Toby Sowery gets title attack back on track with first and second places to add to his Saturday pole position and victory, whilst Ben Hingeley takes his second win of the year in race two
Toby Sowery completed a stunning weekend at Silverstone to boost his BRDC British Formula 3 title chances, with a win in race three following a storming second place for the Lanan Racing driver. in the second race, Fortec's Ben Hingeley took his second win of the season, before an incident with rival Callan O'Keeffe ended his challenge in the final encounter of the weekend.
A solid run of results for Carlin's Enaam Ahmed and James Pull consolidates their title positions, with Pull moving up to second place behind Ahmed in the standings.
Race Two
Hingeley won his second race of the season, with Sowery and Pull completing the podium after a thrilling fight through the field from both drivers.
Hingeley led the race from the start, surging from fourth on the grid to lead his Fortec team-mates Manuel Maldonado and Nicolai Kjaergaard, who shared the front row. Kjaergaard sustained front wing damage on the opening lap, and would quickly drop down the order, eventually finishing the race over half a lap behind.
Pull also made a great start and was quickly up to third place, whilst Sowery ran fifth behind O'Keeffe, and passed the South African early on. Just before this, Maldonado lost second place to Pull after running wide at Copse. Hingley, Pull and Sowery were all on a charge at this stage of the race and Sowery soon caught Maldonado, passing the Venezuelan at the end of lap four.
Sowery continued his stellar progress, setting the fastest lap of the weekend so far - just six thousandths of a second off his qualifying time - as he closed down on Pull in second place. By the final lap the pair were together and as they entered the Wellington Straight for the final time, Sowery drew level, and nipped down the inside to claim second place, just two seconds behind the winner.
Further back and with Sowery out of reach, O'Keeffe caught Maldonado, passing him for fourth place. The pole-sitter then had two Carlin cars to contend with. Cameron Das lost out at the start and was left to fight with team-mate Ahmed, a battle he eventually lost, then Ahmed passed Maldonado in the late stages to claim valuable points for fifth place.
Jeremy Wahome took an eighth place finish for Chris Dittmann Racing, ahead of Guilherme Samaia, who was given a penalty for starting out of position, having spun on the green flag lap. This promoted Chase Owen and Jamie Chadwick to the final top ten places.
Having received his winner's trophy from BRDC member and British GT racer Rick Parfitt Jr, a delighted Hingley said: "I managed to get a great start, that was a real factor in the race win. Into first after the first lap was what I dreamed off, really and they came back at me towards the end, I had to hang on a little, but I’m really happy with it."
Race Three
Sowery won his second race of the weekend with a lights-to-flag victory, whilst Carlin team-mates Pull and Ahmed completed the podium after a tense battle for the runner-up position.
When the lights went out, pole-sitter Sowery didn't hesitate to take the lead into Copse corner, and whilst fellow front-row-starter O'Keeffe tried to fight for the lead into the esses, he soon came under attack from Pull, and the Carlin man quickly slotted into second place. This left the South African under attack from race two winner Hingeley and as they exited the Wellington straight at the end of the opening lap, the pair battled side-by-side. Hingeley was forced wide at Brooklands, and into Luffield the pair collided, O'Keeffe out on the spot.
A delayed Hingeley rejoined behind Ahmed, Owen, Jordan Cane and Das, but continued to fall down the order, his car clearly affected by the clash. Meanwhile Das passed Cane and the race began to settle as the top three pulled away from fourth-placed Owen.
Race leader Sowery continued to clear his immediate pursuers, and as Ahmed closed in on Pull, the two Carlin drivers began a race-long battle for the final podium place. In the late stages, Ahmed stalked Pull, and made a couple of attempts to pressure him, even trying to pass at Stowe corner. On the final lap he got a good exit onto the Wellington Straight, but Pull defended into Brooklands corner and held onto the second step of the podium.
Owen finished in fourth position, fending off Das for the place, the pair a second ahead of Cane, who ended the race a couple of seconds up on Samaia and Kjaergaard.
Ninth overall was Wahome, with Hingeley recovering from his earlier incident to finish in tenth place.
After accepting the winners' trophy from BRDC Sporting Director Stuart Pringle, an ecstatic Sowery said: "It's almost a perfect weekend; I couldn’t have asked any more from the team, I’ve been really happy with how it has gone. James and Enaam kept up for the first few laps and we managed to slowly eke a gap, but it wasn’t easy out there."
BRDC British F3 Championship race two result
1. Ben Hingeley, Fortec Motorsports, 10 Laps
2. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, +2.075s
3. James Pull, Carlin, +2.278s
4. Callan O'Keeffe, Douglas Motorsport, +4.680s
5. Enaam Ahmed, Carlin, +7.425s
6. Manuel Maldonado, Fortec, +10.212s
7. Cameron Das, Carlin, +10.774s
8. Jeremy Wahome, Chris Dittmann Racing, +14.865s
9. Chase Owen, Hillspeed, +18.786s
10. Jamie Chadwick, Double R Racing, +24.679s
BRDC British F3 Championship race three result
1. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 10 Laps
2. James Pull, Carlin, +3.935s
3. Enaam Ahmed, Carlin, +4.475s
4. Chase Owen, Hillspeed, +9.245s
5. Cameron Das, Carlin, +9.859s
6. Jordan Cane, Douglas Motorsport, +10.579s
7. Nicolai Kjaergaard, Fortec Motorsports, +12.850s
8. Guilherme Samaia, Double R Racing, +22.632s
9. Jeremy Wahome, Chris Dittmann Racing, +23.230s
10. Ben Hingeley, Fortec Motorsports, +24.643s
BRDC British F3 Championship standings after 12 of 24 rounds
1. Enaam Ahmed, Carlin, 310pts
2. James Pull, Carlin, 252pts
3. Toby Sowery, Lanan Racing, 247pts
4. Cameron Das, Carlin, 247pts
5. Ben Hingeley, Fortec Motorsports, 241pts
6. Callan O'Keeffe, Douglas Motorsport, 214pts
7. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, 128pts
8. Chase Owen, Hillspeed, 128pts
9. Nicolai Kjaergaard, Fortec Motorsports, 122pts
10. Jamie Chadwick, Double R Racing, 121pts
