Harvey beats the rain to win and regain F3 title lead

6th August 2012

 

Jack Harvey triumphed in a rain-shortened round 21 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Snetterton this afternoon, the Lincolnshire driver heading home Felix Serralles to displace the Puerto Rican from the top of the championship table.

The race got underway in damp conditions after earlier thunderstorms and was curtailed on the ninth of the planned 16 laps when the heavens opened again.

Harvey drove impeccably throughout in the Racing Steps Foundation Carlin-prepared Dallara, leading from the pole and treading cautiously in the opening laps as he got used to the tricky conditions. With confidence built he scored the all-important extra point for fastest race lap before settling into survivor mode as the deluge hit.

Harvey, who crossed the line 4.6s ahead of Serralles, said: That was really hard. The first two laps I took it easy and assessed the situation; after that I decided to push it forward and get the fastest lap. Then the rain started to come down and when you are leading in that situation its mightily hard to decide when to push. The conditions were unbelievable at the end.

Serralles hung on well to Harvey until the fourth lap, when the Fortec man clouted a kerb and lost ground. He was disappointed to see the red flags: In the beginning the conditions were not too bad; I think I had the pace to stay with him, but I made a mistake and hit a kerb. But I was still catching him after that; my car was really good and I think had the race continued I would have been able to pass him.

Alex Lynn slotted in behind his team-mate Serralles and held third throughout. It was a solid race; my pace wasnt too bad in the wet and I think the forecast for tomorrow is more rain, so that bodes well.

Another of the Fortec men, Dutch driver Hannes van Asseldonk, was the chief beneficiary of a first-lap fracas between late-braking National class pole man Pedro Pablo Calbimonte and the Carlin cars of Pietro Fantin and Carlos Sainz at the Montreal hairpin. Van Asseldonk snuck through the chaos to emerge fourth, from ninth on the grid, and he held that spot to the soggy end.

Sainz and Calbimonte were eliminated from the race in the collision, and Fantin limped to the pits for a lengthy stop. Harry Tincknell picked up a puncture in the incident also.

There was another great wet-race showing from CF Racings Chinese pilot Adderly Fong, who held sixth overall for a spell before slipping to eighth by the end behind T-Sports Nick McBride and Carlins Jazeman Jaafar. Fong was the convincing National class victor, 25 seconds ahead of category leader Spike Goddard (T-Sport).

It just seems to click for me in the rain, said Adderly. There were lots of dramas along the way but I just kept it on the track. It got so wet it was virtually undrivable the last two laps.

Title bidder Jaafar was another delayed on the opening lap; the Malaysian battled back from 11th on the opening lap to seventh by the end, behind his countryman Fahmi Ilyas (Double R) and McBride, despite an additional late-race spin.

Geoff Uhrhane could not find a way past Fong, the Australian settling for ninth overall at the line, with Tincknell the final finisher in 12th after Pipo Derani spun off at the end. Tincknells consolation was that his number was picked by winner Harvey on the podium and Harry will start tomorrows 20-minute sprint from the pole.

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series
Round 21, Snetterton 4/8/2012
8 laps / 23.75 miles

Provisional results International class
1 Jack HARVEY / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  15m 43.816s / 90.59mph
2  Felix SERRALLES / PUR,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  +4.672s
3  Alex LYNN / GBR,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  +5.999s
4  Hannes VAN ASSELDONK / NED,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  +9.857s
5  Fahmi ILYAS / MAS,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  +23.788s
6  Nick McBRIDE / AUS,  T-Sport Dallara-Nissan  +24.944s
7  Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +25.906s
8  Geoff UHRHANE / AUS,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  +33.434s
9  Harry TINCKNELL / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +1m 09.118s

National class
1  Adderly FONG / CHI,  CF Racing Dallara-Mugen Honda  +31.858s
2  Spike GODDARD / AUS,  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  +56.440s
3  Duvashen PADAYACHEE / AUS,  Double R Dallara-Mugen Honda  +58.697s

Not classified
Pipo DERANI / BRA,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  8 laps
Pietro FANTIN / BRA,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  3 laps
Carlos SAINZ / ESP,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  0 laps
Pedro Pablo CALBIMONTE / BOL,  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  0 laps

Fastest lap Harvey 1m 55.168s / 92.80mph

Full timesheets http://bit.ly/QhS5K8

Provisional championship standings
1  Harvey 229 points; 2 Serralles 227; 3 Jaafar 208; 4 Sainz 176; 5 Lynn 168; 6 Tincknell 145 etc.
National class 1 Goddard 309; 2 Padayachee 275; 3 Fong 119; 4 Calbimonte 25.

TV schedule 11 Aug, 0700 Channel 4 UK & 1720 Motors TV UK

Click here for the Official Double R Racing web site - designed and built by Racecar

TAGGED AS : F3, Carlos Sainz, Carlin Dallara Volkswagen, Felix Serralles, Fortec Dallara Mercedes,  ack Harvey, Alex Lynn, Fortec Dallara Mercedes, Jazeman Jaafar, Hannes Van Asseldonk, Harry Ticknell, Pipo Derani, Pietro Fantin, Fahmi Ilyas, Geoff Uhrhane, Double R Dallara Mercedes, Nick McBride, T Sport Dallara Nissan, Adderly Fong, CF Racing Dallara Mugen Honda, Pedro Pablo Calbimonte, Spike Goddard, Duvashen Padachee,  motorsport news, double r racing,  , 

Audi Sport Quattro SWB for sale

22nd May 2013

Jensen Villiers - order tomorrows cars today

11th May 2013

Racecar launch new Renaultsport site redesign

29th April 2013

Classic Porsche dealer - Hexagon Modern Classics

17th April 2013

New web site for Kimi Raikkonen by Racecar

19th March 2013

Retromobile 2013

7th February 2013

more client news...

Search all Racecar clients

Alphabetically A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W

By Category Dealers Motorsport Products Services Miscellaneous