A Hat-Trick Of Wins At Spa For Vergne & Carlin

Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne capped a remarkable weekend for himself and the Carlin team at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon (Saturday) with a another fine victory in the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series. The Frenchman seized control of round 18 from his title rival Oli Webb on the third lap and enjoyed an untroubled run to his third win of the Spa weekend.

Jean-Eric Vergne: three times a winner at Spa. Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography/British F3

He is the first driver to win all three British F3 races in a weekend, has now taken nine wins for himself and, thanks to Webb crashing out of the race, has extended his championship lead to 87 points with 12 races remaining. Carlin, who enjoyed a 1-2 thanks to James Calado's spirited second place, have now won 12 rounds. Vergne's hat-trick has meanwhile taken engine supplier Volkswagen's tally of British F3 victories past the 100 mark.

"This weekend was amazing," said a triumphant Vergne. "Big thanks to Carlin for an amazing car. It's too early to think about the championship. If I leave Silverstone [the meeting after next] more than 100 points ahead then the championship will be in the pocket. But we have first the meeting at Thruxton, and it's a circuit I do not know."

Although Webb's Fortec-prepared and Mercedes-powered car led the opening two laps, the Mancunian could not sustain the searing qualifying pace which netted him pole position. That Vergne, who made a good getaway to slot into second behind Oli, would eventually find a way past was beyond doubt from the outset. Webb defended hard but Vergne swept past him at Les Combes and was gone.

Webb had no answer either to Calado's pace, James's Racing Steps Foundation car snatching second from him on the fifth of the 17 laps. "Oli was pushing really hard to keep me behind," he said. "I made the same move on him at Les Combes which had worked on the first lap for me when I passed Dias; Oli was slightly harder but I managed to do it. Unfortunately Jean-Eric had pulled a three-second gap by then."

The next man targeting Webb's position was Carlos Huertas, but alas their dice for third ended in collision at Les Combes. Webb's car hit the barriers and was out on the spot and left Huertas limping towards the pits. Their accident promoted the ART invitation class car of Alexander Sims to third place overall, a brilliant drive from 16th on the grid. Gabriel Dias was fourth (and claimed the final spot on the International class podium) after getting the better of Prema's Daniel Juncadella and then holding back his countryman Felipe Nasr in the only Raikkonen Robertson car to survive.

Nasr placed fifth ahead of Juncadella and Carlin trio Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Jazeman Jaafar and Adriano Buzaid. Daniel McKenzie recovered from a poor start to take 10th for Fortec, with Hywel Lloyd, another startline stutterer, driving a storming race to fight back to 12th on the road, and ninth in class, for the CF/Manor team. The Welshman's efforts earned him the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award. Jay Bridger collected the final International class point for Litespeed.

There was a fraught National class battle between T-Sport team-mates James Cole and Menasheh Idafar which resulted in an opening lap collision between them. "He made an ambitious move on me into the Bus Stop chicane," said James. "He tried to cut in and took off my front wing, and got himself a puncture at the same time." Cole stayed on track while Idafar pitted but his reduced pace was enough to keep him ahead at the end and take the class win. Cole and Idafar now tie on points for the National class lead.

The relentlessly competitive pace of the championship sees the contenders in action again next weekend (7/8 August) at the fastest circuit on the calendar, Thruxton in Hampshire, and then again seven days after that, on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

British F3 is sponsored by US tyre manufacturer Cooper Tire and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and Mirror.co.uk

Round 18 Spa-Francorchamps 31/7/2010 17 laps = 73.98 miles

Provisional results International & Invitation classes

1   INT  Jean-Eric VERGNE      FRA  Carlin     Dallara-VW           39m 05.769s / 113.54mph
2   INT  James CALADO          GBR  Carlin     Dallara-Volkswagen       +3.779s
3   INV  Alexander SIMS        GBR  ART        Dallara-Mercedes        +21.975s
4   INT  Gabriel DIAS          BRA  Hitech     Dallara-Volkswagen      +23.563s
5   INT  Felipe NASR           BRA  RR         Dallara-Mercedes        +23.725s
6   INV  Daniel JUNCADELLA     ESP  Prema      Dallara-Mercedes        +24.330s
7   INT  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK  GBR  Carlin     Dallara-VW              +25.090s
8   INT  Jazeman JAAFAR        MAS  Carlin     Dallara-Volkswagen      +27.220s
9   INT  Adriano BUZAID        BRA  Carlin     Dallara-Volkswagen      +27.305s
10  INT  Daniel McKENZIE       GBR  Fortec     Dallara-Mercedes        +28.599s
11  INV  Jim PLA               FRA  ART        Dallara-Mercedes        +32.695s
12  INT  Hywel LLOYD           GBR  CF/Manor   Dallara-Mercedes        +34.041s
13  INT  Jay BRIDGER           GBR  Litespeed  Dallara-Mercedes        +40.874s etc

National Class
1        James COLE            GBR  T-Sport    Dallara-Mugen Honda  +1m 29.491s
2        Menasheh IDAFAR       GBR  T-Sport    Dallara-Mugen Honda  +1m 45.038s

Fastest lap: Vergne 2m 16.87s / 114.37mph



Provisional championship standings           National class: 
                                                                
1   Vergne            251 points                1= Cole        252     
2   Oli Webb          164                          Idafar      252  
3   Calado            152                       3  Luis Razia   23
4=  Dias              110 
    Buzaid            110  
6   Nasr               74  
7   Svendsen-Cook      71 
    Will Buller        71  
9   Jaafar             68  
10  Daisuke Nakajima   66 etc.


Next rounds: 7/8 August, Thruxton

Print This Page	Go back to the previous page

---

Recent British F3 News

---

February
January
January 12/12 - British F3 - New Dallara F312 wows Autosport show-goers
January 4/12 - British F3 - Felix Serralles joins Fortec for British F3 campaign

---

Other Recent News

Full News Archives

---

February
February 10/12 - GP2 - Fabio Leimer will drive for Racing Engineering in the 2012 GP2 Series
February 10/12 - British Formula Ford - First Ecoboost Test for Racer Ryan
February 10/12 - Italian F3 - Team Lucidi Motors Taking a Sabbatical Year
February 9/12 - IndyCar - Michael Andretti to Compete on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" for Racing For Cancer
February 9/12 - WSBR - Jules Bianchi joins Tech 1 Racing
February 9/12 - F1600 - Jeffrey Bartz Enters F1600 Championship
February 8/12 - Star Mazda - Juncos Racing Signs Momentous Agreement with Formula 3 Association of Chile
February 7/12 - IndyCar - HVM Racing Welcomes New Team Manager
February 7/12 - US F2000 - Pigot and Brabham Share Cooper Tires Winterfest Race Wins at Sebring
February 7/12 - WSBR - The new Formula Renault 3.5 has arrived
February 7/12 - F2000 - Connery Shooting for 2012 Title with a RFR
February 6/12 - Star Mazda - JDC Motorsports Signs Ashley Freiberg for 2012 Star Mazda Championship Rookie Campaign
February 6/12 - Track News - Charity Laps to Benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities ®
February 6/12 - US F2000 - Spencer Pigot Wins Opening Cooper Tires Winterfest Race at Sebring
February 6/12 - F2000 - Morcom Back with Primus