Felipe Nasr goes straight to the top of the Sunoco Daytona Challenge leader board after a clean sweep in Italy gaining points for two fastest laps and two race wins. Buller showed great race pace and gained points for both pole positions, however lost out in the first race due to starting from the pits.
The first qualifying session was extremely close with William Buller qualifying on pole position gaining him 20 points towards the challenge. Kevin Magnussen claimed a front row start in his first ever British F3 race, having qualified second. Carlos Huertas also had a strong session qualifying fifth with Felipe Nasr qualifying eighth, Rupert Svendson-Cook tenth and Jack Harvey fourteenth.
Several drivers – including pole sitter William Buller – missed the pit lane opening and had to start from the pit lane. The very quick starting light sequence saw several drivers loose out, Carlos Heurtas managed to hold onto fifth position, just ahead of team mate Nasr in sixth and Svendson-Cook in seventh. Jack Harvey who is supported by the Racing Steps Foundation saw his F3 debut end early when Pipo Derani made contact with him and he had to limp back to the pits with a broken front suspension. A safety car was then brought in as marshals cleared away remains of the incident.
It was however the second safety car period which saw an all change for the field. At the restart on lap seven it was Nasr on the move. The Brazilian passed Christodoulou, with team mate Svendson-Cook also following him through a lap later. Nasr was then on charge and drove at a fantastic pace charging through to the front of the field where he joined a close dual for the first victory of the season. Magnussen, Foresti and Nasr were wheel to wheel in the first chicane following a third safety car period. Foresti briefly took the lead until Magnussen fought back, but the two made contact a few corners later sending Foresti into a spin and Magnussen back to the pits for a new front wing.
With Foresti dropping back and Magnussen in the pits Nasr moved into the race lead and claimed a victory for Carlin and 100 points toward the Sunoco Daytona Challenge. Svendson-Cook crossed the line in fifth place with 30 points towards the challenge whilst Magnussen rejoined to finish fifteenth. Buller who qualified in pole receiving 20 points towards the challenge finished fourth with another 40 points to add to the standings.
The next race counting towards the Sunoco Daytona Challenge saw a brilliant drive again from Felipe Nasr, who went from eighth on the grid to his second victory of the season at Monza. There was a fierce battle for the lead between Felipe and Lucas Foresti but Nasr proved unstoppable. He scored another 100 points towards the challenge and due to his fantastic race pace over the whole weekend was also voted the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend.
Felipe has now taken the lead in the challenge just sneaking in front of the previous first place racer Javier Morcillo from Britcar Endurance. Javier also raced this weekend and despite gaining pole position went onto finish in second place after losing out on fuel economy to the Eclipse Motorsport Ferrari.
The next Britcar race is the 7th of May whilst the British GT first round and the second round of F3 are at Oulton Park this Easter weekend. It is the GT racers first chance to score points towards the challenge so expect it to be all change again very soon!
Current standings:
Standings/Driver Name/ Team/ Series/ Average Points Per Round1 Felipe Nasr Carlin F3 1202 Javier Morcilo Azteca Britcar Class 1 & 2 105.00 3 Keith Robinson MJC Britcar Class 1 & 2 87.50 4 Jay Shepherd Hawthorns Britcar class 3 82.755 Manuel Cintrano Azteca Britcar Class 1 & 2 65.00 6 Jan Persson Hawthorns Britcar class 3 63.757 Rod Barrett Hawthorns Britcar class 3 63.758 William Buller Fortec Motorsport F3 509 Sean Mclnerney Eclipse Motorsport Britcar Class 1 & 2 5010 Michael Mclnerney Eclipse Motorsport Britcar Class 1 & 2 50
