National class spoils in two of the weekend’s three races in the British F3 International Series’ visit to Brands Hatch’s GP circuit saw Ed Jones close the gap to class leader Sun Zheng, keeping the title fight continuing into the final round at the Nurburgring.
The West-Tec teenager returned to the British F3 series after missing the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps, where his CF Racing rival Zheng had claimed a hat-trick in Belgium to match the dominant performance of Jones during the opening event of the four-round championship at Silverstone.
Jones was plagued by mechanical malodies early in the latest weekend at Brands Hatch, still claiming the class pole position before being forced to start from the pits after a clutch issue on the warm-up lap, after which an engine electrical problem saw him retire from the race following a strong early fightback which gifted Zheng maximum points in race one for a fourth win on the bounce.
Jones then swiftly proceeded to hit back in race two from the rear of the field on Sunday to win the class comfortably after passing team-mates Chris Vlok and Cameron Twynham, before grabbing the win from Zheng on lap 13 and pulling away from his rival for a solid eighth place overall.
The pair then looked set to stage a fight for the class win in the final race, but Zheng eliminated himself in spectacular fashion as a botched challenge resulted in him flying over the top of Jones’ Dallara-Toyota at Druids after the West-Tec driver had made his way by, Jones finishing eighth overall once again.
With the result having trimmed the points lead heading into the final round at Nurburgring on September 21-22, Jones commented: “A great end to the weekend after a disappointing start! Two wins and some well-earned points to close the gap on the championship lead.”
The championship still remains a long shot with Zheng leading the way by 40 points with just a final 65 still on offer, but Jones is nonetheless heading to the Nurburgring meeting focused on at least picking up as many wins as he can before letting the cards fall their own way.
“We are looking forward to the next race in Germany in September, ready to take some more trophies home with us!”
