Sunday, 8 April 2012

British F3 Oulton Park, Easter weekend, 2012 - PICTURE SPECIAL

The British F3 Championship kicked off at it's traditional Easter weekend slot at Oulton Park with 3 races on the Saturday.

Carlin driver Jack Harvey took pole for races one and three after setting 3 laps faster than everyone else in the Friday qualifying session. Carlin locked out the top 5 places on the grid with only Fortec's Alex Lynn preventing Pietro Fantin from making it an all Carlin top 6.

In race one, Harvey took off at the start and was never troubled for the lead, dominating from start to finish. Team mate Jazeman Jaafar got the jump of front row starter Harry Tinknell at the first corner and held onto the lead 'til the end. Carlos Sainz Jr. then put pressure on Tinknell, forcing him into an error midway through the race, with the Red Bull backed driver snatching third. It was still a Carlin 1-2-3-4 however and that was how it was going to stay. Fortec's Alex Lynn applied pressure on Tinknell but could not take his position and came home in fifth, loosing out to fourth by just 0.05 seconds. There was action on the last lap with Felix Serralles, Pietro Fantin and Pipo Derani all recovering from  incidents on the first lap, Australian Nick McBride, racing in the only Nissan powered car defended against moves from Derani until the last lap when they both spun after a comming together.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
 1.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW        31m35.051s
 2.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW          + 7.736s
 3.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 11.165s
 4.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 23.070s
 5.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 23.119s
 6.  Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc     + 37.052s
 7.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 39.354s
 8.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 42.102s
 9.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 53.068s
10.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 54.727s
11.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen   + 1m05.418s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen      + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc         18 laps
     Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Mugen       4 laps



Race two saw Double R's Duvashen Padayachee start from pole thanks to the reverse grid draw. He lost the lead almost immediatley with National class driver 'Spike' Goddard taking it. However, drving an older spec car, he wasn't expected to hang onto the lead for long. Pipo Derani drving the latest Dallara F312 for Fortec made a move on Goddard going into Lodge - with 2 wheels on the grass! Australian Nick McBride then jumped up to second in his T-Sport prepared, Nissan powered car before an excursion onto the grass dropped him out of the top 10. Carlin drivers Pietro Fantin and Jazeman Jaafar moved up to the top 3 but didn't look like troubling Derani for the lead. However, a safety car period changed this, bunching up the field. The safety car went in with one lap to go and Pipo Derani faceda one lap sprint pressurised by the 2 Carlin drivers but was able to hold on for the win


Pos  Driver                Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc     20m31.214s
 2.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 0.850s
 3.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW         + 1.491s
 4.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 2.693s
 5.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 3.079s
 6.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW         + 3.511s
 7.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 3.594s
 8.  Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 3.952s
 9.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen     + 6.705s
10.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Merc     + 7.911s
11.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 8.823s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen    + 9.633s

Retirements:

     Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc      11 laps
     Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc         6 laps


Race three once again saw Jack Harvey start from pole but unlike his domination of race one, he was overtaken before the first corner by Puerto Rican Felix Serralles who started from second. Harvey fought back in the first few laps but Seralles held on and later extended the gap to 2 seconds, taking the win. Harvey finished ahead of Carlin team mates Harry Tincknell, Carlos Sainz Jr and Jazeman. Jaafar held off Fortec's Alex Lynn who seperated the Carlin drivers, finishing ahead of Pietro Fantin. Despite the win for Serralles and Lynn's sixth place, Fortec's race was far from perfect with both of the races retirements being Fortec drivers. Fortec were the only team to have a retirement in every race of the weekend. 'Spike' Goddard took the win in the National Class, taking the National Class victory in all 3 races. Jack Harvey leads the championship after a strong weekend at Oulton Park.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
 1.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc      40m34.462s
 2.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW          + 2.843s
 3.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW          + 9.303s
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 12.522s
 5.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW         + 22.392s
 6.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 23.632s
 7.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 24.348s
 8.  Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc     + 41.523s
 9.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 58.214s
10.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Merc   + 1m09.723s
11.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen   + 1m10.331s
12.  Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen  + 1m30.255s

Retirements:

     Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc          5 laps
     Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc          0 laps






























 
 

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