Matt Rao denied Fortec teammate Martin Cao the Thruxton triple after taking victory in the third and final race of the weekend in the Cooper Tyres British F3 International Series.
Pole-sitter Rao lost out to Cao off the start-line, but eager to avenge his earlier loses, retook the Chinese driver on lap nine at the chicane for the lead.
Cao was in close company for much of the race after, keeping Rao honest and enjoying the slipstreaming effect made so great by Thruxton’s ‘flat-out’ nature.
Lap 18 however saw Cao make a critical mistake, leaving him far adrift of Rao yet far enough ahead of Camren Kaminksy in third. The latter enjoyed a strong race, after earlier drama’s the weekend’s first two races.
No-one could deny Rao out front though, who stopped the rot caused by Cao’s earlier double race win to regain the championship lead ahead of the next round at Brand Hatch in two weeks.
Cao finished 2nd, ahead of Kaminsky who rounded out the top three podium. Marshall rounded off an impressive debut weekend in 4th, ahead of a distant Lhi Zhi Cong in 5th, with the Carlin driver running wide on the opening lap and never challenging from then on out.
