Double R Racing’s Linus Lundqvist further extended his points lead in the 2018 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship after a win and a podium from the three races in Round 4 at Silverstone.
The Swede beat Lanan Racing’s Kush Maini to pole by 0.051s for Saturday’s Race 1 after clocking a time of 1m56.692s. Carlin’s Clement Novalak was third whereas the other contender, Carlin’s Nicolai Kjaegaard was only seventh.
Race 1
It was a feisty battle for the race win on Saturday as Lundqvist and Maini went head-to-head in the 10-lap race all the way along. Both had good starts to lead the way with Lundqvist just managing to stay ahead of Maini.
The Indian then started to claw in on the brand new set of tyres. He attempted a move on Lap 8 as they went wheel-to-wheel for few corners but Lundqvist managed to hold him off after Maini took the outside line at Luffield.
Despite looking quicker, the Indian had to settle with second finishing 0.392s off Lundvqist with Douglas’ Jordan Cane completing the podium after he managed to clear Novalak in the opening lap and caught on the Top 2 battle.
Novalak finished fourth ahead of Douglas’ Jamie Chadwick as Kjaegaard cleared Carlin’s Billy Monger to be sixth, with Monger losing another place to Hillspeed’s Jusuf Owega in eighth. Double R’s Krishnaraaj Mahadik and Fortec’s Tom Gamble completed the Top 10.
Positions 11-17: Tristan Charpentier, Manuel Maldonado, Sun Yue Yang, Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Arvin Esmaeili, Ben Hurst and Pavan Ravishankar.
Race 2
A whole reverse grid helped Double R Racing’s Ravishankar on pole to extend his lead ahead while his rivals jostled for second position. Douglas’ Esmaeili took the place from Hurst in the opening lap, but lost out to Carlin’s Yang on Lap 3.
Esmaeili continued to drop down the order while the Top 2 settled in their positions. Fortec’s Charpentier got to third from seventh with teammate Gamble following him on. The British driver made the move stick on Lap 7 to take third.
Ravishankar ahead took a comfortable first win from Yang who fended off a charging Gamble to secure his maiden podium. Kjaegaard was one of the biggest mover to finish fourth from 12th on the grid ahead of Charpentier.
The Fortec driver just managed to hold off Lundqvist who charged through the field from 17th to finish sixth. Monger was seventh ahead of Cane who made up seven places, while Chadwick and Chaimongkol completed the Top 10.
Positions 11-17: Novalak, Esmaeili, Hurst, Maini, Owega, Maldonado and Mahadik.
Race 3
It was a slow start from Lanan’s Maini from pole in the final race of the weekend. He lost out to Gamble in the process. The Indian fought back at Maggots and Becketts going wheel-to-wheel but had to surrender the position.
This allowed fast-starter Lundqvist to sneak past Maini to take second, demoting the Indian to third. It was status quo then on as Gamble took his second win ahead of Lundqvist and Maini who had to defend from Kjaergaard as well.
The Dane settled for fourth ahead of Cane who dropped from third to fifth as Novalak also lost a place to finish sixth in the order. Maldonado made up five places to seventh in the opening lap of the 10-lap race.
The Top 10 was then completed by Owega, Charpentier and Mahadik – the Indian losing out to the Fortec driver on Lap 2 after yet another storming start from 15th to ninth for the Double R Racing driver.
Positions 11-17: Yang, Ravishankar, Chadwick, Chaimongkol, Esmaeili, Hurst and Monger.
With half of the 2018 season completed, Lundqvist holds the top spot with 324 points, followed by Kjaergaard on 268 and Maini on 227. Gamble stays fourth with 203 as Cane leapfrogs Mahadik with 159 to 153 while Maldonado is just one way with 152 in seventh.
