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  • Porsche Dominates at the Nürburgring

    Image courtesy of N24

     

    Porsche’s great form continued at the 6-hour qualifying race for the main event the 24 hours of the Nürburgring in June.

     

    The Porsche 911 GT3 of Frikadelli Racing driven by Frederic Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet, Dennis Olsen & Maxime Martin brought Car 31 home to victory, with the Manthey Porsche 911 of Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christensen & Lars Kern in 2ndbut this would be short lived has they were handed a time penalty for failing to obey flag signals putting them back to 5th, this would promote the sister Frikadelli Racing Car 30 to 2nd spot with Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, Matt Campbell & Mathieu Jaminet making it a one – two for the team, with the Pole sitting car 11 of Phoenix Racing Audi R8LMS GT3 EVO with ex Aston Martin factory driver of Nicki Thiim along with Michele Beretta, Frank Stippler & Vincent Kolb for the final spot on the podium P3.

    Image courtesy of Porsche

    On a warm Sunday afternoon in the forest of the Rhineland 85 cars took the start, the winning Porsche started on the grid from 5th but by the time they started on lap 2 they would be 2nd, the lead would change hands a number of times with no Safety Cars and only of local yellows covered by Code 60s, during the race and at Pit cycles, just after the 2nd hour the leading car Audi Car 11 with Stippler onboard made a very rare mistake after battling with the Porsche Car 31 of Pilet and ran off into the gravel trap just after the grand prix loop, this would hand the lead to Car 31 Porsche leaving the Audi back in 7th, the 2 Porsche team’s of Frikadelli and Manthey would put pressure on each other and this would how it would be as they went into the last hour, Cairoli car 911leading Olsen car 31.

    Image courtesy of Porsche

    With just 30 minutes remaining all the top cars pitted but car 31 would pit just that bit later, this would be the decisive move of the race and move the momentum to the Frikadelli Porsche Team. They would take the flag 15 seconds ahead of the 2nd place Manthey Porsche, with the 2nd Frikadelli Porsche a minute behind and 3rd.

    Image courtesy of Porsche

     

    Result

    1st Car 31  Porsche –  Frikadelli Racing

    2nd Car 30 Porsche –  Frikadelli Racing

    3rd Car 11 Audi        –  Phoenix Racing

    4th Car 07 Mercedes  Team Getspeed

    5th Car 911 Porsche – Manthey Racing

  • The Debrief – Five talking points from a thrilling opening BTCC weekend at Thruxton

    The Debrief – Five talking points from a thrilling opening BTCC weekend at Thruxton

    The 2021 British Touring Car Championship season burst into life at the weekend at Thruxton. Josh Cook won the first two races before Ash Sutton stormed to victory in a thrilling final race. A few talking points arose from the weekend’s action, with thrills, spills, and strong performances aplenty.

    Never Discount Ash Sutton

    Ash Sutton took victory in race three. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    The reigning champ took pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session to kick off his title defence in the best way possible. However, he was tapped by Colin Turkington into the Complex and spun, falling to the back of the grid. Not one to stay down for long, Sutton surged through the field finishing tenth on the road but was promoted to ninth thanks to Turkington receiving a penalty for their first lap collision.

    Another ninth placed finish in race two put him in good position as the reverse grid draw lottery put him third on the grid for race three. The rain-affected race saw Sutton start strong and lead, before Jake Hill on slicks passed him, only for the rain to return and put Sutton back in the ascendancy to take the win. From despair on race one lap one, to victory on race three, final lap.

    Jake Hill – Emergence of a new star?

    Jake Hill is the championship leader leaving Thruxton. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    The MB Motorsport team merged with Motorbase for 2021, meaning Hill swapped his Honda Civic FK2 for a new Ford Focus. He was one of the stars of the weekend, taking three podiums and leading the championship as we leave Thruxton.

    His skill and talent were underlined when he drove around the fastest circuit in the UK, on slick tyres, in wet and greasy conditions. That’s no mean feat, and Hill was not only quick, but he could have won if the rain had held off. A strong performance from the MB Motorsport driver, and one he will be sure to build on at Snetterton in June.

    Andy Neate hit with a £2k fine

    Glyn Geddie was caught up in a first lap incident in race two. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    On the opening lap of race two there was a big incident involving Andy Neate, Glyn Geddie and Jade Edwards. Neate dove down the inside of Geddie into turn one. Geddie had the corner covered and was tipped into a spin by Neate, sending both into the wall and Geddie’s Cupra Leon pirouetted in the air before landing. Edwards was on the outside and played innocent bystander as she was caught up in it.

    Initially Neate suggested he had brake failure which caused him to hit Geddie. However, after checks there was deemed nothing wrong with his car and Neate was hit with a £2,000 fine and points on his licence for the incident. Why did Neate suggest brake failure instead of admitting he was at fault for the incident? Thankfully all three drivers walked away uninjured.

    Life in Plato Yet!

    Jason Plato secured second place in race three. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    The 53-year-old showed he’s not mellowed with age as he took a sixth, a fifth, and a second in the three races this weekend. He got stuck in and showed his great race craft in his Vauxhall Astra. He was involved in dicey battles with the likes of Dan Rowbottom, Dan Cammish and Jake Hill. The latter fighting Plato in a drag race to the line in race three, with Plato coming out on top. A fine weekend back after a year away from the grid.

    Was Turkington’s Penalty Fair?

    Colin Turkington had a quiet weekend following the penalty. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    The aforementioned incident between Sutton and Turkington meant the four-time champion was given a 17 second penalty. This dropped him from fourth to tenth. The reason for this was Sutton finished tenth, and so the stewards gave Turkington a penalty which put him behind Sutton.

    However, this is potentially a dangerous precedent to set, as theoretically speaking, if Sutton had finished 30 seconds back, or a lap down, by this logic Turkington would effectively have to be excluded from the results. Would a standard five or ten second penalty have sufficed for what was effectively an innocuous mistake on cold tyres?

    The BTCC is back, and now the long wait begins for the next weekend of action at Snetterton on June 12-13.

  • The Monaco ePrix Roundup: Da Costa reigns in the principality

    The Monaco ePrix Roundup: Da Costa reigns in the principality

    Formula E returned this weekend, after a two week break to what is considered the glittering jewel in the motorsport crown, the glamorous and iconic streets of Monaco. Although it was familiar territory to the drivers, the venue boasted a new track layout, with the cars able to use the full track for the first time in the electric series’ history. Nyck de Vries headed into the weekend as the championship leader, but for him and Mercedes, it threw up heartbreak for the German manufacturer.

    Reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa claimed a dominant pole position in the streets of the principality, beating Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by a mere whisker. Mitch Evans started in P3 in the Jaguar, who ran just a few tenths shy of the pole time. Former champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Gunther lined up in P4 and P5 respectively, whilst Oliver Rowland rounded out the top six, having his laptime deleted as he left the garage too late, a factor not aided by Sergio Sette Camara’s late crash in group 4 which brought out the red flag and forced Sebastien Buemi and Tom Blomqvist to reattempt their flying laps. Title favourites Mercedes again struggled in the conditions, forced to start near the back of the grid, as was Jaguar’s Sam Bird who started in a lowly P16.

    Credit: Formula E


    Da Costa started well, getting the jump almost immediately on Frijns and Evans, however, the Dutchman was able to stay with the reigning champion and the pair of them began to pull away from the rest of the field whilst Wehrlein and Sims got tangled together in a bizarre incident at the famous Mirabeau hairpin. Within five minutes, Frijns closed in on Da Costa and snatched the lead away. Da Costa responded by taking attack mode, but it was to no avail. The pair of them headed at the front, as Bird and Di Grassi, both of whom had started down the order began to claw their way into the points-paying positions.

    Da Costa and Frijns fought for the lead as the time ticked away, both swapping positions whenever their attack modes were taken, which allowed Evans to come back into play, bringing Gunther and Vergne with him. Vergne looked impressive in the Techeetah, but made a mistake and failed to activate his second attack mode, which allowed Gunther through to fight for the podium. Da Costa used his fanboost to great effect to fly past Frijns for the lead going into the famous tunnel, whilst Evans too began his charge using his second attack mode to sweep past Frijns a lap later. Evans soon disposed of Da Costa for the lead with fifteen minutes left on the clock and everything looked in order, until Rene Rast’s Audi stopped on the climb up towards Casino Square bringing out the safety car and with it, the dreaded energy reduction.

    Credit: Formula E


    As in Valencia, Monaco showcased a thrilling sprint to the finish line in the dying stages of the race as Da Costa, desperate to shake off the demons of two weeks prior, swept past Evans for the lead for the race out of the tunnel, a move he had used previously to pass Frijns earlier. Evans was pipped to P2 by Frijns, after the energy reduction left him vulnerable and had to settle for the final podium position. The trio were followed by Vergne who just missed out on the podium, Gunther, Rowland and Bird rounded out the top seven. Due to the failure of Mercedes’ driver and championship leader Nyck de Vries to score any points, Robin Frijns inherited the championship lead as we head to Mexico in five weeks time.




     

  • Aston Martin’s struggles continue in Spain

    Both Aston Martin’s finished outside of the points in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday as the teams disappointing start to the season continues.

    Image courtesy of Aston Martin Cognizant F
    Formula 1team

    In an uncharacteristically eventful Spanish GP (at the front of the field at least) Aston Martin struggled to make ground throughout the Grand Prix and despite Lance Stoll making it into tenth; he couldn’t quite hold the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly behind and went on to finish the Spanish Grand Prix in P11 ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel in P13.

    Lance Stroll was evidently fighting hard for a points finish in Barcelona, making a sensational pass, sweeping past Fernando Alonso on the 11th Lap; but the Aston Martin was a far cry away from the pace of their Racing Point in 2020 and the Alpine passed into the points later in the race. Stroll was stuck in the middle of a DRS train in the midfield for much of the race emphasising many of their race pace issues.

    Sebastian Vettel had a less eventful race after a slow pitstop cost him a couple of seconds but also struggling to find any meaningful pace to be able to challenge either the Alpines or the McLaren of
    Lando Norris.

    Image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 team

    After the race Sebastian Vettel said “It was a tricky one. We were not quick enough in terms of race pace to really progress so I need to have a look whether there was something we could have done better. Not a trouble free race but I think it’s still probably where we are at the moment”.

    Aston Martin have not made the start to the season they would have hoped for with only five championship points in the constructors championship and break fires in both cars on the way to the grid at Imola caused Aston Martin problems before the race even began; which
    resulted in Sebastian Vettel receiving a time penalty as the team failed to fit his tyres before the five-minute signal.

    Both owner Lawrence stroll and Team Principle Otmar Szafnauer  have blamed performance issues in the opening rounds of the season on the new aerodynamic regulations that made changes to the amount of modifications teams could make to the floor of the car. Which they said had unfairly disadvantaged their car. However, despite a new
    upgrade package in Portimoa, the team still don’t seem to have the car where they want it.

    Although Aston Martins start to the season has been less than what they expected the longer than usual race calendar this year will undoubtedly give the team hope that there is time to push themselves up the constructor’s championship standings as the season continues.

    However, with the new regulation changes coming up in 2022 the team will undoubtedly want to begin to focus more resources in the coming months on next year’s car.

  • BTCC Thruxton – Sutton wins rollercoaster rain-affected final race

    BTCC Thruxton – Sutton wins rollercoaster rain-affected final race

    Ash Sutton took the win in a thrilling final race of the day at Thruxton. The weather was a factor with rain stopping and starting again meaning tyre strategies were needed.

    Pre-race Josh Cook and Tom Ingram were handed 30 second penalties for not having their tyres on their cars in time.

    While most of the front were on wets, Tom Oliphant gambled on slicks, meaning he fell down the order at the start. Sutton took second from him with Stephen Jelley led.

    Sutton overtook Jelley at the Complex on lap two while Cook and Ingram served their penalties in the pitlane.

    Jason Plato and Aiden Moffat had a nice battle for fourth until Moffat pulled off the road with a mechanical issue on lap seven.

    On lap six the weather stopped and the drivers on slick tyres were starting to come good. Jake Hill and Oliphant started to surge through the field with Oliphant coming from 18th.

    Dan Cammish and Dan Rowbottom pitted for slicks to try and capitalize on the changing weather but it was the wrong call.

    Hill’s resurgence continued as he passed Plato for third. Tom Oliphant was given a five second penalty for not being in his grid slot correctly.

    Jake Hill is the championship leader leaving Thruxton. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    On lap nine Hill was five seconds faster than leader Sutton, and was in second place closing down the leader. By lap ten he was in the lead.

    But just as Hill took the lead it started to rain again, with the pendulum swinging back into Sutton’s favour. The reigning champion regained his lead with ease on lap 14.

    On lap 15 Plato moved into third, but further back Carl Boardley and rookie Rick Parfitt collided at the Complex. Parfitt resumed but Boardley drove into the path of Rory Butcher while recovering and both collided and were out of the race.

    Sutton won but there was a mad dash to the line between Plato, Hill, and Gordon Shedden. Plato had the better exit and stole second place on the line.

    Shedden finished fourth, Plato’s team mate Dan Lloyd made it a good race for Power Maxed Racing with fifth. WSR duo Turkington and Oliphant took sixth and seventh. Jack Goff, Ollie Jackson and Stephen Jelley rounded off the top ten.

    Jake Hill leads the championship after this weekend’s racing by a point from Josh Cook with Jason Plato in third a few points behind.

    Pos Driver Team Car Gap
    1 Ash Sutton Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 22:47:671
    2 Jason Plato Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra +4.789
    3 Jake Hill MB Motorsport Ford Focus +4.859
    4 Gordon Shedden Halfords Racing Honda Civic +5.025
    5 Dan Lloyd Power Maxed Vuaxhall Astra +9.927
    6 Colin Turkington Team WSR BMW 330i M +10.105
    7 Tom Oliphant Team WSR BMW 330i M +13.212
    8 Jack Goff Team HARD Cupra Leon +14.014
    9 Ollie Jackson MB Motorsport Ford Focus +16.377
    10 Stephen Jelley Team WSR BMW 330i M +18.713
    11 Aron Taylor-Smith Team HARD Cupra Leon +21.321
    12 Sam Osborne Motorbase Ford Focus +24.962
    13 Tom Chilton Ciceley BMW 330i M +25.188
    14 Sam Smelt Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla +25.722
    15 Chris Smiley Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +38.847
    16 Rick Parfitt Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +40.064
    17 Nicholas Hamilton Team HARD Cupra Leon +52.655
    18 Adam Morgan Ciceley BMW 330i M +55.339
    19 Jack Butel Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +1:04.841
    20 Josh Cook BTC Racing Honda Civic +1 Lap
    21 Dan Rowbottom Halfords Racing Honda Civic +1 Lap
    22 Tom Ingram Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +1 Lap
    23 Dan Cammish BTC Racing Honda Civic +1 Lap
    24 Carl Boardley Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +2 Laps
    25 Rory Butcher Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla +2 Laps
    Retirements
    DNF Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 Mechanical
    DNF Jade Edwards BTC Racing Honda Civic Damage
    DNS Glyn Geddie Team HARD Cupra Leon Damage
    DNS Andy Neate Motorbase Ford Focus Damage

     

  • Spanish GP: Hamilton takes win number 98

    image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

    Lewis Hamilton took his 98th Formula 1 win on Sunday afternoon after delivering yet another stunning drive which was strategically very reminiscent of Hungary 2019. The English driver started from his 100th pole position and fell behind to his title rival Max Verstappen but thanks to an aggressive and well thought out strategy from the Mercedes team, he was able to come back into the race and take the lead towards the very end and went on to win.

    Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was once again limited to playing the team game as he failed to match either of Hamilton or Verstappen. The Finnish driver did not quite back down after team orders were implemented which meant Hamilton had to overtake him losing some time in the process. It all ended well as the English driver was able to catch the leading Redbull and take a healthy lead in the driver’s championship. Sergio Perez in the other Redbull could only manage only a 5th place finish which brings into question, the ever present dilemma surrounding the Redbull second car.

    Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari drove an excellent race finishing 4th ahead of Sergio Perez in the Redbull which means it is good signs for the Ferrari after a season to forget last year. Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari also had a very good drive after his battles with the McLaren drivers saw him finish 7th. Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren seems to have gotten over his shaky start to the season and drove an excellent race to finish P6 while his teammate Lando Norris just seems to have taken foot off the gas after a good start to the season and managed an 8th place finish only.

    Esteban Ocon started off the weekend in a brilliant fashion after qualifying P6 but could only manage P9 in the race while his teammate Alonso after being involved in the tussle for the final points position for a long time had to pit towards the end and ended up at a lowly P17. Alpha Tauri had a mixed weekend after Yuki Tsunoda’s car had an engine failure very early in the race but Pierre Gasly managed his race well after he had to overcome the challenge of Aston Martin drivers.

    Aston Martin had a very under the radar showing with both the drivers Stroll and Vettel finishing outside points and the team will be left to figure out how to better their fortunes in a fortnight’s time for the Monaco grandprix. It was a better outing for Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo than last time as he finished the race this time around and finished well at P12. His teammate on the other hand had to sit through a sub 40 second pit stop and could only manage a P15.

    ‘Mr.Saturday’ George Russell had yet another mellow Sunday interms of the result but the whole team will definitely take heart from a performance where he was close to P10 for the most of the afternoon but failed to put the final fight in for it and finished P14. His teammate Latifi in the other Williams finished at P16.

    Haas cars had yet another slow outing during the race and Mick Schumacher managed an 18th placed finish despite a bright start from him and his teammate Nikita Mazepin only finished last of the lot while often being mentioned in the radio for not following the blue flags correctly.

    Redbull definitely seemed to have the pace going into the race but they were caught out by Mercedes’ aggressive strategy just like Hungary 2019 as Lewis Hamilton drove his heart out in Barcelona. Max Verstappen will have many more chances in the upcoming part of the season to take the challenge to Hamilton on track but for now the momentum is with the British driver.

  • BTCC Thruxton – Cook wins race marred by first lap incident

    BTCC Thruxton – Cook wins race marred by first lap incident

    Josh Cook secured his second win from two races with the race marred by a big first lap incident between three drivers.

    Andy Neate, Glyn Geddie and Jade Edwards were all in a big shunt on lap one which caused a red flag. On the restart Dan Cammish surged into second to back up his temporary team mate with Jake Hill third.

    The race was red flagged on lap one as Glyn Geddie, Jade Edwards and Andy Neate were involved in a first corner collision. Neate dove down the inside at turn one of Geddie and collided. They took Edwards with them as she was an innocent bystander on the outside. Geddie hit the wall and his car pirouetted and rolled and all three were out with considerable damage.

    On the restart Hill got away badly, Cammish capitalized on it and moved into third. Into the complex Ingram was battling Cook for the lead with the pair making contact. As Ingram regained his composure Cammish snuck down the inside to take second.

    The Safety Car was brought out when Rory Butcher started to spin in the high speed section. He went across the track, with drivers doing well to avoid him, before hitting the tyre wall at speed.

    On lap six the race continued, with Dan Rowbottom pulling off a nice move on Ingram as he struggled with ballast in his Hyundai.

    The top three pulled away from Jason Plato in fourth who was being caught by the charging Rowbottom. Having pitted, Ash Sutton surged back through the field, ending the race in ninth.

    Rowbottom finally passed Plato on lap ten as he got the better of the veteran out of the final chicane for fourth place.

    Josh Cook has won two races from two so far. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)

    The top two were the quickest cars, with Cook taking his second win from two with Cammish playing a good team mate to back him up.

    Hill finished third as his encouraging start to the season continues. Rowbottom secured his best ever BTCC finish with fourth and Plato came home fifth. Ingram and Turkington were next, followed by the Laser Tools duo of Moffat and Sutton. Tom Oliphant rounded off the top ten in his BMW.

    Pos Driver Team Car Gap
    1 Josh Cook BTC Racing Honda Civic 23:06:411
    2 Dan Cammish BTC Racing Honda Civic +0.234
    3 Jake Hill MB Motorsport Ford Focus +1.625
    4 Dan Rowbottom Halfords Racing Honda Civic +4.655
    5 Jason Plato Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra +4.976
    6 Tom Ingram Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +6.961
    7 Colin Turkington Team WSR BMW 330i M +7.303
    8 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +9.291
    9 Ash Sutton Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +10.055
    10 Tom Oliphant Team WSR BMW 330i M +11.411
    11 Stephen Jelley Team WSR BMW 330i M +13.259
    12 Jack Goff Team HARD Cupra Leon +13.759
    13 Ollie Jackson MB Motorsport Ford Focus +15.311
    14 Dan Lloyd Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra +15.826
    15 Aron Taylor-Smith Team HARD Cupra Leon +16.944
    16 Sam Osborne Motorbase Ford Focus +17.540
    17 Carl Boardley Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +19.551
    18 Gordon Shedden Halfords Racing Honda Civic +19.914
    19 Jack Butel Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +26.245
    20 Sam Smelt Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla +26.623
    21 Adam Morgan Ciceley BMW 330i M +32.085
    22 Nicholas Hamilton Team HARD Cupra Leon +35.931
    23 Chris Smiley Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +1 Lap
    Retirements
    DNF Rick Parfitt Excelr8 Hyundai i30N Mechanical
    DNF Tom Chilton Ciceley BMW 330i M Mechanical
    DNF Rory Butcher Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla Crash
    DNF Jade Edwards BTC Racing Honda Civic Crash
    DNF Andy Neate Motorbase Ford Focus Crash
    DNF Glyn Geddie Team HARD Cupra Leon Crash

     

  • BTCC Thruxton – Josh Cook takes Race 1 win

    BTCC Thruxton – Josh Cook takes Race 1 win

    Josh Cook took the first win of the 2021 British Touring Car Championship season at Thruxton in an exciting opening race.

    A first lap collision sent polesitter Ash Sutton spinning down the order. Tom Ingram’s first race for Excelr8 ended with second place and Jake Hill moved through the order to take third.

    The first race is the only race all season which is ballast free, which means all drivers are on a level playing field and it’s purely a case of who’s fastest.

    Sutton got away well, with Ingram and Colin Turkington in tow behind. Into the complex at Cobb, Turkington tapped Sutton in braking and spun Sutton around. This promoted Cook to the lead as he manoeuvred past the pair into a lead he never surrendered.

    The Safety Car was brought out at the end of lap one as the returning Gordon Shedden tapped the back of Ollie Jackson. This sent the Honda driver into a spin before he collected Chris Smiley. The pair ended in the wall and Jackson pitted to fix an damage. Tom Oliphant appeared to be struggling to get heat into his tyres as he went off before pitting.

    On lap seven the Safety Car pulled in and racing resumed. Ingram was on the back of Cook instantly, and was looking to overtake.

    Sutton’s resurgence began on lap eight as he passed Sam Smelt and Oliphant. Meanwhile further up Dan Rowbottom, who replaced Matt Neal this season at Team Dynamics, moved around the outside of ex-team mate Adam Morgan at the final chicane in a very impressive move.

    A transmission failure ended Stephen Jelley’s impressive return to Team WSR as he pulled into the pits.

    In the closing stages there was a battle between Jason Plato, Rory Butcher, and Dan Cammish. Plato fought with Butcher for fifth, and both were passed by Cammish. He swooped into fifth and pulled away in his BTC Honda.

    There was a light splatter of rain at the end of the race but nothing to bother the drivers as Cook cruised to the win, keeping up his impressive winning streak at Thruxton dating back to 2018. Ingram was second with Hill third. Turkington came home fourth, but was handed a penalty post race for his part in taking out Sutton, dropping him to tenth., Cammish, Butcher, Plato, Rowbottom, Morgan, and Ash Sutton rounded off the top ten on the road but were all promoted because of Turkington’s penalty.

    Pos Driver Team Car Gap
    1 Josh Cook BTC Racing Honda Civic 29:33:844
    2 Tom Ingram Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +2.298
    3 Jake Hill MB Motorsport Ford Focus +4.227
    4 Dan Cammish BTC Racing Honda Civic +9.323
    5 Rory Butcher Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla +11.758
    6 Jason Plato Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra +12.046
    7 Dan Rowbottom Halfords Racing Honda Civic +12.607
    8 Adam Morgan Ciceley BMW 330i M +19.612
    9 Ash Sutton Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +21.259
    10 Colin Turkington Team WSR BMW 330i M +21.825*
    11 Aiden Moffat Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +22.760
    12 Carl Boardley Laser Tools Infiniti Q50 +26.391
    13 Jack Goff Team HARD Cupra Leon +26.720
    14 Tom Chilton Ciceley BMW 330i M +27.138
    15 Tom Oliphant Team WSR BMW 330i M +27.448
    16 Dan Lloyd Power Maxed Vauxhall Astra +27.791
    17 Sam Osborne Motorbase Ford Focus +29.846
    18 Aron Taylor-Smith Team HARD Cupra Leon +31.038
    19 Ollie Jackson MB Motorsport Ford Focus +33.636
    20 Jade Edwards BTC Racing Honda Civic +38.774
    21 Jack Butel Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +41.015
    22 Glyn Geddie Team HARD Cupra Leon +41.932
    23 Sam Smelt Toyota Gazoo Toyota Corolla +42.886
    24 Andy Neate Motorbase Ford Focus +45.545
    25 Rick Parfitt Excelr8 Hyundai i30N +45.928
    26 Nicolas Hamilton Team HARD Cupra Leon +2 Laps
    Retirements
    DNF Stephen Jelley Team WSR BMW 330i M Transmission
    DNF Gordon Shedden Halfords Racing Honda Civic Crash
    DNF Chris Smiley Excelr8 Hyundai i30N Crash
    • – Colin Turkington handed 17 second penalty for collision with Ash Sutton on lap 1.
  • F3 Barcelona: Hauger dominates in near-perfect feature race

    F3 Barcelona: Hauger dominates in near-perfect feature race

    Prema driver and Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger dominated the first feature race of the Formula 3 season, putting in a lights-to-flag performance and taking the fastest lap for maximum points.

    Hauger looked to have lost the lead at the start as he got bogged down at the launch and had to fight a four-wide battle down to Turn 1 with Jack Doohan, Victor Martins and Matteo Nannini. But Hauger managed to keep ahead going into the first corner, while Martins and Nannini assumed second and third and Doohan was shuffled down to fourth.

    Nannini moved up to second at the end of the second lap, as Martins ran wide through the final corner and allowed the HWA through. But as Hauger set the fastest lap out front and moved out of DRS range, Nannini was unable to make any in-roads into the Prema’s lead.

    Jack Doohan, Trident (Clive Mason, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / courtesy of FIA F3)

    Nannini and Martins then both came under pressure from Doohan as he recovered from his start. After taking third from Martins on lap 9, Doohan then reeled in Nannini and passed him for second on lap 12.

    But just like Nannini, Doohan was unable to catch Hauger, who was more than three seconds further up the road by this point. Hauger eventually crossed the line with almost four seconds in hand, with Doohan and Nannini completing the podium.

    Martins lost another position in the final laps, finishing fifth behind yesterday’s second race winner Olli Caldwell. Clement Novalak took sixth ahead of Frederik Vesti, Caio Collet and Logan Sargeant, and Hitech’s Roman Stanek took his first point of the year in tenth.

    Hauger now leads the drivers’ championship after Barcelona with 34 points, two ahead of teammate Caldwell and six clear of Novalak. Prema leads the teams’ standings with 66 points, 17 ahead of Trident in second. Find the full F3 championship standings here.

  • F3 Barcelona: Caldwell takes maiden win in chaotic second sprint race

    F3 Barcelona: Caldwell takes maiden win in chaotic second sprint race

    Olli Caldwell took his first Formula 3 win in the second Barcelona sprint race, inheriting the lead late on after two separate battles for the win ahead of him ended in collisions.

    The race started with Enzo Fittipaldi on reverse pole ahead of David Schumacher, Matteo Nannini, Victor Martins and Dennis Hauger. At lights out the top five all got away in order, while Caldwell went from seventh to sixth by passing Frederik Vesti.

    The first four laps ran behind the safety car, after Logan Sargeant and Alex Smolyar came together further back at the start. When the race resumed on lap 5, Schumacher started pressuring Fittipaldi for the lead by keeping within DRS range, while Hauger and Caldwell took advantage of Martins running wide to take fourth and fifth respectively.

    After making several attempts to pass Fittipaldi under DRS into Turn 1, Schumacher finally took the lead of the race on lap 12. However, Schumacher wasn’t able to pull clear at the front and Fittipaldi attempted to retake the lead at Turn 1 on lap 14.

    Schumacher fended off Fittipaldi on that occasion, but the Brazilian came back around the outside of Turn 1 on the following lap. But as they went side by side through Turn 2, the pair made contact which took them both out of the race, brought out the safety car, and handed the lead to Nannini.

    When the safety car came in at the end of lap 17, Hauger immediately challenged Nannini from second but was rebuffed into the first corner. Hauger kept close to the HWA through the next couple of laps and tried another move up the inside of Turn 1 on lap 20, but remarkably they too collided as they went side by side into Turn 2.

    As Nannini was spun round and Hauger lost his front wing, Caldwell avoided the incident to lead from Martins and Vesti with three laps remaining. Martins tried to pass Caldwell into the first corner on the final lap but bailed out of the move onto the runoff area, leaving Caldwell clear to take the win.

    Martins finished in second and Vesti third, ahead of Clement Novalak and Caio Collet. Red Bull juniors Jonny Edgar, Ayumu Iwasa, Jack Doohan and Jak Crawford finished in formation from sixth to ninth, and Juan Manuel Correa took the final point on his first weekend back racing.

    L-R: Victor Martins, Olli Caldwell, Frederik Vesti (Joe Portlock, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / courtesy of FIA F3)