after winning the Cooper Tires Formula 3 Championship
Carlin driver Felipe Nasr has secured the title of Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Champion after racing at Rockingham this weekend. However in the Sunoco Rolex 24 At Daytona Challenge it’s still very much all to play for.
The first race of the weekend was for the Cooper Tires Formula 3 where Brazil’s Pietro Fantin claimed his maiden pole positions as well as his first race victory. This also made Pietro the highest point scorer of the weekend in the Sunoco Daytona Challenge – taking 20 points for each pole position and a fastest lap plus 100 for the race win and 75 points for a second place.
Fantin assumed control of the race when Felipe Nasr, who had led from the start, was penalised by race officials for not observing the track limits and received a drive-through penalty, dropping him way down the field.
“I had a good start from pole but the clutch slipped and I dropped back. I knew it would be hard to get the lead but luck was on my side and I’m really happy to win,” said an ecstatic Fantin. “We had a really good practice session and a good set-up which I want to thank my team for.”
Second place and 75 points towards the challenge went to Rupert Svendsen-Cook who had slotted into third ahead of his team mate Kevin Magsussen on the third opening lap; third became second when Nasr was penalised. Magnussen then spun on the third lap promoting Jack Harvey into fourth which then became third and 75 points towards the challenge.
Jazeman Jaafar placed fourth for Carlin, ahead of Carlos Huertas and Nasr. Magnussen recovered and crossed the finishing line in seventh ahead of Double R’s Scott Pye, T-Sports’s Menasheh Idafar and Sino Vision Racing’s driver Hywel Lloyd.
The third race for the Formula 3 registered races to earn points towards the Sunoco Daytona Challenge was race 3 and despite finishing third it saw Felipe Nasr crowned British Formula 3 Champion.
Nasr is the fourth consecutive British Formula 3 Champion for the Carlin team, following in the tracks of Jamie Alguersuari and Daniel Ricciardo – both of whom now race in Formula 1, and Jean-Eric Vergne (last year’s runner up in the challenge) who is on the brink of a Grand Prix career.
Kevin Magnussen overhauled pole man Pietro Fantin and took the race victory, however Fantin finished just 0.7 seconds behind and took the 75 points on offer towards the Sunoco Daytona Challenge – he also was awarded Sunoco Driver of the Weekend.
Felipe finished the race in third taking 55 points but still maintains his lead in the overall standings; depending on the performance of his closet challengers and a strong performance from the man himself Nasr may take the challenge win at Donington.
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship also raced at Rockingham this weekend in the form of two 1 hour races.
It was a weekend for maiden wins after Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam scored their first victory when they drove their Beechdean Motorsports Aston Martin DBRS9 to the chequered flag, with an advantage of 41 seconds over the Preci-Spark Mercedes AMG SLS. Phil Keen and David Ashburn completed the podium by crossing the line in third with their Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 R.
Matt Griffin who was second in the Challenge standings finished 11th with team mate Duncan Cameron. The race took place in wet conditions which many people struggled with due to making wrong tyre choices. Once championship leaders, United Autosports due Mike Guasch and Matthew Bell, also struggled as track conditions started to change. The pair finished in tenth place taking 5 points each towards the challenge.
The second British GT race also saw a new winner to the top of the podium, with Andrew Tate celebrating his first win alongside team mate and 2007 Champion Alex Mortimer. The pair shared the CRS Racing Ferrari 458 and crossed the line in first taking 100 points towards the challenge ahead of Jim and Glynn Geddie who finished second taking 75 points each. Matt Griffin gained some vital points back after taking the last spot on the podium with Duncan Cameron and 55 points towards the challenge.
Scuderia Vittoria drivers Charles Bateman and Michael Lyons, had a great race and bought their Ferrari 458 home in fourth place taking 40 points each towards the challenge. Next to cross the line was Bell and Guash ahead of David Ashburn and Phil Keen in their Trackspeed Porsche. Brothers David and Godfrey Jones finished seventh, followed by Allan SImonsen and Hector Lester in their Ferrari 430. The second United Autosports Audi R8 of John Bintcliffe and Jay Palmer rounded off the top 10.
In GT4 Dan Dennis and David Mcdonald had a great weekend with their Scuderia Vittoria Ginetta G50 and took 2 wins. Due to their being five cars on the grid GT4 drivers were awarded 50% of points.
Marcus Clutton lowered his point score after a fifth in class but has stayed in the top 10 after gaining extra points for a fastest lap and a second in class.
The next point scoring weekend towards the Sunoco Daytona Challenge is again for the British Formula 3 and British GT drivers and takes place at Donington on the 24th and 25th of September. Depending on the performance of his closest rivals Felipe Nasr could be on his way to Daytona – but he needs to maintain his strong performance and consistency. What will Donington bring? Keep up with the latest at sunocodaytonachallenge.com
