After making a strong start from pole, Brazilian ace Matheus Leist calmly controlled the first BRDC British F3 race of the weekend, and in doing so, he becomes the first repeat winner of the season, moving into second place overall. Further back, a last minute downpour dramatically changed the order with a lap to go.
It was a good start from Leist as everyone safely made it through the first complex without any major incidents. As the race progressed it was clear that a top five was emerging as sixth placed Sisa Ngebulana failed to keep pace, holding back the rest of the field.
As well as Leist, it had been Toby Sowery who’d also made a strong start, moving into third by the end of the opening lap before going to set the fastest lap. He started to put pressure on second place Ricky Collard, but was unable to find a way around the Carlin driver.
The speed of the top three meant that Raoul Hyman was quickly being dropped before a final push in the closing laps. Enaam Ahmed had had a solid race, but was forced to pull off which mechanical issues from fifth place. It would cost him the championship lead as the heavens opened.
With a lap to go, the circuit suddenly became very difficult to drive, especially on slick tyres. Paddock Hill could no longer be used for overtaking as Quinlan Lall had pulled off, leaving his car in the way. Hyman lost control in the forest and was forced to surrender a comfortable fourth, although he rejoined down the order.
The action didn’t end there though, as newly promoted Ngebulana ran off a few corners later dropping into the midfield before the curse of fourth place hit Ameya Vaidyanathan who slid into the barriers at the final corner.
Having overtaken Tarun Reddy only a few laps ago, this left Thomas Randle with an opportunistic fourth place ahead of the Indian, while Faisal Al Zubair took sixth after spending much of the race outside of the top ten. Hyman would recover to seventh but it was too little, too late as the podium finishers crossed the line with only 2.5 seconds separating them.
Leist celebrated his second win for the Double R Racing squad as Collard and new championship leader Sowery completed the podium.
