Problems at the start of both races limited Max Chilton’s results in the latest rounds of the British F3 International series at Snetterton in Norfolk……

He finished the two races in 6th and 7th places respectively after his performances in qualifying had raised hopes of much better results. Having recently been promoted to the MSA Race Driver Elite Programme, Max justified his selection with strong results in the two qualifying sessions. In the first Max put his Carlin run Dallara Volkswagen 3rd fastest, separated from pole by just 8 thousandths of a second.

He was happy, but explained that he was caught out by how early in the session the times came. “In practice it was taking around 12 laps for the tyres to come in, but today it was lap 7. That caught me out a little as I wasn’t pushing 100% at that stage so I know there was more in the car.”

Max ended the second session as the top Carlin driver in 4th place, but the gap to the front was larger this time at 3 tenths of a second. “I got a very good lap, but not quick enough for pole”, Max commented afterwards. ”We didn’t change anything for the second session, but the track temperature had dropped so maybe we should have tried something. I’m happy though. I will start both races from the second row of the grid and I’ve got a good chance from there.”

As the lights went out at the start of Sunday’s first race, Max reacted well but suffered a slipping clutch as he accelerated away. He later explained how the first few hundred metres determined the outcome of the race;

“I got into the bite-point of the clutch too much at the start and it overheated. With it slipping all the way up to the first corner I lost three places and that was it. It is virtually impossible to overtake here in an F3 car so it was a very processional race.”

Max came round at the end of the first lap in 6th place and that’s where he stayed for the duration of the 28 lap race.

He didn’t get a great start in the second race either, not because of a slipping clutch, which had been replaced between the races, but bogging down slightly as the field got away. This time he lost several places as a result and found himself down in 7th place. Once again it was a processional affair, nobody managing to overtake and the result was a 7th place finish.

Max explained his frustration after only claiming 10 points from Snetterton’s two races;

“I had hoped for a lot better from this weekend. We’ve had a good car, good set-up and it could have been very different. Qualifying and the starts are everything in F3, especially here, and although I’m happy with how I qualified, the starts were not good enough. It’s very frustrating then in the races as your pace is completely determined by the car in front. You can’t run too close or the downforce drops and that stops overtaking opportunities. I’m disappointed with my results, but I’m looking ahead to the next races.”

That will be at Donington Park in two weeks time on Sunday 19th July.