Faria flies to maiden BRDC British F3 win in final Spa race
Roberto Faria claimed his first BRDC British F3 victory in the final race of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps today (Sunday). The Brazilian driver started fourth on the grid, which was based on the reverse of the qualifying order, but overtook teammate Mikkel Grundtvig for the lead on the penultimate lap, and took the win by 1.6 seconds. Grundtvig held on to second, while a time penalty for Reece Ushijima, who had finished third for Hitech, meant that series newcomer Hunter Yeany was promoted to the position, completing a Fortec top-three lockout.
Race two winner Roman Bilinksi (Arden) charged from 12th on the grid to finish fourth ahead of Carlin’s race one winner Christian Mansell, while Ushijima’s five-second penalty for a track limits infringement dropped him to sixth. Carlin’s championship leader Zak O’Sullivan outscored Ushijima again thanks to an eight-place gain in the race, and extended his championship lead to 78 points.
Faria said: “I started P4 and I finished the first lap in P4. I was battling the whole lap with Max Marzorati and it was quite tough, but I managed to overtake him in the last corner and I was P3. Then I was just trying to catch Reema [Juffali], she did a good job but she just made one mistake and I overtook her around the outside.
“After that I was just trying to catch my teammate who was quite far ahead. I just did qualifying laps all the time and at the end, with two laps to go, I managed to catch his tow. He defended really well and he braked a bit too late so he opened up a bit for the second corner so I crossed him, and it was a good race for me.”
The next rounds of the BRDC British F3 Championship takes place at Snetterton on 7-8 August.
BRDC British F3 Championship, Spa-Francorchamps, race three top-six:
1. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, 9 laps
2. Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports, +1.605s
3. Hunter Yeany, Fortec Motorsports, +2.987s
4. Roman Bilinski, Arden Motorsport, +5.024s
5. Christian Mansell, Carlin, +6.226s
6. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +7.336s
Click here for full result.
BRDC British F3 Championship, top-six drivers' standings after race 12 of 24
1. Zak O’Sullivan, Carlin, 294pts
2. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, 216pts
3. Christian Mansell, Carlin, 212pts
4. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, 168pts
5. Bart Horsten, Hitech GP, 163pts
6. Javier Sagrera, Elite Motorsport, 154pts
Click here for full standings
For more championship information visit www.britishf3.com.
