Round 10 Race Report – Snetterton, Norfolk

 Michael Devaney took his second win of the weekend, this time from 4th on the grid, overtaking two cars at the first corner.  The Irishman inherited the lead when Brendon Hartley spun off at Riches but held off the challenge of Sebastian Hohenthal and Jaime Alguersuari to the chequered flag.  Stefan Wilson took his first National Class win and the second for his Fluid Motorsport team, finishing ahead of teammate Jay Bridger and Hywel Lloyd.

At the start Brendon Hartley got a good getaway from pole but it was Round 9 winner Michael Devaney who made the best of the situation to move up two places at the first corner to follow Hartley in Sear ahead of Sebastian Hohenthal and Atte Mustonen with Sergio Perez losing three places, the championship leader dropping back to 6th behind Jaime Alguersuari.  Further back there were spinning cars at Sears and at the end of the lap Sam Abay and Nick Tandy came into the pits for repairs.

Hartley started to pull away slightly from Devaney as the Irishman came under pressure from Hohenthal and by lap 4 the New Zealander was 1.5 seconds ahead.  But on lap 5 disaster struck as the Red Bull sponsored Dallara was seen spinning off into the field at Riches all on its own after getting onto the dirty part of the track and handing the lead to Devaney.  On the same lap Marcus Ericsson's Fortec Dallara came out of Corum slowly while battling with Oliver Turvey for 7th, dropping the Swede three places behind Max Chilton, Walter Grubmuller and National Class leader Stefan Wilson.

Jay Bridger, who had lost touch with his Fluid Motorsport teammate Stefan Wilson in the National Class battle was coming under pressure from Andy Meyrick and for lap after lap the two championship contenders circulated, fighting it out for the minor podium places as Wilson headed for his first win unchallenged.

Devaney and Hohenthal started to pull away from Mustonen at the front of the field as the Finn had a train of cars snapping at his heals led by Alguersuari.  On lap 13 the Spaniard moved up a place with a move on Mustonen that allowed him to set off after the leading duo.  Mustonen dropped back two more places losing out to Perez on lap 18 and Turvey on lap 21.

Devaney had control of the race knowing that the only way Hohenthal was going to get past him was if he made a mistake and the experienced racer kept his cool in the hot Norfolk sunshine.

Further down the order the Bridger-Meyrick battle came to an abrupt end after the Welshman went off the track at the Esses and into retirement on lap 20 ending a frustrating weekend for the championship leader.

At the flag it was double delight for the Ultimate Motorsport team as their driver took the second win of the day ahead of Sebastian Hohenthal.  Jaime Alguersuari finished third and took the extra point for the fastest lap which puts the Spanish driver at the top of the championship table, one point ahead of 4th placed Sergio Perez.

Stefan Wilson took his first National Class win in 10th overall, with a 1-2 for Fluid Motorsport on their home track as Jay Bridger came home a distant 2nd ahead of a very happy Hywel Lloyd, the CF Racing driver ending a disappointing weekend on a high note after starting the race in 26th overall and 8th in class.

The series now heads to Thruxton for Rounds 11 & 12 on Sunday 29 June.  The races from Snetterton can be seen on Channel 4 and Motors TV here in the UK and across Europe.  Further information is available on the British F3 website at www.britishf3international.com

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ROUND 10 - Result

1 - 16 - Int - Michael DEVANEY - IRL - Ultimate Motorsport - 29:22.758 - 28 laps

2 - 7 - Int - Sebastian HOHENTHAL - SWE - Fortec Motorsport - +1.477s

3 - 4 - Int - Jaime ALGUERSUARI - ESP - Carlin Motorsport - +3.052s

4 - 9 - Int - Sergio PEREZ - MEX - T-Sport - +5.411s

5 - 17 - Int - Oliver TURVEY - GBR - Carlin Motorsport - +7.509s

6 - 26 - Int - Atte MUSTONEN - FIN - Raikkonen Robertson Racing - +12.228s

7 - 1 - Int - Max CHILTON - GBR - Hitech Racing - +12.813s

8 - 8 - Int - Marcus ERICSSON - SWE - Fortec Motorsport - +14.161s

9 - 2 - Int - Walter GRUBMULLER - AUT - Hitech Racing - +14.573s

10 - 51 - Nat - Stefan WILSON - GBR - Fluid Motorsport Development -  +21.743

11 - 24 - Int - John MARTIN - AUS - Raikkonen Robertson Racing - +22.852s

12 - 11 - Int - Alistair JACKSON - GBR - Ultimate Motorsport - +28.371s

13 - 50 - Nat - Jay BRIDGER - GBR - Fluid Motorsport Development - +29.132s

14 - 14 - Int - Philip MAJOR - CAN - Fortec Motorsport - +35.354s

15 - 52 - Nat - Hywel LLOYD - GBR - C F Racing - +39.158s

16 - 53 - Nat - Steven GUERRERO - COL - T-Sport - +42.895s

17 - 54 - Nat - Kristjan EINAR - ISL - Carlin Motorsport - +49.491s

18 - 57 - Nat - Salman AL KHALIFA - BHR - T-Sport - +50.910s

19 - 12 - Int - Ricardo TEIXEIRA - ANG - Ultimate Motorsport - +52.228s

20 - 59 - Nat - Jordan WILLIAMS - GBR - Team Loctite - +1 lap

21 - 18 - Int - Sam ABAY - AUS - Carlin Motorsport - +1 lap

22 - 28 - Int - Nick TANDY - GBR - JTR Marshall Westland - +6 laps

Not Classified

DNF - 5 - Int - Viktor JENSEN - ISL - Nexa Racing - +21 laps

DNF - 6 - Int - Henry ARUNDEL - GBR - Raikkonen Robertson Racing - +21 laps

DNF - 3 - Int - Brendon HARTLEY - NZL - Carlin Motorsport - +24 laps

DNF - 56 - Nat - Andrew MEYRICK - GBR - Carlin Motorsport - +8 laps

DNF - 60 - Nat - Callum MACLEOD - GBR - Litespeed F3 - +10 laps

Fastest Lap

4 - Int - Jaime ALGUERSUARI  - ESP - Carlin Motorsport - 1:02.153 - 113.06mph - 181.95kph

50 - Nat - Jay BRIDGER  - GBR - Fluid Motorsport Development -  1:03.005 - 111.53mph - 179.49kph