Callum Ilott moved firmly back into contention for the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship after a strong weekend around the Hungaroring, which included his third victory of the season.
After finishing fifth during Saturday’s opening race, Ilott was in dominant form on Sunday morning, with the Prema Powerteam driver holding off the initial challenge from Joel Eriksson to pull away to win convincingly, the gap between the two at the chequered flag an impressive 8.600 seconds.
“I made a reasonable start, meaning I had Joel close, applying pressure for the opening part of the race,” said Ilott. “The car felt great and I was able to push and extend my advantage, managing the tyre degradation.
“At the finish I was delighted, getting my third win of the year and of course, securing the points that I need to remain a leading contender in the title race.”
Ilott followed his race two victory with a second place finish in the final race of the weekend, with Eriksson this time taking the victory, although the Briton was unable to pressure the Swede significantly as he nursed a gearbox issue.
However Ilott was delighted to put himself back into championship contention, with just twenty-one points separating him from Eriksson heading into the Norisring weekend at the beginning of July.
“Track temperatures had risen and that made tyre degradation more of an issue,” added Ilott. “Managing a minor issue with the gearbox meant I needed to be careful when braking and be certain of achieving the highest point possible.
“It’s been a great weekend, moving back to third in the championship and it’s just a couple of weeks until we are back racing at Norisring, we’ve got the chance to keep the momentum going at a track I enjoy with plenty of slipstreaming and overtaking opportunities.”
