racer Mauro Massironi was the fastest in the Invitational Class and was 3rd on the road of the National spec racers.
After the earlier wet qualifying session for Round 18 the rain cleared away and the track had dried sufficiently for the drivers to use slick tyres for the first race of the weekend. Oliver Jarvis took his position at the head of the grid, with Christian Bakkerud slightly behind him on the damp side of the circuit with Mike Conway and Maro Engel on row 2.
Th erace got underway and Jarvis seemed to bog down allowing his rivals to nullify his advantage on the long run down to the first corner. Bakkerud kept to the left as Conway dived between the two Carlin Dallara's. Engel also got a flyer and went to the right, with his wheels on the white line. At the four cars headed down to San Donato everyone held their breath as the four cars went wheel-to-wheel. Engel started to come across as they approached the corner squeezing Jarvis towards Conway, making the Raikkonen Roberston driver the meat in the Carlin sandwich as Bakkerud was to his left and taking his line into the first corner. Jarvis and Conway clashed wheels and it ended with a damaged sidepod for Conway and a puncture and damaged floor for Jarvis. Engel spun and cars behind them went across the grass as they took avoiding action. Jarvis got going and recovered his car to the pits but the car was too badly damaged to continue. Conway dropped down the order and was 13th at the end of lap one.
Christian Bakkerud was away, with Yelmer Buurman in a distant 2nd place just ahead of Stephen Jelley and Alberto Valerio. For two laps Buurman held off the attentions of Jelley but on lap 3 a small mistake by the Dutchman allowed Jelley and Valerio to move up. Meanwhile Bakkerud had extended his lead to nearly 8 seconds by the end of lap 4.
Further down the field Rodolfo Gonzalez was another beneficiary of the first corner mayhem, gaining seven places by the end of lap one and well ahead of his National Class rivals. A small mistake on lap 5 didn't dent his charge to another win to add to the 12 he has gained this year. The Venezuelan found the Mercedes powered Dallara of Bruno Senna behind him on lap 6 and a race long game of cat and mouse ensued, with Gonzalez holding his own against the struggling Brazlian.
Mike Conway began his fight back and despite a damaged car he started to make inroads. On lap 6 he had caught James Walker and passed him for 7th and then had Salvador Duran in his sights but his couldn't get past the Mexican until lap 13.
Bakkerud continued to control the race, with Jelley starting to move closer to the Dane but then dropping back to around 9 seconds as the race entered it's final stages. At the flag it was Christian Bakkerud who punched the air in delight 10.5 seconds ahead of Stephen Jelley, who scored his 4th podium of 2006. The Cesario Formula team were all smiles and joy as their driver came over the line 0.5 seconds ahead of Yelmer Buuramn to score their first podium in their debut season of British F3.
Mike Conway scored 6 championship points to move him even closer to lifting the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series title and just needs to score 3 more points than Oliver Jarvis in tomorrows race to be crowned 2006 British F3 Champion.
Christian Bakkerud: "Absolutely over the moon, I mean it couldn't have come at a better time. We've been down a little bit and this is really going to bring everything up for us, it really is. The first corner was a bit hairy from where I was sitting, I thought I was going to get a poor start because we were on the wet side of the track, but Olly (Jarvis) didn't have a too good of a start and it caught Conway up a little bit. I knew I was going to be able to break later at the end of the straight because the inside was wet as well. I looked in mirrors coming out of the corner and I was seven seconds ahead. So I thought yes I'll have this. I was so far ahead I didn't want to push too hard and make any stupid mistakes, so I kept my head cool and just pounded round until the chequered flag."
Stephen Jelley: "The first corner was pretty good from my point of view really. The were three cars all next to each other going into the first corner, with Conway in the middle. I don't know who was either side of him and they squeezed together into Mike and squashed him basically. Then Engel, on the inside, spun across in front of me and I had to get on the breaks. It took Mike off and I slipped up the inside but Mr Bakkerud here was long gone by the time I got out of the corner. Buurman was in front of me on the first lap and unfortunately I got stuck behind him. There were yellows out at the first corner and the best place to overtake here is towing down the big straight and into the first corner, which is where I eventually got him. I had to wait for two laps and that was more time I was loosing and I never got that back. I managed to eat away at the lead a little bit but when the tyres went off and the car started to move around a bit I thought it was probably best to play it a bit safe."
Alberto Valerio: "For me starting from 10th it was amazing that first corner. I was 4th after a lot of the guys ran wide and I passed them. After Steve (Jelley) got past Buurman and I needed to work hard to get past him too because he made a little mistake and left the track for me. I tried to catch up to Steve, but I made a little mistake too but overall I think I should be here too. It is so hard for us as a team this year, learning all of the tracks here in Europe. We never thought it would be so hard and to finish on the podium here is fantastic."
Rodolfo Gonzalez: "I'm so pleased because from 14th I went to 7th at the start all in the first corner. I arrived at the first corner and I saw Morgado right on my tail. I went on to the inside of the track and he went to the outside, then everyone breaked so early and I just round the outside of everyone. I'm on the white line and I got loads of oversteer, I heard Stuart Hall, my teammate, spin with a lot of tyre squeal and he just missed me. Then three abreast into the chicane, which didn't help them but it helped me a lot and all of a sudden I'm 7th. Then I came up behind Bruno (Senna) and I'm as fast as him. I arrive at the first corner three or four laps into the race, he didn't get such a good exit out of the last corner and I just got a really good tow, overtook him round the outside and then just held him off. At the end Conway and Walker overtook me but I think Bruno will be in Formula One and I beat him in a National Class car today, it's awesome. I need to score seven more points than Morgado tomorrow to win the championship. He qualified 10th today, a really good job and I qualified 17th, but you know I made seven places in the first start, if I make seven places in the second I'll give him a run for his money. "
Alex Waters: "It was a really good race, not quite as exciting as Rodolfo's (Gonzalez). I started the race after a few technical troubles in qualifying and it put us right at the back of the grid so I had to fight and I thought I'd have quite a heavy fight on my hands, but as it happened there was big accident in the first corner, as you know, and that helped me a lot which was fairly easy for me. I avoided all the accidents, I'm not what position I was in at that point, but I was much, much further up the grid and I just sat there. There was no one really behind me. I made a small mistake on the second lap into the second chicane, which dropped me back from the group of A class cars in front of me, but there was no worries, Rodolfo wa a long way ahead and I would have struggled to catch him. So I decided to play it safe and get a podium. Like you said it is my third race and this is good for myself and good for the team."
Rodolfo Avila: "I made it through the first corner. My first lap wa really good, I was following Rodolfo Gonzalez all the way, but I came to the last corner and I pushed a bit too much and I went on the wet line and ended up in the gravel. I managed to get my car out of the gravel and continue my race. Although my car was not 100% I kept on pushing all of the time, trying to get my times down on every lap and just tried to finish the race. I have to admit I was really lucky and this happens, it's racing and I've got to thank my team and my luck as well for this third place in Mugello."
Mauro Massironi: "In the Italian F3 championship I won both races here at Mugello and I hoped to be faster here but the tyres are completely different to the ones we use for our championship. It is a little hard, but step by step we are learning. When I finished the race I thought we hadn't done too well but my team said I had the fastest lap of the National class, so not too bad at the end."
