Alex Lynn suffered the highs and lows of motorsport at Silverstone yesterday, winning his maiden Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series race only to lose the victory later in the stewards room.
Lynn was judged to have anticipated the start of the race, the pole position man creeping forward before the lights went out. Championship leader Jack Harvey was also found to have jumped the start and both men were docked 30 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Lynn had claimed his maiden British F3 pole position, and the reigning Formula Renault UK Champion made the most of the opportunity to lead title fighter Jazeman Jaafar off the line and into Copse corner. By the end of the opening lap Lynn held a 1.4s lead over his Malaysian opponent, and that was as close as Jaafar would get.
My pace was really good, said Alex on the podium. It feels good finally to win my first race but also a bit weird because Ive run it through in my head so many times. When you finally do it, it seems a bit of an anti-climax. Alas the real anti-climax came several hours later with his penalty, which dropped him to fourth place overall.
Jaafar, who had trailed Lynn for the duration and crossed the line 10 seconds adrift, was thus promoted to victory, doing his championship hopes no harm at all.
The battle for third on the road was a thriller, with Carlos Sainz fighting for the duration with Harvey, who lost the spot to his Spanish team-mate on the opening lap. They duelled on almost every lap, with championship leader Harvey gaining the upper hand only at the final corner.
We were fighting the whole race, said Jack. On the final lap I dived to the inside into Brooklands and managed to get a good exit; he went quite high and slowish into Luffield and I just managed to drive around the outside of him. Harveys penalty dropped him to eighth, with Sainz gaining second and Harry Tincknell promoted to third.
With the other main championship protagonist, Fortecs Felix Serralles, in strife also after a startline stall, the net result is a very close battle at the top of the standings, with Harvey now nursing a three-point lead over Jaafar and Serralles.
After the reshuffle, Pietro Fantin was fifth, with Rupert Svendsen-Cook sixth on his return to the championship with the Double R team, ahead of Serralles and Harvey. Pipo Derani was ninth after serving a drive-through penalty - his pit crew were deemed to have lingered too long on the grid before the off. Some compensation for Pipo was that his number was pulled from the hat on the podium and he will start tomorrows reverse-grid sprint race from pole position.
Hannes van Asseldonk retired from fifth early on with engine dramas, with Geoff Uhrhane (Double R) and Nick McBride (T-Sport) tangling on the final lap while disputing eighth.T-Sports Spike Goddard enjoyed a trouble-free run to National class victory, leading home his team-mate Pedro Pablo Calbimonte. I just got off the line well and kept looking forward, said the Australian.
Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International SeriesRound 24, Silverstone Grand Prix 8/9/201215 laps / 54.91 miles
Provisional amended results International class1 Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 29m 02.367s / 113.44mph2 Carlos SAINZ / ESP, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +7.900s3 Harry TINCKNELL / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +16.379s4 Alex LYNN / GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +19.441s inc pen5 Pietro FANTIN / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +20.378s6 Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR, Double R Dallara-Mercedes +20.907s7 Felix SERRALLES / PUR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +23.436s8 Jack HARVEY / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +37.843s inc pen9 Pipo DERANI / BRA, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +38.820s
National class1 Spike GODDARD / AUS, T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda +42.984s2 Pedro Pablo CALBIMONTE / BOL, T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda +45.070s3 Duvashen PADAYACHEE / AUS, Double R Dallara-Mugen Honda +49.322s
Did not finishGeoff UHRHANE / AUS, Double R Dallara-Mercedes 14 lapsNick McBRIDE / AUS, T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 14 lapsHannes VAN ASSELDONK / NED, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 6 laps
Fastest lap Lynn 1m 55.098s / 114.48mph
Full timesheets http://bit.ly/OP0jFX
Provisional championship standings1 Harvey 255 points; 2= Serralles & Jaafar 252; 4 Sainz 212; 5 Lynn 197; 6 Tincknell 181; 7 Fantin 153; 8 Derani 119; 9 van Asseldonk 99; 10 McBride 79 etcNational class 1 Goddard 352; 2 Padayachee 309; 3 Adderly Fong 161; 4 Calbimonte 70.
TV schedule 15 Sep, 0700 Channel 4 UK & 1325 Motors TV UK
Next rounds 9 Sep Silverstone
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