Collard scores Oulton Park double in Pirelli-backed BRDC British F3
Ricky Collard extended his lead in the Pirelli-supplied BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with two victories at Oulton Park.
Collard's first win in came in a curtailed race one on Saturday, halted early by an enormous crash for Carlin team-mate Ameya Vaidyanathan. Contact with Sisa Ngebulana launched the Indian driver into a series of rolls, but he was able to escape injury, proving the high safety standards incorporated into the championship's Tatuus chassis. Carlin rebuilt the car and Vaidyanathan was able to take part in both of Monday’s races.
With the race red flagged and not restarted, Collard took the win ahead of Thomas Randle and Colton Herta, who was making a second appearance of the season with Carlin. Brazilian Double R duo Matheus Leist and Enzo Bortoleto made the top six, separated by Denmark’s Jan Jonck.
Enaam Ahmed led race two from start to finish, but Toby Sowery would be declared the winner after Ahmed was relegated to second as a penalty for contact between the pair on lap two. Bortoleto beat team-mate Leist to the final podium place, followed by Jonck, Randle, Herta and Collard.
From another pole positon, Collard controlled race three throughout, beating his closest title rival Randle once more and boosting his points lead to 37 over the Australian. Herta scored another podium in third ahead of Ahmed, Leist and Bortoleto.
The series will head to Silverstone, the home of the BRDC, for round five next weekend (11-12 June).
Witt and Chamberlain battle in Pirelli-backed GT Cup at SilverstoneBentley driver Jordan Witt was denied another clean sweep of the GT Cup in the Silverstone round, as Richard Chamberlain snatched the race one win in his Porsche 935.
Chamberlain took his opportunity to move for the lead at the end of the first lap, before a lengthy safety car after the McLaren of Stuart Proctor caught fire. After the restart, Chamberlain kept hold of the lead until the end of the 25-minute race, beating Witt by less than half a second.
Having beaten Witt to the fastest lap by a thousandth of a second, Chamberlain started race two from pole position but would be forced out of the lead by a suspension failure, with Witt saying he was “a bit gutted” to have the win handed to him.
There would be another thrilling battle between the pair in the 50-minute final race however. Chamberlain made a great start to take the lead away from Witt, but contact between the two drivers on lap 12 spun Chamberlain around, and he eventually retired after another clash with a backmarker.
Having come second and third in the earlier races, John Dhillon took another second place alongside Aaron Scott in their AF Corse Ferrari. Nigel Hudson and Adam Wilcox completed the podium in their Audi R8.
In the GTC group, Ross McEwen won race one in his Porsche ahead of the Ferrari of Paul Bailey, who would win the remaining two races, sharing with Andy Schulz in the pitstop race. There were three different winners in GTB, with Tom Webb heading the first race in his BMW before the Porsches of Neil Armstrong and Jonathan Evans/Tom Bradshaw also scored victories. After Ian Anderson took GTA honours in race one in his Ginetta, Sam Webster – making his GT Cup debut out of karting – claimed the other two wins, sharing his Porsche with Jamie Stanley in the finale.
Round four of the GT Cup, which is supplied exclusively by Pirelli, takes place at Rockingham on June 18-19.
Sykes wins twice on home soil on Pirelli tyres in World SuperbikesBritish rider Tom Sykes won both races on the Superbike World Championship’s visit to Donington Park.
In doing so, the Kawasaki rider matched Carl Fogarty’s record of winning eight consecutive races on the same circuit.
He worked his way to the front in race one after compatriot Chaz Davies crashed his Ducati, beating Davide Giugliano and his own team-mate Jonathan Rea. Sykes led race two from the start, with Rea and Davies making it an all-British podium to the delight of the crowd.
Pirelli brought a new development rear tyre to Donington, the V0377 soft compound, which was used by most riders in both races.
Sykes’ victories elevate him above Davies to second in the standings, 56 behind Rea.
Rowland drives to maiden GP2 podium on Pirelli tyres in MonacoOliver Rowland produced a strong drive to take his maiden GP2 podium finish on the streets of Monaco.
From fifth on the grid, the Renault Sport Academy driver applied pressure late in the race on the early leader Norman Nato, although both would be beaten to the win by Artem Markelov after choosing to leave his change of Pirelli tyres until the end of the race.
Rowland’s fellow British star Alex Lynn scored a strong haul of points towards his championship challenge with a fourth and a fifth in the two races, leaving the Williams F1 development driver just eight points behind the leader Nato and ahead of his biggest expected rivals after they fell victim to the demanding street circuit.
Jordan King briefly sat second to Racing Engineering team-mate Norman Nato at one stage in the feature race, but the Manor Racing development driver would retire after clipping a barrier.
The GP2 drivers head to new ground in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the next round on June 18-19.
