Double R Racing’s Matheus Leist and Douglas Motorsport’s Enaam Ahmed shared the spoils on Easter Monday at Snetterton, as the opening weekend of the 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship season came to a thrilling conclusion.
It was an eventful start to the day in Norfolk, as Storm Katie made its presence felt throughout the morning, leading to a timetable alteration with both British Formula 3 races moved to the afternoon when the weather was forecast to be more sedate. It would prove to be accurate too as a dry track greeted the 21-car field for the second race of the weekend.
Double R’s Enzo Bortoleto started on pole position by virtue of his eighth-place finish in race one and the Brazilian got away cleanly to lead into turn one. Ahmed made a great start to move into second, having started sixth, whilst Leist vaulted from 10th to fourth by the close of the opening lap. Ahmed was soon challenging for the lead but contact was made and Leist, who had passed Dane Jan Jonck for third, took advantage to move into first.
Further back, Carlin’s Ricky Collard, Fortec’s Tarun Reddy and HHC’s Omar Ismail all came to grief which led to the deployment of the safety car after a frantic two-and-a-half laps of racing. After a lengthy clean up, the race got back underway with just over five minutes remaining.
Leist controlled the restart well as behind, Toby Sowery overtook Bortoleto to move into the final podium spot. As the chequered flag flew, Leist finished the race 1.421s ahead of Ahmed to take the win, with Sowery third.
With fastest laps from across the first two races determining grid order for race three, it was Sowery and Ahmed who would line up on the front-row for the final encounter of the weekend. In beautiful sunshine the race got underway, and Ahmed made a brilliant start to take the lead into turn one by going around the outside of the 2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist.
Behind, Carlin’s Lando Norris was in fourth but he soon found his way up to third, overtaking race two winner Matheus Leist on lap three. He soon joined Ahmed and Sowery up front, with Leist and Thomas Randle also getting involved in the fight, making it an intriguing five-way battle for the lead.
As the laps ticked down however, Ahmed was able to fend off Sowery, despite the Lanan Racing man looking down the inside of the 16-year-old’s car on numerous occasions. The Douglas Motorsport driver held on to win the 10-lap race by just 0.480s, with Norris only 0.821s behind in third, as the top-five remained in the same order.
After being presented with his trophy by BRDC member and BMW factory driver Alexander Sims on the podium, Ahmed said: “I am really, really happy to progress from third in race one, second in race two and now winner in race three. It was not an easy race as I was struggling for pace a little bit but I controlled the gap fairly well. I’d really like to say thanks to Douglas Motorsport and my parents, Wayne (Douglas) and Marcus (engineer) as they’ve given me a really good car and I love driving it. I’m really happy.”
With race three victory, Enaam Ahmed takes the championship lead leaving Snetterton with a haul of 81 points from the weekend, with Norris seven points behind in second. Toby Sowery sits in third having scored a healthy 70 points from the first three races of the year.
The next round of the 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship takes place on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch on April 16/17.
BRDC British Formula 3 – Snetterton – Race Two Top-10
1. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, 9 Laps
2. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, +1.421s
3. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, +2.408s
4. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, +8.112s
5. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +8.581s
6. Lando Norris, Carlin, +8.780s
7. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +10.053s
8. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, +10.795s
9. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +10.880s
10. Jan Jonck, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +11.271s
Click here for full results.
BRDC British Formula 3 – Snetterton – Race Three Top-10
1. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, 10 Laps
2. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, +0.480s
3. Lando Norris, Carlin, +0.821s
4. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, +1.553s
5. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +2.004s
6. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, +2.630s
7. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +4.805s
8. Ricky Collard, Carlin, +19.656s
9. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +20.473s
10. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Carlin, +20.955s
Click here for full results.
2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Standings after race three of 24
1. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, 81 points
2. Lando Norris, Carlin, 74 points
3. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 70 points
4. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, 64 points
5. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, 57 points
6. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 43 points
7. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, 36 points
=. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 36 points
9. Ricky Collard, Carlin, 32 points
=. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, 32 points
Click here for full championship standings.
For more information on the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, visit www.britishf3.com.
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