At the end of a dramatic weekend at Rockingham, 15 year old Lando Norris will leave confident in his 17 point championship lead after his main rival Ricky Collard had a poor weekend as a result of spinning out early in qualifying.
The Carlin driver was able to pick up his sixth win of the season around a circuit that isn’t very forgiving on drivers if they make a mistake. Having secured pole for the opening race, he set about defending his lead into the first corner.
He would dice with team mate Colton Herta into the first corner, but held off the advances of the two rivals to take victory narrowly ahead of the American, with the two Carlin’s finishing first and second on the road.
“The first and last race couldn’t have gone much better.” said the ADD Motorsport supported driver.
“We were fast all weekend and the win in the first race was comfortable in the end. The second place finish was a really close race and I maybe would have had a chance to win it if I’d had another lap.”
“It’s great to be at the top of the Championship again – but there’s a lot of hard work still to come.”
Norris had started behind Herta for the third race meaning he’d have to fight and prove himself, in front of a live television audience. He initially made a poor start and fell behind Sennan Fielding, but the JHR Development driver slid off in turn one, with Norris settling into third behind rival Dan Ticktum.
The fight between the two championship contenders proved the ability that both had, and on the seventh lap, sold Ticktum a dummy to squeeze up the inside into the first hairpin. He would catch Herta, but was unable to overtake before the end of the race.
With only six races and two weekends left, Norris is hoping to stay ahead as the MSA Formula season reaches its critical stage.
“The next race is going to be hard as it’s a close racing track. But I’ve got a good chance of winning the Championship, so have to make sure there are no mistakes and keep doing what I’m doing.”
“I’m sure it will go down to the last race.”