Lanan Racing’s Toby Sowery and Carlin’s Ricky Collard claimed a victory apiece on Bank Holiday Monday at Oulton Park, with Collard extending his championship lead to 37 points over the course of the day (30 May). The Hampshire driver took a lights-to-flag win in the final race of the meeting in Cheshire, whilst Sowery had earlier finished second on track in race two behind Enaam Ahmed, but was promoted to the victor as Ahmed was handed a six-second penalty post-race for a clash with the 19-year-old on the second lap.

With glorious sunshine greeting the BRDC British Formula 3 field following a day’s break from the racing action, Enaam Ahmed started on pole position for race two of the weekend by virtue of his eighth place finish in Saturday’s race. He made a clean getaway as the lights went out to lead into Old Hall Corner, whilst Toby Sowery also made a good start from the front-row, and kept second position through turn one but was unable to challenge for first.

At the end of the first lap, Ahmed had opened up a gap of half-a-second over Sowery, but coming through Cascades on the second lap the 16-year-old got sideways, enabling the Lanan Racing car to close on him. Heading down the Lakeside straight, Sowery moved to the left and then to the right as he looked to find a way past. Contact between Sowery’s front-right tyre and Ahmed’s rear-left sent the Cambridgeshire racer into the air for a brief moment, before landing on the grass, but he was able to recover to the tarmac without losing his position.

Matheus Leist passed Dane Jan Jonck for fourth and set about catching his Double R Racing team-mate Enzo Bortoleto for third. The race settled into a rhythm and Ahmed continued to extend his lead up front on track, after lap five the advantage 1.698s. Sowery soon had a train of cars behind him, led by Bortoleto, as Leist, Jonck and Colton Herta all followed in close order. He was able to fend them off however as Ahmed continued to press on up front.

The final laps were completed without incident and Ahmed took the chequered flag 5.829s clear of Sowery, with Bortoleto in third. However after the race, Ahmed was handed a six-second penalty for driving in a manner incompatible with general safety following the incident on lap two, thus demoting him to second and handing Sowery the win.

Owing to setting the fastest lap from across the first two races, Collard started from pole position with stable-mate Herta alongside him on the front-row in race three. Australian Thomas Randle headed the second row and as the lights went out he made a stunning getaway, slicing past American Herta almost immediately and then challenging Collard into Old Hall Corner. The championship leader was forced to defend but held on to the position. Herta meanwhile was put under pressure by Randle’s Douglas Motorsport team-mate Ahmed but fended him off to keep third.

Sean Walkinshaw Racing’s Jan Jonck suffered at the start, dropping from fifth to eighth, losing out to the Double R Racing pairing of Matheus Leist and Enzo Bortoleto, and race two winner Toby Sowery. At the end of the opening lap, the top-three had already broken clear of the rest of the pack, with Collard, Randle and Herta 1.5s up the road from the group headed by Ahmed.

At the halfway point, Collard extended his lead to 1.270s and continued to edge away from Randle as he in turn fell into the clutches of Herta. On lap 14, Herta closed right up on the Australian, the gap at the line just 0.3s but the Douglas Motorsport driver responded, putting in a fast lap on the next circuit to move away from the American and out of range for an attack.

Enaam Ahmed meanwhile was coming under pressure from Brazilian Leist. The Double R car was all over the gearbox of the Douglas driver and, looked to the outside several times into Old Hall Corner in an attempt to find a way past but couldn't quite get it done. He then dropped back as the race headed into its closing stages, with Ahmed holding on to fourth.

The final few laps were ticked off and Collard eventually saw the chequered flag 1.854s clear of Randle with Herta completing the podium in third.

Speaking after the race, championship leader Collard said: “I don’t know what is going on at the moment but it is just clicking! I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here and I want to thank everyone involved including my sponsors. The team have been doing a fantastic job. Everything is just falling into place at the moment and I hope it can continue towards the end of the season. Next up is Silverstone, the home of the BRDC. I’ve only driven the Grand Prix Circuit once and that was as part of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award so hopefully I can draw upon that experience. I am very excited for it.”

With his third victory of the year, Collard has extended his lead in the overall standings to 37 points ahead of Thomas Randle. Matheus Leist is now in third place on 221 points with Toby Sowery two points further adrift in fourth, and Enaam Ahmed fifth with 187 points.

The next round of the 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship takes place at Silverstone on the weekend of 11/12 June.

BRDC British Formula 3 - Oulton Park - Race Two Top-10

1. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 14 Laps2. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, +0.171s3. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, +0.464s4. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, +0.832s5. Jan Jonck, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +1.319s6. Colton Herta, Carlin, +1.924s7. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +2.628s8. Ricky Collard, Carlin, +4.520s9. Quinlan Lall, Chris Dittmann Racing, +5.246s10. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +9.663s

BRDC British Formula 3 - Oulton Park - Race Three Top-10

1. Ricky Collard, Carlin, 18 Laps2. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, +1.854s3. Colton Herta, Carlin, +2.802s4. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, +12.852s5. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, +13.529s6. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, +16.409s7. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, +16.862s8. Jan Jonck, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +17.381s9. Quinlan Lall, Chris Dittmann Racing, +18.218s10. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, +25.640s

2016 BRDC British Formula 3 standings after race 12 of 24

1. Ricky Collard, Carlin, 269 points2. Thomas Randle, Douglas Motorsport, 232 points3. Matheus Leist, Double R Racing, 221 points4. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 219 points5. Enaam Ahmed, Douglas Motorsport, 187 points6. Aleksanteri Huovinen, Double R Racing, 161 points7. Lando Norris, Carlin, 153 points8. Enzo Bortoleto, Double R Racing, 146 points9. Thomas Maxwell, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, 144 points10. Sisa Ngebulana, HHC Motorsport, 128 points

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