In a race punctuated by an early safety car, Britain’s Jack Harvey secured his first win in the British Formula 3 series.
The 18-year-old rookie – driving for Carlin Motorsport – beat teammate Rupert Svendsen-Cook off the line to launch into the lead, only for it to be neutralised moments later.
As the field poured into the Ford Kurve, Fahmi Ilyas lost the rear end of his Fortec, before clambering into Pietro Fantin (Hitech).
The precarious positioning of the stricken vehicles left the race organisers with little choice but to deploy the safety car – for Ilyas and Fantin it mattered little; both were out on the spot.
Harvey led away from the fourth lap restart and began to eke out a gap over Svendsen-Cook over the final half-dozen laps, eventually taking the win by 2.8 seconds.
GP3 regular Pedro Nunes came home 3rd some four seconds adrift of Svendsen-Cook. Nunes faced a rearward challenge from championship leader Felipe Nasr for the duration, but a sublime drive saw the Hitech pilot hold off Nasr’s charge.
Both Brazilian were the beneficiaries of a mid-race clash between William Buller and Antonio Felix da Costa that left the Portuguese driver lingering in 7th place. Buller, meanwhile, hobbled back the pits to retire.
Two more Carlin driver filled out the top six with Jazeman Jaafar keeping race one winner Kevin Magnussen at bay, while da Costa came home in their shadow.
Fortec’s Harry Tincknell took another points finish in 8th, but may be disappointed after losing out following the safety car restart. The Englishman was running 6th following the early melee, quick restarts from Magnussen and Jaafar dropped Tincknell down the order.
The Fortec pilot still finished some two seconds ahead of the battling Double R Racing teammates Pipo Derani (9th) and Scott Pye (10th).
Lucas Foresti will be rueing another difficult day. Nasr’s main championship challenger came home a disappointing 11th, only two seconds ahead of Sino Vision pair, Adderly Fong (12th) and Hywel Lloyd (13th).
Yann Cunha came home a distant 14th in his T-Sport machine, only five seconds ahead of Rookie Class winner Bart Hylkema (15th, T-Sport). Kotaro Sakurai finished his Mugen Honda-powered Hitech car in 16th, nine seconds adrift of Hylkema.
Both Carlos Huertas (Carlin) and Menasheh Idafar (T-Sport) ran lowly in the early stages of the race; however both had retired by the completion of the fourth tour.
This result leaves Foresti some 65 points adrift of Nasr in the standings, meaning there will need to be a dramatic surge late on to keep his title hopes alive. Jaafar sits a single point behind Foresti in 3rd, having delivered consistent results for much of the season.
British Formula 3 Rd of the Nurburgring (Rd 5, Race 2, July 3rd)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 21m18.954s (10 laps)
2. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 2.800s
3. Pedro Nunes Hitech Dallara-VW + 6.910s
4. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 7.319s
5. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 10.021s
6. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW + 10.820s
7. Antonio Felix da Costa Hitech Dallara-VW + 11.443s
8. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 14.181s
9. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 16.009s
10. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 16.439s
11. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 18.234s
12. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 20.710s
13. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 21.499s
14. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 25.381s
15. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen + 30.812s
16. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 39.872s
Retirements:
Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 4 laps
Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 4 laps
William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 4 laps
Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 0 laps
Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 0 laps
British Formula 3 Championship Standings
Pos Driver Team Points
Championship Class
1. Felipe Nasr Carlin 176
2. Lucas Foresti Fortec 111
3. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 110
4. Carlos Huertas Carlin 95
5. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 87
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin 73
7. William Buller Fortec 71
8. Harry Tincknell Fortec 61
9. Pietro Fantin Hitech 55
10. Riki Christodoulou Hitech 51
11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport 29
12. Scott Pye Double R 26
Rookie Class
1. Bart Hylkema T-Sport 194
2. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech 143
