James Cole extended his lead in the National class of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series, scoring two wins and a second place at Silverstone this weekend. Cole’s success has put him 25 points ahead of second placed driver and T-Sport Racing team mate, Menasheh Idafar.
Cole’s weekend began smoothly with competitive running in the practice session ahead of qualifying, with the series taking to Silverstone’s new Arena circuit layout, the first time that this configuration had been used for a race event. In the qualifying session Cole suffered a broken gear linkage, so was unable to capitalise on new tyres and had to start close to the back of the grid. The 21-year-old from Southport thrives on this type of challenge and was quick to make up ground on the opening lap of the first race held on Saturday, to take the class win after 14 laps of racing.
After overnight rain, the track conditions had changed for the second race on Sunday morning to provide a different learning experience for Cole. Over the course of the ten lap sprint distance he pushed hard and turned good lap times, battling with team mate Idafar in the closing stages, with Cole finishing a close second to Idafar at the chequered flag.
In the final F3 race of the weekend Cole had another strong drive, showing good pace and improving his lap times over the course of the 20 lap feature race distance. He kept team mate and National class title contender, Idafar, at bay to claim his second win of the weekend and retain the lead of the National class championship. Cole was also pleased to be ahead of National class runner, Luis Razia, Formula One team Virgin Racing’s test driver, in all three races.
Cole said of the Silverstone F3 round, “It’s been a good weekend. I’ve put in solid performances and been rewarded with strong results. Scoring two wins has kept my title hopes on track and extending the lead over Menasheh is a bonus at this early stage of the season. I feel I’m improving each time I’m out on track and that’s always the benchmark for me. I’m still learning about the car, and I’m sure that will be the case all season, but as I gain the experience I expect to be gaining ground and pushing even harder.”
Cole returns to the track later this month with his first visit to the Magny Cours track in France. The third round of the Formula 3 International Series take place from 22-23 May.
