IMPRESSIVE FIRST BRITISH F3 PODIUM FOR DOUBLE R RACER SAMAIA AT SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
• Brazilian converts P4 qualifying performance into P3 in Rd13
• Jamie Chadwick secures P6 finish in opening Spa contest
• F3 debutant Linus Lundqvist progresses well with best of P7
Brazilian driver Guilherme Samaia scorched to a richly deserved first BRDC British Formula 3 Championship podium during his maiden visit to Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend, to secure Double R Racing’s second category rostrum of 2017.
Impressing in qualifying with the fourth fastest lap, the Sao Paulo native went on to convert his most competitive run of the season into a sensational top three finish in race one on Friday, 7th July. An unfortunate tangle in race two on Saturday, 8th July, led to retirement and a grid penalty for the third contest where he battled through into the top 12 and set fifth quickest lap at the Belgian track.
Jamie Chadwick ran as high as fifth in round 13 before finishing a weekend-best sixth and then posted a 10th place result in round 14. Just missing the top 10 again in round 15, the first year F3 racer’s strong haul of points enabled her to climb into the championship top eight.
The category’s annual visit to Spa also marked the Formula 3 debut of Linus Lundqvist, who ordinarily competes with Double R in British Formula 4. Piloting the team’s third F3 car, which was raced by the currently injured Harry Hayek earlier in the season, Swedish driver Lundqvist made notable progress and concluded the event with an impressive weekend best of seventh in round 15.
“Everyone at the team is really pleased to see Guilherme take his first podium, he did a fantastic job and was very competitive all weekend”, said Double R team boss Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “Race two was unfortunate but he was quick again in the last one, fifth fastest lap speaks for itself.
“Jamie was consistent and competitive, which is what we’ve come to expect, and moving up into the championship top eight is great – her season is definitely gaining momentum. Jumping into F3 isn’t easy, especially at a track as challenging as Spa, so we’re very happy with the job Linus did on his debut in the championship. The experience will be very valuable to him, he performed very well.”
Lundqvist got things off to a terrific start with the eighth fastest time in testing, the quickest of the Double R trio. In qualifying, though, Samaia came to the fore with the fourth fastest time, only 0.172 seconds shy of pole, with Chadwick ninth and Lundqvist just missing the top 10 by 0.057 seconds.
After maintaining his top four placing during the first few laps, Samaia broke into the podium spots on lap four and didn’t look back with a sensational performance. Lapping very competitively, he went on to seal his maiden podium and finish just a couple of seconds shy of the top two.
Team-mate Chadwick produced a fantastic opening lap, leaping into the top six, and then moved up into fifth position on the second tour. Remaining fifth for the next couple of laps, Chadwick was then edged back to sixth and for the rest of the contest she was embroiled in a see-saw battle with Jordan Cane. Holding fifth into the final lap, Chadwick had to settle for a nonetheless strong sixth in the end.
Lundqvist was shuffled back to 14th place on lap one but regained a position on lap four before being forced to pit with damage. Rejoining the race a long way down, the Swede eventually ended a frustrating contest in an unrepresentative 16th spot.
Race one podium finisher Samaia started round 14 on Saturday morning from sixth on the partially reversed grid, but his involvement in the encounter was over almost as quickly as the race started when contact resulted in major damage to his front-left suspension and led to retirement to the pits.
Chadwick began the contest third on the grid and held the placing initially, before being edged back to fourth. Shuffled further down the pack to sixth on the second tour, the Double R racer hit back on lap three to regain fifth during a very tight battle with Callan O’Keeffe.
After trading places, Chadwick was edged back to sixth again and then seventh as her mirrors filled with the pursuing Chase Owen. Driving well to maintain seventh into the final lap, Chadwick was ultimately edged back to 10th position.
Lundqvist, who had started in 16th place, came through to finish just ahead of his team-mate in ninth after a very competitive showing in only his second ever F3 race. Ending lap one an improved 14th, the Swede continued to make great progress and moved into the top 12 on lap three.
Breaking into the coveted top 10 on lap six, Lundqvist then pounced on the action-packed final tour to snatch ninth from Chadwick. Notably, the Nordic racer produced a best lap of 2m18.666 seconds which was only 0.4 seconds shy of the pace produced by runner-up James Pull.
Lundqvist started round 15 as the highest placed of the Double R trio in 10th position and delivered an excellent seventh place finish to mark his best of the event. Leaping into eighth on lap one, he remained close behind the group ahead and on the sixth tour produced a great move into Les Combes to grab seventh from O’Keeffe where he stayed to the flag on lap nine.
Chadwick just missed out on a top 10 result but mounted a strong recovery after slipping from 11th at the start to 15th position. Back up into 13th spot on lap two, Chadwick took 12th on lap five and then gained another place the next time around.
Team-mate Samaia shadowed Chadwick across the line in 12th position after a strong late-race flourish. Starting 15th rather than inside the top 10 due to a five place grid penalty from the round 14 contact, the Brazilian showcased the sort of pace which had delivered a podium the day before.
British F3 returns to UK soil next month, over the weekend 5th/6th August, with the sixth event of the season set to take place at Double R Racing’s ‘home’ track Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. One week earlier, the team’s British F4 squad will return to action after a lengthy summer break at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk.
2017 BRDC British F3 Championship Standings
8th Jamie Chadwick, 159pts; 12th Guilherme Samaia, 120pts;
18th Harry Hayek, 51pts; 19th Linus Lundqvist, 32pts
