1-2-3 in Spa!
30 July 2010Carlin took a 1-2-3 finish in the first British F3 race of the weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit this afternoon. It was Jean-Eric Vergne who led the field home having started from pole, despite dropping to third on the opening lap. James Calado pushed his team mate hard to finish a close second, with Rupert Svendsen-Cook taking a competitive third place.
It was an all Carlin front row for race one this afternoon, with Vergne lining up on pole with Calado alongside. As the lights went out, it was Calado who made the best start, beating Vergne into the first corner, who suddenly found himself defending from third place man Oliver Webb. Webb made it through on the first lap, relegating Vergne to third, but the Frenchman was quick to make up for his error, retaking second place on the second lap.
Svendsen-Cook meanwhile had made up one place off the line and was already fourth by the first corner and by lap two had Webb in his sights. Lucas Foresti had a stunning start to jump from 12th place on the grid to eighth at the end of lap one, while Jazeman Jaafar suffered contact on the opening lap which left him with a damaged front wing and nose cone in 15th place.
By lap four, the racing was close, with Foresti finding himself under attack from Felipe Nasr who finally passed the Carlin man on lap seven. Vergne meanwhile was catching Calado, while Svendsen-Cook was putting Webb under pressure for the final podium position. After following Calado closely through Eau Rouge, Vergne managed to pass his team mate for the lead at turn three on lap seven, while Svendsen-Cook made a stunning move past Webb to take third.
Behind the leaders, Buzaid was chasing Daniel McKenzie for fifth place, making it past on lap nine, while Foresti had a steady race in eighth place. Struggling with the damage to the front of his car, in 16th place, Jaafar was involved in a tight battle with Alex Brundle and Jay Bridger. The young Malaysian's persistence paid off when he got past Brundle on lap 12 to take 15th place.
The order remained unchanged for the final few laps. Calado closed back in on Vergne but wasn't able to get close enough to challenge his team mate. At the chequered flag, Vergne, Calado and Svendsen-Cook took Carlin's second ever 1-2-3 finish at the Spa. Buzaid crossed the line in fifth, while Foresti was eighth. Jaafar managed to finish 15th, but picked up points for tenth once the invitation class drivers ahead of him were discounted.
Speaking about his race, Vergne said, "I am really happy for Carlin, this is a great result for the team. We have a really good car here and despite not making a great start I was able to make my way back to the front. Obviously this result is good for the championship, but we need to maximise our speed in the remaining races."
Trevor Carlin added, "This is a great and very well deserved result for the team. To see five of our drivers in the top eight and all six scoring points shows the depth and talent in our F3 team. It makes it all the more satisfying to get three drivers on the podium at such a prestigious circuit. We need to concentrate now and push for more podiums in the remaining two races."