In conditions that could not be more different from yesterday, Harry Tincknell strode to his third British F3 victory of the season at a hot, sunny and bright Snetterton.
The Devonshire man took the main finishing spot, after ending the sprint event ahead of teammate Jazeman Jaafar and T-Sport’s Nick McBride – the latter securing his first in the category.
Tincknell’s victory did owe a little something to the number of “B” Class cars starting in his mirrors, with National Class duo Duvashen Padayachee and Spike Goddard starting around him, while T-Sport backmarker Geoff Uhrhane claimed 4th on the grid.
The Carlin man enjoyed a good start to streak ahead of Fong (CF Racing / FONG), although it would only be a lap before Jaafar was through; however the gap – 3.6 seconds in less than six miles – was already beyond the 2nd place man. Tincknell knew exactly what he had to do:
“My starts are usually one of my strong points and I just knew I had to get another good one today. From there, the first couple of laps were key – just build a gap and there it was cruising around.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the 20-year-old, whose Volkswagen-powered machine began to suffer from gearbox hiccoughs in the final tours.
“We had a slight gearbox issue that we had to manage toward the end – upshifting was becoming an issue, so I just had to be fairly mindful of that and start short shifting. If you blow the engine up, you don’t get any points.”
Jaafar closed the gap to three seconds come the flag, although was rather relieved to come away with this after losing out badly yesterday. Having climbed back to the mid-table, the Carlin man earned a 7th place start for the second event.
By the opening turn, Jaafar was already 4th, before nabbing 3rd from Fong later in the lap. A move on Goddard during the following circulation promoted him to 2nd, but the Malaysian was simply too far away to pressurise Tincknell.
“I lost so much points in this yesterday and from 7th, this was the only way to get back into the championship. I didn’t want to wait too much time behind the National Class cars and then I needed to pull away. I’ll see where I finish in race three.”
Goddard picked up a drive through penalty at the halfway point for starting out of position – it was decision that released Fong and with it, the train of cars that followed.
After jumping Uhrhane off the line, McBride had a much tougher time attempting to pass the Chinese / Canadian driver, as the aerodynamic effect kicked in through Snetterton’s quicker sweeps.
“I had to work hard for it. The tough part was being stuck behind the National Class cars – the amount of understeer you get through the high-speed stuff really hurts you.”
Once the Australian was through, Fong fell backwards, allowing championship leader Jack Harvey into the frame for a podium. However
McBride was confident in holding his 3rd spot, knowing the Carlin racer would be having a similar issue with bad aero.
“[Jack] had the same problem as me. Once you get to the car in front you just understeer and I knew I could just gap him in some corners.”
Harvey did have a go on the last lap, but it was not enough and the 19-year-old eventually had no choice but to settle for solid points; however considering he started 12th, Harvey can take some pleasure in his result.
“On the final lap, I only had one chance to get by [McBride] and he just covered the line, so there was not much I could do. From where we started, to finish there was really good.”
Alex Lynn rose to 5th once Goddard, Uhrhane and Fong disappeared from the action, as did series challenger Felix Serralles, while mid-table regulars Pipo Derani and Pietro Fantin climbed to 7th and 8th respectively.
Once the gates opened, Fong eventually fell to 9th with Uhrhane three-tenths adrift in 10th place; however the disappointment of the race has to be Carlos Sainz Jr, who could do no better than 11th spot.
Pedro Pablo Calbimonte managed to finish today’s event without any automotive hostilities, some five seconds clear of Padayachee. Goddard dropped to 14th after his drive through penalty.
Hannes van Asseldonk suffered a problem with his left front on the opening lap, requiring pitstop. The Dutch racer finished 15th and last, while Fahmi Ilyas was the only retirement of the race.
2012 British F3 Round of Snetterton (Rd 8, race 2, 11 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Harry Tincknell Carlin-Volkswagen 18:59.075
2. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen +3.088
3. Nick McBride T-Sport-Nissan +28.552
4. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen +28.827
5. Alex Lynn Fortec-Mercedes +29.497
6. Felix Serralles Fortec-Mercedes +29.649
7. Pipo Derani Fortec-Mercedes +31.663
8. Pietro Fantin Carlin-Volkswagen +32.486
9. Adderly Fong CF Racing/Fong-Mugen Honda +34.699
10. Geoff Uhrhane Double R-Mercedes +34.983
11. Carlos Sainz Jr Carlin-Volkswagen +35.391
12. Pedro Pablo Calbimonte T-Sport-Mugen Honda +43.462
13. Duvashen Padayachee Double R-Mugen Honda +48.704
14. Spike Goddard T-Sport-Mugen Honda +49.863
15. Hannes van Asseldonk Fortec-Mercedes +1:09.700
Retirements:
Fahmi Ilyas Double R-Mercedes +7 laps
2012 British Formula 3 points standings (Rd 8, Race 2) International Class Pos Driver Points 1. Jack Harvey 239 2. Felix Serralles 233 3. Jazeman Jaafar 224 4. Carlos Sainz Jr 177 5. Alex Lynn 176 6. Harry Tincknell 165 7. Pietro Fantin 143 8. Pipo Derani 114 9. Hannes van Asseldonk 93 10. Nick McBride 79 National Class Pos Driver Points 1. Richard ‘Spike’ Goddard 319 2. Duvashen Padayachee 287 3. Adderly Fong 140 4. Pedro Pablo Calbimonte 40
