Double Top For Vergne At Spa

Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne claimed wins number seven and eight of his super-successful Cooper Tires British F3 International Series season at Spa-Francorchamps today (Friday). Carlin's French ace recovered brilliantly from a poor start to claim the lead of round 17 from his team-mate James Calado at mid-distance, and then blitzed his way from P7 on the grid in round 18 to make it two out of two at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.

Jean-Eric Vergne celebrates his second Spa win. Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography/British F3

Having annexed the pole for round 16 in the morning qualifying session, Vergne was hoping to show his rivals a clean pair of rear wheels from the outset. But it was not to be: Jean-Eric made the worst getaway of all the frontrunners. Calado rocketed past to lead, pursued by Fortec's Oli Webb from P4, with Vergne just managing to cling to third ahead of Rupert Svendsen-Cook.

As Calado sped away, Vergne found a way past Webb for second on lap two but faced a battle to get back on terms with Racing Steps Foundation driver Calado, who was by now three seconds up the road. "My start was quite bad," admitted Jean-Eric, "and I lost quite a lot of time to James, but within three or four laps I came back."

It was on the seventh of the 13 laps that Vergne passed Calado into Raidillon. "I was going well for four or five laps and then Jean-Eric caught me," said James. "He got past me before the corner and I couldn't do anything. But I managed to stay with him."

Vergne crossed the line 1.1s ahead for his seventh win, and then continued the theme on the podium when he pulled number seven from the 'reverse grid hat'. "I think it is possible to win from seventh on the grid at Spa... That is what I am aiming to do," he added.

Svendsen-Cook liberated third place from Webb at La Source on lap seven and continued on to claim his first podium finish since his April Oulton Park race victory. "The pace has always been there," said Rupert, "but I have made some rookie mistakes. I have experience of this circuit, and here I am back on the podium."

Webb held on for fourth, with Adriano Buzaid claiming fifth after passing Daniel McKenzie on lap nine. Felipe Nasr followed McKenzie home for seventh, ahead of his countryman Lucas Foresti, and Hywel Lloyd's rejuvenated CF Racing/Manor car.

Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella placed 10th on his British F3 debut for Prema Powerteam and won the battle of the Invitation class drivers, just ahead of Carlos Munoz. "It's been a good learning experience and I hope for better things in the next races," said Daniel.

Menasheh Idafar was a strong 12th overall and the National class victor. He lost out to his T-Sport team-mate James Cole at the start but passed him for the class lead on the fourth lap. "It's my first-ever time at Spa so I am delighted," said Idafar. "It's an amazing circuit."

Vergne's eighth win of the season was one of the best of an already remarkable season. The shape of the race was established on the opening lap, with Vergne - who said afterwards "For once I made a good start" - shooting through the field in pursuit of pole-sitter Felipe Nasr, who also made a good getaway in his Mercedes-powered Raikkonen Robertson racer. Jean-Eric took advantage of what he described as a "big mess of other cars" at Les Combes to take up second and start his pursuit of the Brazilian.

Vergne's irresistible progress carried him into the lead next time around through Les Combes. "Then I pushed really hard and he was too far back to take advantage of the tow, and I was free to go." Jean-Eric's next target is a clean sweep of the Spa races: he starts tomorrow's 40-minute round 18 from second on the grid, behind Oli Webb. "Everything is possible tomorrow," added the Parisian.

Nasr, who won his first race at Rockingham a fortnight ago, was pleased with second place, 0.6s behind Vergne. "The race in general was good for me," said Felipe. "It was difficult to stay with him because he was very quick in the second sector of the lap. If I could have got a bit closer I could have maybe got past him."

Daniel McKenzie, another Rockingham race victor, returned to the podium after slotting into third at the start and holding off first his Fortec team-mate Oli Webb and then James Calado, who overhauled Webb for fourth on the third lap. Calado made a lunge for third at the final corner, the Bus Stop chicane, on the final lap but succeeded only in spinning. He was lucky to get going again before Webb could repass.

Mucke Motorsport's Carlos Munoz placed sixth overall and was the leading Invitation Class runner. The top 10 was completed by Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Hywel Lloyd, Daisuke Nakajima and Alexander Sims, the British F3 Euro Series driver enjoying a better second race for the ART team.

Among the dramas was a startline shunt which saw Jazeman Jaafar squeezed into the wall, and a tangle later on in the opening lap which led to the retirement of Prema team-mates Daniel Juncadella and Nicolas Marroc. A fourth-lap collision between Carlos Huertas and Adriano Buzaid accounted for both of the South Americans, while Lucas Foresti spun into retirement at the Bus Stop on the sixth lap.

There was a tense battle this time in the National class between T-Sport team-mates Idafar and Cole, with Idafar claiming the class win, by less than half a second, to increase slightly his points lead.

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

Cooper Tires British F3 International Series

Round 16 Spa-Francorchamps 30/7/2010 13 laps = 56.58 miles

Provisional results International & Invitation classes

1   INT  Jean-Eric VERGNE      FRA  Carlin Dallara-VW         29m 36.710s / 114.64mph
2   INT  James CALADO          GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     +1.114s
3   INT  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK  GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen    +12.484s
4   INT  Oli WEBB              GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes      +13.407s
5   INT  Adriano BUZAID        BRA  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen    +14.234s
6   INT  Daniel McKENZIE       GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes      +14.877s
7   INT  Felipe NASR           BRA  RR Dallara-Mercedes          +17.232s
8   INT  Lucas FORESTI         BRA  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen    +18.108s
9   INT  Hywel LLOYD           GBR  CF/Manor Dallara-Mercedes    +20.032s
10  INV  Daniel JUNCADELLA     ESP  Prema Dallara-Mercedes       +21.254s
11  INV  Carlos MUNOZ          COL  Mucke Dallara-Mercedes       +30.767s
12  INV  Alexander SIMS        GBR  ART Dallara-Mercedes         +42.375s etc
National Class              
1        Menasheh IDAFAR       GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  +32.896s
2        James COLE            GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda  +59.392s

Fastest lap: Vergne 2m 15.842s / 115.34mph




Round 17 Spa-Francorchamps 30/7/2010 8 laps = 34.82 miles

Provisional results International & Invitation classes

1   INT  Jean-Eric VERGNE      FRA  Carlin Dallara-VW          28m 22.251s / 113.71mph
2   INT  Felipe NASR           BRA  RR Dallara-Mercedes            +0.659s
3   INT  Daniel McKENZIE       GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes        +8.299s
4   INT  James CALADO          GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     +13.128s
5   INT  Oli WEBB              GBR  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes       +13.479s
6   INV  Carlos MUNOZ          COL  Mucke Dallara-Mercedes        +14.007s
7   INT  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK  GBR  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen     +14.153s
8   INT  Hywel LLOYD           GBR  CF/Manor Dallara-Mercedes     +15.249s
9   INT  Daisuke NAKAJIMA      JPN  RR Dallara-Mercedes           +17.235s
10  INV  Alexander SIMS        GBR  ART Dallara-Mercedes          +27.772s
11  INT  Gabriel DIAS          BRA  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen     +28.170s
12  INV  Nathanael BERTHON     FRA  ART Dallara-Mercedes          +28.844s etc
National Class                                          
1        Menasheh IDAFAR       GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda   +28.450s
2        James COLE            GBR  T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda   +28.880s

Fastest lap: Nasr 2m 16.662s / 114.64mph



Provisional championship standings       National class

1 Vergne          230 points                1 Idafar     236 
2 Webb            164                       2 Cole       232 
3 Calado          137                       3 Luis Razia  23
4 Adriano Buzaid  106  
5 Dias             98  
6 Will Buller      71  
7 Nakajima         66  
8 Nasr             64  
9 Svendsen-Cook    63  
10 Jazeman Jaafar  62 etc


Next round
Spa, 1235 BST Saturday 31 July

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