Vergne takes victory in thrilling race at Rockingham

Jean-Eric Vergne took Carlin's ninth British F3 win of the season this afternoon, in a dramatic race at the Rockingham Speedway in Northamptonshire. The Frenchman held off a charging Carlos Huertas to take his sixth win of the season and extend his lead in the championship to 43 points. Team mate James Calado put in a strong performance to finish fourth, with Adriano Buzaid ninth, Rupert Svendsen-Cook 11th, just ahead of Lucas Foresti in 12th. Jazeman Jaafar retired from the race on lap 12.

Jean Eric Vergne (FRA) Carlin Dallara Volkswagen Credit: British F3

Qualifying this morning was a mixed affair for the Carlin team. Vergne made a step forward from Friday's test sessions to be the quickest Carlin driver; the Frenchman qualified third for race one and second for race three.

Following heavy showers midday, the track dried out sufficiently to allow for slick tyres and a dry race this afternoon. As the lights went out, Vergne made a strong start while pole sitter Oliver Webb seemed to struggle off the line. By the end of the pit straight, Vergne had already passed Webb and was wheel to wheel with Carlos Huertas, snatching the lead into the tight first corner. Behind the top three, Calado had also made a good start and passed Felipe Nasr to take fourth place while Buzaid was ninth with Jaafar tenth. Svendsen-Cook had maintained his 12th place off the line, with team mate Foresti behind him.

By lap two second place man Huertas was pushing Vergne hard, but Vergne responded by setting the fastest lap on lap three. Buzaid meanwhile had moved up to eighth; with Jaafar ninth as Daisuke Nakajima fell back down the order. The two team mates soon began their own battle though, and Buzaid dropped to 10th with Jaafar moving up to eighth place. Jaafar's fortunes soon changed however, when he ran off at Dean and dropped down the field. The young Malaysian began an immediate recovery and closed in on the back of team mate Foresti and Svendsen-Cook. Attempting to pass his team mate, Jaafar made a move on lap seven, but out braked himself and ran off track. Jaafar managed to recover for a second time, but was now 20th with a damaged car and limped back to the pits and into retirement.

At the front, Vergne was still under pressure from Huertas, while Calado had also started to close in on Webb for the final podium position. By lap 18 the gap between Vergne and Huertas was just 0.300 seconds and as the duo entered the start finish straight, Vergne was forced to defend into the first corner. For the remainder of the race there was less than a car length separating the pair, but the Carlin man coped with the pressure well and for every attack Huertas made, Vergne seemed to have an answer. After 30 minutes, Vergne crossed the line to take his sixth victory of the season.

Speaking about his race, Vergne said, "It is a really good result for us to win from third on the grid. I made a good start and I knew that the first corner was really my only chance to take the lead. Carlos [Huertas] really closed in on me at the end, but I knew unless I made a mistake it would be very hard for him to get past."

Trevor Carlin added, "It was a very strong race from Jean-Eric today. He made full advantage of a sensational start and a good move at the first corner, and then controlled the race despite a lot of pressure from Carlos. James also did a good job and is in a strong position for the second race tomorrow."

Race two will take place tomorrow at 11.00 local time. The drivers will start in their finishing positions from race one today, with the top ten drivers reversed. For the first time in British F3 history, tomorrow's race will also include a compulsory pit stop.

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