Lando Norris took a brilliant victory in race one of the weekend (30 April/1 May) at Rockingham, after pulling off a daring penultimate lap move on his Carlin team-mate Ricky Collard to secure the win. Norris, who had qualified on pole position, lost the lead off the start but battled back strongly to take his second BRDC British Formula 3 Championship victory of the year, with Double R Racing’s Matheus Leist completing the podium in third.
Bright sunshine welcomed the teams on Saturday morning for the 20-minute qualifying session, with mild conditions making a change from Friday's colder weather. After each driver’s Pirelli tyres had warmed up, times began to tumble and the first man to drop into the 1m13s bracket was one of Friday’s pace-setters, Brazilian Matheus Leist. Norris soon assumed top spot though, with Thomas Randle moving into second, before the session was halted at the halfway stage due to the stranded car of Krishnaraaj Mahadik, which brought out the red flags.
The session restarted with 10 minutes left on the clock and improvements soon came thick and fast, with Matheus Leist going quickest overall with a 1m13.098s, laying down the gauntlet to Norris and those behind. The 2015 MSA Formula champion responded in style, clocking a 1m12.844s on his next lap to jump back to the top of the timing screens, with Collard moving into second, at that stage 0.349s slower than Norris.
Norris continued to find more speed however, initially lowering the benchmark to a 1m12.680s and then to a 1m12.577s with a stunning lap on his penultimate tour. Collard found more time himself but his best lap, a 1m12.986s, was still 0.409s slower than his Carlin stable-mate and he had to be content with second. Leist took third with Randle lining up fourth and Huovinen rounding out the top-five.
As the lights went out to get the 14-lap race underway it was Collard who made the better getaway, with Norris struggling to find traction. Collard pulled alongside his fellow Carlin car heading into turn one and passed Norris as they funnelled through the first corner and down to the Deene hairpin.
The Glastonbury-based racer attempted to fight back but Collard covered him off and began to open up a small lead on the opening lap. Further back, championship leader Toby Sowery, who had qualified 13th, dropped down the order and ended the first tour in 19th but soon began mounting a fight back. Enaam Ahmed moved up to sixth, overtaking Ameya Vaidyanathan, as Krishnaraaj Mahadik was a spinner in his Chris Dittmann Racing machine and he dropped to the back of the field.
In the opening stages, Collard eked out his lead, at its peak reaching just over eight-tenths of a second, with Norris not allowing him to drive away into the distance. Matheus Leist was watchful in third but couldn’t close on to the back of Norris in second.
At the halfway stage, Collard led by 0.613s from Norris with Leist trailing in third but comfortably ahead of Randle and Huovinen. Norris then set about gradually closing on his Carlin stable-mate and, as the race headed into its closing stages, he was right on the gearbox of his rival.
After bubbling under nicely for the majority of the contest, the race soon burst into life as, with two laps remaining, Norris got a tow from Collard heading towards Deene hairpin and went to the outside in a bid to take the lead. Collard covered him off but Norris cut back into Yentwood and then Chapman Curve, but had to back out of the move to avoid contact. At Pif-Paf however, the very next corner, Norris was able to take a wider line then cut back on the exit to dive down the inside of Collard and take the lead as a puff of dust appeared where Norris had used all of the track.
Collard couldn’t fight back and the final lap was seen out by Norris, with the 16-year-old eventually taking the chequered flag 1.633s ahead of his rival. Leist, Randle and Huovinen completed the top-five with Ahmed sixth, Vaidyanathan seventh and Tarun Reddy eighth, thus securing pole position for tomorrow’s reverse grid race two. Thomas Maxwell for Sean Walkinshaw Racing and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Quinlan Lall completed the top-10.
Speaking after the race, Norris said: “I got done off the start by Ricky and the first few laps that he did were really good so I had to concentrate on not making too many mistakes. I think he made one crucial one which allowed me to get a tow down the straight and I then got right behind him. We were side-by-side for half-a-lap so it was a good battle and I am now looking forward to tomorrow.”
Ricky Collard now heads the overall standings on 137 points; just three ahead of Toby Sowery who surrenders his championship lead after finishing 14th in race one. Matheus Leist moves up to third on 116 points, ahead of Thomas Randle on 114 points and Aleksanteri Huovinen on 110 points.
The final two races of the weekend in Northamptonshire take place tomorrow (Sunday) with race two beginning at 9:50 and lights out in the third and final encounter at 15:45.
BRDC British Formula 3 - Rockingham - Qualifying Top-10
1. Lando Norris, Carlin, 1m12.577s2. Ricky Collard, Carlin, +0.409s3. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, +0.479s4. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +0.484s5. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, +0.779s6. Ameya Vaidyanthan, Carlin, +0.802s7. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, +0.893s8. Ben Hingeley, HHC Motorsport, +1.044s9. Tarun Reddy, Fortec Motorsports, +1.051s10. Jan Jonck, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +1.159s
BRDC British Formula 3 - Rockingham - Race One Top-10
1. Lando Norris, Carlin, 14 Laps2. Ricky Collard, Carlin, +1.633s3. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, +2.772s4. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +4.621s5. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, +8.404s6. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, +11.550s7. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Carlin, +12.677s8. Tarun Reddy, Fortec Motorsports, +13.942s9. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +21.417s10. Quinlan Lall, Chris Dittmann Racing, +22.138s
2016 BRDC British Formula 3 standings after race seven of 24
1. Ricky Collard, Carlin, 137 points2. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 134 points3. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, 116 points4. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, 114 points5. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, 110 points6. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, 109 points=. Lando Norris, Carlin, 109 points8. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 93 points9. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 88 points10. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, 84 points
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