After three years, Carlos Huertas claimed his first British Formula 3 victory in his final race at Silverstone.
The Colombian beat Carlin teammate Kevin Magnussen off the line to claim the lead, victory and the twenty points to go with it.
In doing so, Huertas assumed 3rd in the 2011 British Formula 3 Championship, fifteen points shy of his race three rival, Magnussen.
It was a stellar drive by Huertas, although Magnussen was rarely far from his rear wing, the race was eventually decided by only 0.5 seconds – the shortest gap of the forty-minute run.
Magnussen, however, could not make the final move on Huertas, despite filling the mirrors of his teammate, but this result was enough to guarantee the Championship runner-up spot for the Dane.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook took 3rd with an excellent drive from 4th on the grid, making it an all-Carlin podium. The Briton fought hard with Fortec’s Lucas Foresti in the early laps, forcing a way through on the fifth tour. It was just reward for Svendsen-Cook, whose first two races were hindered by brake failure during Saturday’s opening event.
A mistake by Foresti on lap six allowed both Mitch Evans and Will Buller through to take 4th and 5th respectively.
That might still change, as the Australian Evans failed to take a drive through penalty for exceeding the track limits – as the sun dips at Silverstone, the penalty is still being argued.
Foresti stayed on track to finish 6th, although the Brazilian will no doubt be disappointed following an excellent start that propelled him up to 3rd by the first turn.
Foresti led home a trio of cars with Alexander Sims (7th, Motopark), Pietro Fantin (8th, Hitech) and Jazeman Jaafar (9th, Carlin) all coming home within 1.1 seconds of the Brazilian.
Sims initially trailed Fantin in the early laps, before a mis-stepped Fantin allowed the GP3-regular through for 7th.
Jaafar meanwhile, turned his 10th place on the grid to 9th on the opening tour with a hard move on Scott Pye (Double R). Pye’s race took another hit on the sixteenth lap, as the Australian found himself with a drive through penalty for exceeding track limits.
Hywel Lloyd grabbed the final points position of the season with a steady drive to 10th from 11th on the grid.
The race was littered with drive through penalties, with competitors exceeding track limits repeatedly. Penalties were also handed to Guilherme Silva, Jack Harvey and Kotaro Sakurai.
It left Harvey struggling at the rear of the field, with the Racing Steps Foundation driver crossing the finish line 18th, while Sakurai was 20th and last. Silva retired soon after his penalty, burying his Hitech-prepared Dallara in the gravel at Club.
Both Max Snegirev and Felipe Nasr lost out at the start. A poor start by Nasr saw his tumble toward the pack, receiving a punctured right rear as others flew either side of him.
As Nasr dropped down the pack, Snegirev clipped the rear of the Brazilian in Club, deranging his own car too much to continue. Nasr pitted, but stopped on lap eight.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Silverstone (Rd 10, Race 3) Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 38.36.042 2. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen +0.510 3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen +5.613 4. Mitch Evans Double R-Mercedes +10.015 5. William Buller Fortec-Mercedes +15.790 6. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes +23.039 7. Alexander Sims Motopark-Volkswagen +23.314 8. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen +23.685 9. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen +24.149 10. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes +29.758 11. Harry Ticknell Fortec-Mercedes +33.805 12. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes +37.669 13. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen +41.913 14. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Volkswagen +43.193 15. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen +46.518 16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes +47.493 17. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes +47822 18. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen +48.466 19. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes +1:12.577 20. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech-Mugen Honda +1:54.772 R. Guilherme Silva Hitech-Volkswagen +8 laps R. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen +12 laps R. Max Snaegirev Hitech-Volkswagen +20 laps 2011 British F3 Championship (Rd 10, Race 3) Pos Driver Points International Class 1. Felipe Nasr 318 2. Kevin Magnussen 237 3. Carlos Huertas 222 4. William Buller 197 5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 191 6. Jazeman Jaafar 187 7. Lucas Foresti 170 8. Pietro Fantin 119 9. Jack Harvey 112 10. Scott Pye 81 11. Harry Tincknell 78 12. Riki Christodoulou 51 Rookie Class 1. Kotaro Sakurai 378 2. Bart Hylkema 214 3. Luca Orlandi 45
