Macanese racing driver Andy Chang got his Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series campaign off to a strong start at Rockingham in Northamptonshire over the Bank Holiday weekend, claiming a deserved double podium finish for Double R Racing on his category debut.
Taking third place in round one of the 2014 season on Sunday, 4th May, the 17-year-old added another top three finish in round three on Bank Holiday Monday, 5th May, with sixth position in the earlier second round.
Fellow F3 rookie Camren Kaminsky produced a best result of fourth place in rounds one and three, just missing out on the podium on his debut, while also steering his Mercedes powered Dallara F312 to fifth in round two.
“It’s been a great start to the British F3 season for us, Andy and Camren both did a good job and showed a lot of promise”, said team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “Two podiums is a fantastic start for Andy and Camren wasn’t far away from getting his hands on some silverware, we’re definitely looking in good shape for the rest of the championship.”
Chang was the fastest of the Double R team-mates in qualifying on Sunday, 4th May, with the third best lap, just 0.4 seconds shy of pole position, while Kaminsky was fifth – those times determining the grid for the last of the weekend’s three races.
Starting round one in the same positions, courtesy of second best times, Chang held his top three placing throughout the 22-lapper. Although a Safety Car period at mid-distance enabled the pack to close up, Chang was never unduly under threat to claim a memorable podium in his maiden F3 race.
Kaminsky slipped to sixth initially and after clattering a kerb heavily on the fourth tour, his brakes lost performance which resulted in an excursion. Recovering well, the American benefitted from the Safety Car and after moving into the top five he grabbed fourth five laps from the finish.
The Double R drivers shared the front row for the ‘reverse grid’ second race, Kaminsky on pole position, but he was edged back to third and Chang fifth. Swarming all over the back of Hongwei Cao’s Dallara, Kaminsky remained a major threat until lap 10 when he slipped to fourth before ultimately ending the encounter in fifth. Chang slipped to sixth midway through.
Determined to make amends in round three, Chang started in third place and moved into second at the expense of Sam MacLeod who retired at the beginning. Holding the runner-up spot until lap six, the Double R driver then maintained third to the finish.
Kaminsky, lining-up fifth on the grid, ran in fourth position initially before then moving into the top three on the third tour. Slipping to fourth a couple of laps later, the American was nudged back to fifth on lap 10 but regained fourth three laps from the end.
Guimaraes counters tough Hockenheim qualifying with strong race performances As well as this weekend’s British F3 activity, Double R’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship squad was in action at Hockenheim in Germany on Saturday and Sunday for rounds four, five and six of the 2014 campaign.
Although a challenging qualifying session for Felipe Guimaraes didn’t deliver the sort of starting positions expected, strong race performances underlined the Brazilian 22-year-old’s competitiveness on only his second weekend at European level.
Lining up on the 12th row of the grid for round four on Saturday, Guimaraes made superb opening lap progress to climb into 16th position and then grabbed two more places over the next couple of tours before moving into 13th place on lap five.
Embroiled in a battle with Antonio Fuoco, Guimaraes was nudged back to 14th by the Italian but battled back into 13th place half a dozen laps from the end and then took 12th at the finish when Dennis van de Laar fell back.
Beginning the first of Sunday’s two races, round five, from 21st on the grid the Brazilian gained four places on lap one and worked his way into 16th on the third tour before moving into 14th position on the final lap. Disappointingly, the Dallara-Mercedes driver was forced to retire from round six after a spin on the sixth tour when holding 13th position.
“Hockenheim was always going to be a tougher weekend for Felipe than Silverstone but, once again, he performed very well in the races”, commented team principal Hieatt, “Qualifying wasn’t as good as we’d hoped and that meant three difficult races, but he did a great job and was just a bit unlucky in the last one.”
Double R Racing’s FIA Formula 3 European Championship season will continue just a few days from now with rounds seven, eight and nine of the campaign taking place at Pau street circuit in France on 10th/11th May. The team’s Cooper Tires British F3 International Series squad, meanwhile, will be back on action on 24th/25th May at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.
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