Jack Harvey claimed his second British Formula 3 win of the season yesterday, lifting the Lincolnshire man to 2nd in the title race behind teammate Jazeman Jaafar.
Indeed, a confident Harvey made it look easy – despite expected appeals to the contrary. Alex Lynn rounded out a very good weekend with a strong to 2nd, three seconds up on Carlos Sainz Jr.
Unlike the weekend’s opening race, this occasion saw Harvey pull away neatly and cleanly from the grid, while the pack behind fought to lead the chase.
On fresh tyres, Harvey displayed superb pace, all the while consistently drawing away from Lynn’s Fortec machine – 7.2 seconds after ten laps; 14.1 after twenty; 22.2 by the race’s end. It may have been a deal more had the safety car not appeared…
It was a poor end to the day for Harvey’s Carlin teammate Harry Tincknell, whose race ended when Fahmi Ilyas punted him hard in the rear, bringing Ilyas’ weekend accident total to four.
Spike Goddard and Geoff Uhrhane also clashed on the opening lap, although Uhrhane continued following a lengthy pitstop – the Australian would finish two laps behind come the chequered flag. Goddard did return to the pits, only to climb out of his battered T-Sport machine.
The respective clashes brought out a two-lap safety car – not that this bothered Harvey too much; the 19-year-old merely pulled once again.
As for Lynn, the Fortec rookie spent several laps fighting off Sainz Jr, until the pace fell away for the latter driver, with the race becoming more about car preservation as opposed to all out attack.
Not that they weren’t pushing – they were – but this was one day when no one was moving up the order.
Jazeman Jaafar’s impressive run continued with a solid drive to 4th, ensuring the Malaysian left Rockingham with a series lead of 13 points.
Hannes van Asseldonk and Felix Serralles (both Fortec) shadowed Jaafar until the flag, but neither could take advantage, although that’s not to say there was any advantage to be taken.
Pipo Derani ended up being one of the race’s few movers thanks to a lap five pass on Ilyas for 7th place. From there the field was static, with Ilyas piloting his Double R machine home in 8th, followed by Pietro Fantin (who was callously squeezed on the opening lap in turn one) and Nick McBride (who finished exactly where he started).
Goddard’s retirement made life very easy for National Class rival Duvashen Padayachee. The rookie brought his Mugen-Honda-powered Double R home in 11th overall. It is a result that makes the National Class rather interesting – Goddard’s lead over Padayachee has now been sliced to 16 points.
2012 British F3 Round of Rockingham (Rd 4, Race 3, 30 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 40m11.308s
2. Alex Lynn Fortec Dallara-Merc + 22.240s
3. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin Dallara-VW + 25.408s
4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 28.957s
5. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec Dallara-Merc + 29.559s
6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc + 31.728s
7. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc + 59.038s
8. Fahmi Ilyas Double R Dallara-Merc + 1m02.842s
9. Pietro Fantin Carlin Dallara-VW + 1m04.453s
10. Nick McBride T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 1m05.654s
11. Duvashen Padayachee Double R Dallara-Mugen + 1 lap
12. Geoff Uhrhane Double R Dallara-Merc + 2 laps
Retirements:
Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1 lap
Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1 lap
Italics = National Class
2012 British F3 Series points standings (Rd 4) Pos Driver Points International Class 1. Jazeman Jaafar 137 2. Jack Harvey 124 3. Carlos Sainz Jr 118 4. Felix Serralles 101 5. Alex Lynn 98 6. Harry Tincknell 72 7. Pietro Fantin 72 8. Pipo Derani 71 9. Hannes van Asseldonk 52 10. Nick McBride 28 National Class 1. Spike Goddard 176 2. Duvashen Padayachee 160
