Title challengers head to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit this weekend
British F3 heads to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit this weekend
The sixth round of the 2017 BRDC British F3 season takes place on the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit this weekend (5/6 August), with three races at the legendary Kent venue
The UK’s premier single-seater championship returns to the full Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit this weekend (5/6 August), partnering the British GT Championship, with championship leader Enaam Ahmed’s rivals determined to halt his title charge.
Following a dominant performance on the majestic sweeps of Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps last time out, Ahmed has extended his title lead to 82 points over chief Toby Sowery. However several drivers can still challenge the runaway leader at Brands Hatch this weekend.
Ahmed now has eight wins to his name – that’s more than half of the races run so far – and even when he failed to win at Silverstone he still made two podium appearances. His rivals, however, include Carlin team-mates James Pull and Cameron Das. Pull, third overall, has also been a model of consistency this season, but has yet to win, despite leading races. This weekend could be his chance, whilst Das has won at Rockingham and a repeat should move him up from fifth in the standings.
The biggest threat to Ahmed is Lanan’s Toby Sowery, who has recovered from a slow start to the season to occupy second place. He was imperious at Silverstone, strong at Spa, and should fare just as well on the fast corners of the Grand Prix loop, where he took a win and third place finish last year. By contrast, Ahmed climbed no higher than 14th on that occasion.
With the second-highest tally of three victories, Fortec’s Ben Hingeley is in fourth place and with wins in the last two events, should be confident of more success this weekend. Douglas Motorsport’s Callan O’Keeffe is on the cusp of his maiden win, whilst Hillspeed with Cliff Dempsey Racing’s Chase Owen is hunting for his first podium finish.
The top ten is completed by Double R Racing’s Jamie Chadwick, Fortec’s Nicolai Kjaergaard and Chris Dittmann Racing’s Omar Ismail, all of whom will be aiming to improve their championship positions this weekend.
In addition to Sowery, last year’s Brands Hatch GP winners included US racer Colton Herta and reigning British F3 Champion Matheus Leist, who has recently taken his third race win in the US Indy Lights series, the feeder formula to Indycar racing.
This year’s action at Brands Hatch gets underway with the 30-minute practice session on Saturday at10:40 before qualifying at 13:15 and race one at 15:50. The partially reversed-grid race two begins at 10:55 on Sunday morning before the third and final race of the weekend gets underway at 16:25.
You can keep up with all the action from Brands Hatch through live timing and updates on the official British Formula 3 website. Highlights of the racing in Belgium will also be broadcast on ITV4, BT Sport and Motorsport.tv one week after the meeting.
BRDC British F3 Championship standings after 15 of 24 rounds
1. Enaam Ahmed, 399pts
2. Toby Sowery, 317pts
3. James Pull, 308pts
4. Ben Hingeley, 300pts
5. Cameron Das, 299pts
6. Callan O’Keeffe, 254pts
7. Chase Owen, 170pts
8. Jamie Chadwick, 159pts
9. Nicolai Kjaergaard, 153pts
10. Omar Ismail, 152pts
For full championship standings, please click here.
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