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  • F3 Great Britain: Smolyar loses sprint race win to post-race penalty

    F3 Great Britain: Smolyar loses sprint race win to post-race penalty

    Aleksandr Smolyar has lost the victory he took in the Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone on Sunday following a post-race time penalty for weaving, handing the win to David Beckmann.

    Smolyar’s driving while defending the lead from Beckmann late in the race was noted by the stewards on lap 16, and the Russian was repeatedly told on team radio to stop weaving. The stewards elected to investigate the issue after the race, and have since awarded Smolyar a five-second penalty which demotes him to sixth.

    The penalty promotes Trident’s Beckmann to his second win of the season, with Clement Novalak second and Alex Peroni third. Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant move up to fourth and fifth respectively.

    The revised result means Sargeant is now 17 points behind Piastri in the standings, while Vesti moves ahead of Liam Lawson into fourth. Smolyar drops a place to tenth behind Novalak.

    Revised race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 David Beckmann Trident 15
    2 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 12
    3 Alex Peroni Campos Racing 10
    4 Frederik Vesti Prema Racing 8
    5 Logan Sargeant (FL) Prema Racing 8
    6 Aleksandr Smolyar ART Grand Prix 5
    7 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 4
    8 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 3
    9 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 2
    10 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 1
    11 Lirim Zendelli Trident
    12 Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing
    13 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport
    14 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport
    15 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System
    16 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport
    17 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix
    18 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System
    19 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
    20 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix
    21 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing
    22 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix
    23 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport
    24 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
    25 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing
    26 Olli Caldwell Trident
    27 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab
    28 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
    Ret. Oscar Piastri Prema Racing
    Ret. Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System
  • Colin Turkington takes a dominant win in BTCC race two

    Colin Turkington takes a dominant win in BTCC race two

    Colin Turkington fought back from second in race one by winning race two in dominant fashion. He pulled out a massive lead before a safety car reeled him back in. The restart didn’t stop him as he took a fine win.

    Rory Butcher finished second in another brilliant effort from the Motorbase team, with Tom Oliphant rounding off the podium.

    James Gornall and Senna Proctor failed to make the start after their mechanical failures in race one. Jake Hill managed to fix his issues and get out for race two.

    Turkington got the better start and took the lead on the run to Redgate. Stephen Jelley had a fantastic start and moved up to sixth by the end of the first lap.

    While Turkington pulled away, Cammish came under pressure from third placed Butcher. and finally got past him on the straight towards the final chicane. Cammish struggling with the maximum ballast on his Honda Civic.

    Next to pass the Honda were Tom Ingram and Tom Oliphant, who took third and fourth respectively from the Yorkshireman on lap five.

    One man who was on fire was Ash Sutton, he was storming through the grid and set the fastest lap of the race before the safety car came out for the second time today. Nicolas Hamilton went wide at Coppice and once he put a tyre on the grass his VW CC spun and beached into the gravel. Turkington had a three second lead before the safety car.

    On the restart Sutton battled Jelley for seventh, Tom Chilton joined the battle and the trio went three abreast going into the chicane. Sutton on the outside with the latest of late braking to pass both without incident.

    His resurgence continued on lap 16 as he passed Matt Neal for sixth and then Cammish’s slide down the order continued as Sutton passed him on lap 17 for fifth.

    Oliphant passed Ingram for third place making it two BMW’s on the podium as Sutton battled the Toyota of Ingram on the final lap.

    Turkington took a dominant win, with Butcher and Oliphant rounding off the podium. Ingram and Sutton had a photo finish on the line but Ingram’s Toyota took it by a tenth.

    A special mention to the MB Motorsport cars of Jake HIll and Sam Osborne. Hill fought from the back of the grid to be in the points before pulling into the pits a couple of laps from the end. Osborne was in the top ten and looked for another brilliant result. But he was in the pits four laps from the end with a mechanical issue.

    Aiden Moffat finished 15th on the road but received a ten second penalty for a false start. Meaning Carl Boardley in the BMW 125i took the final point.

    Pos Driver Car Interval
    1 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport
    2 Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST +2.199
    3 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport +2.610
    4 Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla +2.935
    5 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 +3.046
    6 Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8 +5.839
    7 Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 +6.271
    8 Adam Morgan Mercedes A Class +6.576
    9 Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport +7.949
    10 Josh Cook Honda CIvic Type R FK8 +8.320
    11 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST +11.171
    12 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N +11.650
    13 Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 +12.003
    14 Michael Crees Honda CIvic Type R FK8 +14.610
    15 Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport +17.384
    16 Jack Goff VW CC +18.538
    17 Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon +19.000
    18 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST +20.635
    19 Jack Butel Mercedes A Class +21.528
    20 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 +26.555
    Retirements
    RET Jake Hll Honda Civic Type R FK2 Mechanical
    RET Sam Osborne Honda Civic Type R FK2 Mechanical
    RET Nicolas Hamilton VW CC Spin
    RET Ollie Brown VW CC Mechanical
    DNS James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon
    DNS Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N
  • Dan Cammish wins first BTCC round at Donington Park

    Dan Cammish wins first BTCC round at Donington Park

    Dan Cammish struck first blood as he won the first round of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.

    The Team Dynamics driver won by just seven tenths from reigning champion Colin Turkington in his WSR BMW. Rory Butcher grabbed a fantastic third place finish to round off the podium.

    Turkington led off the grid, with Sutton moving up into second passing Dan Cammish at Redgate. The first lap wasn’t without its drama however as Jake Hill and Josh Cook collided, with the BTC Racing Civic of Cook falling to the back.

    Sutton was taking the fight to Turkington’s BMW, and crept up the inside at Coppice, but couldn’t quite make the move stick. A lap later on lap four Sutton took the lead, albeit briefly as an initial nudge by Turkington was met with a second tap which spun Sutton’s Infiniti round. Cammish profited most from the impact as he took the lead.

    Cammish was controlling the race, holding off Turkington with a lead of just under a second. However on lap 11 a safety car was called as Senna Proctor suffered an unfortunate failure while battling for tenth. This was coupled with Nicolas Hamilton going off at the final chicane.

    After a four lap safety car break the green flag waved and the fights up and down the field continued. Sutton had a fantastic recovery from his early spin as he moved back up to finish 14th. Setting the fastest lap in the process.

    Cammish took the chequered flag with Turkington close behind. A star drive from Rory Butcher who finished third. Tom Ingram took fourth in his Toyota before Matt Neal in the second Dynamics Honda Civic came fifth. Tom Oliphant was sixth in his WSR BMW, with Sam Osborne grabbing his best ever finish in his new MB Motorsport Honda Civic. Chris Smiley gave the new Excelr8 Hyundai i30N an eighth place finish on its debut, with Stephen Jelley and Tom Chilton rounding off the top ten.

    A brilliant beginning to the 2020 British Touring Car Championship season.

    Pos Driver Car Interval
    1 Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8
    2 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport +0.707
    3 Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST +1.144
    4 Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla +1.941
    5 Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 +2.817
    6 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport +3.722
    7 Sam Osborne Honda Civic Type R FK2 +4.855
    8 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N +5.492
    9 Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport +7.322
    10 Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 +7.623
    11 Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon +7.936
    12 Adam Morgan Mercedes A Class +8.249
    13 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R FK8 +9.498
    14 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 +9.595
    15 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 +11.457
    16 Michael Crees Honda Civic Type R FK8 +13.075
    17 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST +13.398
    18 Jack Goff VW CC +13.837
    19 Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport +14.266
    20 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST +14.599
    21 Ollie Brown VW CC +15.050
    22 Jack Butel Mercedes A Class +19.350
    Retirements
    RET James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon Mechanical
    RET Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N Mechanical
    RET Nicolas Hamilton VW CC Crash
    RET Jake Hill Honda Civic Type R FK2 Mechanical

    Image Credit: BTCC Media

  • F2 Great Britain: Ticktum controls Silverstone sprint race

    F2 Great Britain: Ticktum controls Silverstone sprint race

    Dan Ticktum took his first Formula 2 victory with a measured drive in the Silverstone sprint race.

    Ticktum started the reverse grid race from pole. As he got away well, second-placed starter Felipe Drugovich was swamped off the line and dropped to fourth behind Christian Lundgaard and Louis Deletraz. Further back, Callum Ilott made contact with Yuki Tsunoda and spun the Carlin out of the race, earning himself a five second penalty.

    Ticktum managed the opening phase of the race by breaking out of DRS range of Lundgaard by lap 4, then opening that to two seconds by lap 10.

    Callum Ilott / Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

    Further back, Ilott was making rapid progress through the field as he tried to overcome his penalty. On lap 7 he passed Drugovich for fourth, then drove past both Deletraz and Lundgaard on lap 13 to get up into second.

    Ilott then set about on a series of fast laps to overcome the two-second gap to Ticktum. But on lap 16, Ilott’s push resulted in him spinning out of the race at the final corner.

    The safety car was brought out to recover Ilott’s car, and ART took the opportunity to pit Lundgaard from second for mediums. Although the stop dropped Lundgaard down to fifth, his faster tyres allowed him to get back up to third at the restart by passing Nikita Mazepin and Guanyu Zhou.

    Christian Lundgaard, ART (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    On the final lap Lundgaard then passed Deletraz to regain second, with only half a second separating him from Ticktum. But Lundgaard ultimately didn’t have enough time to catch the DAMS, and Ticktum led him and Deletraz across the line.

    Zhou looked set to finish fourth but ran out of grip on the final lap and span out of the points. Jehan Daruvala inherited fourth place with Mazepin fifth and Drugovich sixth. Nobuharu Matsushita and Jack Aitken rounded out the points in seventh and eighth respectively.

    Championship leader Robert Shwartzman finished the sprint race outside the points in P13, capping off a troubled weekend at Silverstone. However, he remains in the lead of the championship over Ilott after the Briton’s retirement. Lundgaard’s podium moves him four points behind Ilott in third, while Ticktum’s win elevates him above Zhou to fifth in the standings.

    The top two in the teams’ championship remain unchanged, with UNI-Virtuosi and Prema both failing to score in the sprint race and staying on 124 and 122 points respectively. ART have closed the gap in third with 103 points. Find the full Formula 2 drivers’ and teams’ standings here.

    Formula 2 returns to Silverstone next week in support of the Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

    (Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Dan Ticktum DAMS 15
    2 Christian Lundgaard (FL) ART Grand Prix 14
    3 Louis Deletraz Charouz Racing System 10
    4 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 8
    5 Nikita Mazepin Hitech Grand Prix 6
    6 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport 4
    7 Nobuharu Matsushita MP Motorsport 2
    8 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 1
    9 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi
    10 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix
    11 Artem Markelov HWA Racelab
    12 Marino Sato Trident
    13 Robert Shwartzman Prema Racing
    14 Mick Schumacher Prema Racing
    15 Guilherme Samaia Campos Racing
    16 Roy Nissany Trident
    17 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System
    18 Giuliano Alesi HWA Racelab
    19 Luca Ghiotto Hitech Grand Prix
    Ret. Sean Gelael DAMS
    Ret. Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi
    Ret. Yuki Tsunoda Carlin

  • F3 Great Britain: Smolyar fights off Beckmann for first F3 win

    Aleksandr Smolyar took his first Formula 3 win in the Silverstone sprint race, fighting off a rapid David Beckmann in the closing laps.

    Smolyar got a good start from his reverse grid pole to hold the lead from Beckmann on the first lap. By lap 4 the Russian was able to just break out of DRS range of Beckmann, but this gap was lost on the following lap when Igor Fraga stopped on track and brought out the safety car.

    At the restart Smolyar and Beckmann again held position, but Beckmann was able to stick with the ART and prevent Smolyar breaking more than a second away. After setting the fastest lap, Beckmann made his first move for the lead on lap 14, diving to the inside at Stowe. Beckmann momentarily took first, but Smolyar was able to repass him immediately.

    Beckmann tried the same move on the following lap, but was again unsuccessful and fell back from Smolyar into the clutches of third-placed Clement Novalak. Beckmann managed to recover and get within two tenths of Smolyar in the final laps, but ultimately was unable to find a way around the ART. Smolyar eventually crossed the line with just half a second in hand over Beckmann, with Novalak close behind in third.

    David Beckmann, Trident (Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)

    Alex Peroni finished fourth, capping off a strong weekend at Silverstone. Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant took fifth and sixth for Prema, with Sargeant also taking the points for fastest lap. Vesti and Sargeant were able to take advantage of technical woes for their championship rival and teammate Oscar Piastri, who was forced to retire on lap 11 when his DRS flap stuck open.

    Saturday’s feature race winner Liam Lawson finished seventh after a fierce battle with the Premas ahead. Theo Pourchaire, Richard Verschoor and Jake Hughes rounded out the top ten.

    Despite logging his first retirement of the year, Piastri still leads the championship after round four with 94 points over Sargeant’s 76. Beckmann’s podium keeps him in third place ahead of Lawson. Smolyar’s sprint race win moves him up to ninth.

    In the teams’ standings, Prema have extended their lead over ART to 117.5 points. Trident remain in third with only 8.5 points between them and ART, while Hitech move up to fourth following Lawson’s win this weekend. Find the full Formula 3 drivers’ and teams’ standings here.

    Formula 3 returns to Silverstone next weekend in support of the Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

    Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Aleksandr Smolyar ART Grand Prix 15
    2 David Beckmann Trident 12
    3 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 10
    4 Alex Peroni Campos Racing 8
    5 Frederik Vesti Prema Racing 6
    6 Logan Sargeant (FL) Prema Racing 7
    7 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 4
    8 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 3
    9 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 2
    10 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 1
    11 Lirim Zendelli Trident
    12 Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing
    13 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport
    14 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport
    15 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System
    16 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport
    17 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix
    18 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System
    19 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
    20 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix
    21 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing
    22 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix
    23 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport
    24 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
    25 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing
    26 Olli Caldwell Trident
    27 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab
    28 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
    Ret. Oscar Piastri Prema Racing
    Ret. Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System
  • Colin Turkington takes pole for BTCC Donington opener

    Colin Turkington takes pole for BTCC Donington opener

    Colin Turkington’s British Touring Car Championship title defence began in the best way possible as he took pole position for the season opening round at Donington Park. The top three were separated by just a tenth of a second.

    The West Surrey Racing driver broke the lap record with a 1:08:998. Team Dynamics’ Dan Cammish was just 0.087 seconds behind with Ash Sutton in his new Laser Tools Infiniti 0.097 seconds behind Turkington’s BMW.

    The track was greasy which played into the hands of some drivers. Rory Butcher had a lucky escape into the Auld Hairpin as the rear of his Ford Focus stepped out. The scot recovered after an off track excursion. Nicholas Hamilton was next to catch the eye as the pins holding down his bonnet failed, resulting in the bonnet flying up and hanging off. The Team HARD driver failed to set a time in the session.

    The Toyota of Tom Ingram set the early pace, with Butcher and Turkington close behind. With 12 minutes left in the session Turkington set his fastest time and he claimed pole position.

    After a stoppage due to a red flag, the cars came out for ten more minutes of fighting for position for tomorrow’s opening race.

    After dominating the two practice sessions, Turkington and his BMW were fastest in qualifying, with Cammish and Sutton close behind.

    Ingram finished fourth two tenths behind Turkington, with the second BMW of Tom Oliphant fifth. Butcher recovered from his off to claim sixth on the grid, with Jake Hill in the MB Motorsport Honda Civic sitting seventh for tomorrow.

    The top ten was rounded off by BTC’s Josh Cook, the second Team Dynamics car of Matt Neal, and Adam Morgan in his Ciceley Motorsport Mercedes A Class.

    Pos Driver Car Time Defecit
    1 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport 1:08:998
    2 Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8 1:09:085 +0:087
    3 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 1:09:095 +0.097
    4 Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla 1:09:210 +0.212
    5 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport 1:09:309 +0.311
    6 Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST 1:09:329 +0.331
    7 Jake Hill Honda Civic Type R FK2 1:09:387 +0.389
    8 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R FK8 1:09:411 +0.413
    9 Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 1:09:563 +0.564
    10 Adam Morgan Mercedes Benz A Class 1:09:567 +0.569
    11 Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N 1:09:588 +0.590
    12 Sam Osborne Honda Civic Type R FK2 1:09:631 +0.633
    13 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus RS 1:09:723 +0.725
    14 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N 1:09:724 +0.726
    15 Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport 1:09:818 +0.820
    16 Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 1:09:819 +0.821
    17 Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon 1:10:118 +1.120
    18 Michael Crees Honda Civic Type R FK8 1:10:200 +1.202
    19 James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon 1:10:218 +1.220
    20 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 1:10:432 +1.434
    21 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST 1:10:692 +1.694
    22 Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport 1:10:758 +1.760
    23 Ollie Brown VW CC 1:11:049 +2.051
    24 Jack Butel Mercedes Benz A Class 1:11:508 +2.510
    25 Jack Goff VW CC 1:11:538 +2.540
    26 Nicolas Hamilton VW CC No Time

    Image Credit: BTCC Media

  • WorldSBK Race 1 Gets Off to a Fantastic Start in Jerez

    WorldSBK Race 1 Gets Off to a Fantastic Start in Jerez

    What a great restart to to the WorldSBK championship at Jerez this weekend (31 Jul-02 Aug) for Round 2 in Spain at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, Andalusia after a five month break.

    Superpole took place earlier in the day with the Championship leader Lowes crashing at Turn 13 in the first phase of the session and was unable to set a lap time but was able to get back on the track with 15 minutes left of the session and will start the race down in 14th place.

    Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado took a tumble at Turn 4. He will start the race in 20th place.

    After a tense session rookie Scott Redding took pole position by just 0.034s over Rea closely followed by Sykes.

    The starting grid looked like this:

    Row 1 : Redding : Rea : Sykes

    Row 2: van der Mark : Razgatlioglu : Baz

    Row 3 : Davies : Bautista : Haslam

    Row 4 : Rinaldi : Laverty : Cortese

    Row 5 : Caricasulo : Lowes : Gerloff

    Row 6 : Fores : Scheib : Ponsson

    Row 7 : Melandri : Mercado : Barrier

    Row 8 : Gabellini : Takahashi

    Before the start of Race 1, a minute’s silence was held in memory of those who lost their lives to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

    With 20 laps of racing and the air temperature at 36 degrees, Race 1 gets underway but Redding does not have a good start at all but manages to cling onto 3rd place by the first corner, Rea goes up into first place whilst Razgatlioglu makes an incredible start and is up into 2nd place from starting 5th.

    On Lap 3 Caricasulo crashes at Turn 4 and although he manages to get the bike going again, unfortunately this is only to the pits.

    Lap 4 sees firth place man Tom Sykes slowing down and pulling over to the side of the track as he approached Turn 1. It looked like some kind of technical issue as he does manage to get the bike going again and back to the pits. He was able to rejoin the race on Lap 12.

    By Lap 5 Rea is pulling out a lead and Razgatlioglu and Redding are squabbling for 3rd place with Razgatlioglu managing to hold off the rookie for now.

    Lap 8, a very unhappy van der Mark, suffers engine problems with lots of smoke coming from his bike. He manages to pull over and park the bike before getting a lift back to the pits on the back of a marshal’s scooter.

    By Lap 9 although Rea is still holding the lead, the gap between Rea and Razgatlioglu is getting smaller and Lap 10 sees Redding having a look to get past Razgatlioglu whilst Davies, who is in fourth place is lapping half a second quicker than race leader Rea.

    Chaz Davis, weaving through the pack at WSBK Jerez 2020. Image courtesy of Dudcati

    On Lap 11  Redding passes Razgatlioglu in a very smooth overtake as he now sets his sights on the leader, Rea.

    Mercado suffered a crash at Turn 6 on Lap 12 ending his race. Lap 14 sees Redding going down into Turn 6 getting alongside Rea before forcing him wide to claim the lead and although Rea nearly gets back past Redding on Lap 15, it wasn’t to be and Redding starts to pull out a lead.

    Rinaldi puts in a fastest lap on Lap 16 and Davies is now up to 5th place but he soon passes Baz on Lap 17 into 4th place and has his sights set on Razgatlioglu. A few times on the last two laps Davies nearly gets past Razgatlioglu but then on the last lap he runs wide effectively ending his hunt for third place.

    Redding crosses the finish line 1st followed by Rea in 2nd and Razgatlioglu in 3rd.

    A fantastic Race 1 and restart to the season. Looking forward to Race 2 tomorrow.

    BK

    Featured Image courtesy of Ducati

  • Jump Starts Galore in the Opening Two Rounds of British F3

    Images courtesy of BRDC British Formula 3 Championship.

    By John Whittaker

    Today the British F3 season kicked off in a strange fashion after the first race was decided by penalties. Saturday saw the opening two rounds of the series, with two more scheduled for tomorrow.

    Race One:

    Kaylen Frederick looked set to take an emphatic win in the first British F3 race at Oulton Park this weekend before a post-race penalty saw him demoted.

    Louis Foster looked in a good position starting from pole after qualifying but a jump start and a subsequent ten second time penalty saw him cross the line second, before the penalty dropping him down to 14th.

    Part way through the race Josh Mason found the barrier causing a rather lengthy safety car whilst they recovered the car and set about repairs. Whilst the ambulance was called out, Josh Mason walked away unhurt.

    The safety car came in and Frederick completed his dominant display leading to the flag, setting multiple fastest laps in the process. An impressive drive from the young American. Or it would have been had he not also received a ten second time penalty (along with Manaf Hijawi) for a false start.

    The post-race penalties saw Kiern Jewiss win the first British F3 of the year, with Ulysse De Pauw and Nazim Azman also on the podium.

    Race 2:

    In the second and final race of the day Piers Prior took a well managed victory leading from lights to flag.

    It appears all the action was used up in the first race as the second was a rather dull affair with minimal overtaking around the technical track.

    The main talking points from this race were the two retirements: first race pole man Foster and Manaf Hijawi, both mechanical DNFs on Lap 1 and Lap 7 respectively.

    Other than that, the race left a lot to be desired with Prior taking his maiden British F3 victory, followed by Kush Maini, and Bart Horsten rounding out the podium.

    Overall a decent first day of racing for the BRDC British F3 drivers.

  • F2 Great Britain: Mazepin storms to maiden feature race win

    F2 Great Britain: Mazepin storms to maiden feature race win

    Hitech’s Nikita Mazepin took his maiden Formula 2 win in the Silverstone feature race, prevailing over a rotation of challengers behind.

    The race started with a slow launch for polesitter Felipe Drugovich, allowing Mick Schumacher to take the lead into Turn 1 while Mazepin jumped Christian Lundgaard for third. Drugovich, starting on the hard tyres compared to the medium runners around him, continued to struggle for pace through lap 1 and dropped to fourth behind Mazepin and Lundgaard.

    Mazepin quickly got his own tyres up to temperature, closing up to Schumacher on lap 3 and then passing the Prema for the lead shortly after. By lap 5, Mazepin had already broken the DRS range to Schumacher, while Schumacher himself seemed to drop back towards Lundgaard.

    Mick Schumacher, Prema (Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Mazepin and Schumacher made their stops for hard tyres on lap 8, followed by Lundgaard a lap later. Although Schumacher gained time on Mazepin in the pitlane, he struggled more than the Russian when making his way through traffic.

    On lap 12 Schumacher lost half a second passing Guilherme Samaia, then got stuck behind Artem Markelov. On lap 15 Lundgaard overtook Schumacher for net second, while Louis Deletraz closed to four tenths behind him.

    Deletraz eventually passed Schumacher on lap 24, which prompted a fall through the order as the German lost out to Guanyu Zhou, Yuki Tsunoda and Callum Ilott over the next two laps.

    Yuki Tsunoda, Carlin (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

    Deletraz didn’t stay in third for long, being passed himself by Zhou and Tsunoda on lap 25. Zhou and Tsunoda were running the alternate strategy with hard tyres, and lapping much faster than those on mediums. On lap 27 Zhou quickly caught and passed Lundgaard for second, while Tsunoda demoted the ART off the podium on the final lap.

    But despite their pace advantage, Zhou and Tsunoda ran out of laps to catch Mazepin and had to settle for second and third respectively behind the Hitech.

    Lundgaard finished fourth, while Ilott recovered from stalling on the formation lap and starting from the pitlane to take fifth ahead of Deletraz. Polesitter Drugovich suffered a slow pit stop and eventually finished down in seventh ahead of Dan Ticktum. Schumacher finished ninth, and Nobuharu Matsushita took the final point in tenth after passing Jehan Daruvala through the final corner of the last lap.

    Felipe Drugovich, MP Motorsport (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Nikita Mazepin Hitech 25
    2 Guanyu Zhou (FL) UNI-Virtuosi 20
    3 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 15
    4 Christian Lundgaard ART 12
    5 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi 10
    6 Louis Deletraz Charouz 8
    7 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport 6
    8 Dan Ticktum DAMS 4
    9 Mick Schumacher Prema 2
    10 Nobuharu Matsushita MP Motorsport 1
    11 Pedro Piquet Charouz
    12 Jehan Daruvala Carlin
    13 Jack Aitken Campos
    14 Robert Shwartzman Prema
    15 Sean Gelael DAMS
    16 Marcus Armstrong ART
    17 Luca Ghiotto Hitech
    18 Artem Markelov HWA
    19 Giuliano Alesi HWA
    20 Marino Sato Trident
    21 Guilherme Samaia Campos
    Ret. Roy Nissany Trident

  • Hamilton takes 91st pole position ahead of British Grand Prix

    Hamilton takes 91st pole position ahead of British Grand Prix

    Lewis Hamilton has taken the 91st pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow’s British Grand Prix, three tenths in front of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and over a second clear of third-placed Max Verstappen. It makes Mercedes the first team in F1’s history to take eight consecutive pole positions at the same circuit.

    Hamilton suffered a spin at Luffield on his first run in Q3 but recovered to post two laps good enough for pole, the quickest being a new track record of a 1:24.303.

    Charles Leclerc got to within a tenth of Verstappen in what is Ferrari’s first second-row start of the season. McLaren’s Lando Norris will line up a very respectable P5.

    Lance Stroll only just made it through to Q3 and qualified P6 ahead of Sainz and the two Renaults of Ricciardo and Ocon.

    Having struggled all weekend, Vettel will line up only tenth for tomorrow’s race. What’s more, he will be starting the race on the soft tyres rather than the more favourable mediums.

    Alex Albon failed to make it through to Q3 for the second race in a row and only managed P12 behind the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly. He suffered a hefty crash during free practice on Friday and was plagued by an electrical issue on Saturday morning.

    Nico Hulkenberg, drafted in at the last possible moment to replace Sergio Perez after Perez tested positive for COVID-19, qualified P13.

    Daniil Kvyat will start P14 ahead of George Russell, who made it through to Q2 for the third consecutive time in his Williams. He was, however, investigated for failing to slow for yellow flags after his team-mate span at Luffield in Q1.

    Both Alfa Romeo cars failed to make it through to Q2 yet again, as did both Haas cars. Nicholas Latifi will line up P20 after his aforementioned spin.

     

    [Featured image – Steve Etherington]