Lando Norris claimed victory in a red flag interrupted BRDC British F3 race one. The Carlin driver held off the challenge of Ricky Collard to move up to sixth in the championship. The final two races will take place at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.
A small delay to proceedings, thanks to an abandoned car in the previous session, saw the drivers being forced to wait a little longer before they got to smell the Ardenne Forest.
When the field got underway, polesitter Norris made a strong start, determined not to give Collard the room on the inside of La Source.
However, a safety car was called at the end of the opening lap after the Sean Walkinshaw Racing car of Eugene Denyssen spun, dropping him to the back. Elsewhere, Thomas Randle and Sisa Ngebulana came to blows, dropping them to the rear but both continued. Ngebulana would later be given a 10 second penalty for jumping the start.
As the safety car came in, Norris lead Collard and the quick starting Matheus Leist. It was significantly cleaner at the second attempt, with the Carlins quick to establish their dominance.
Thomas Maxwell soon became one of the quickest on track, moving up two positions to fifth. He continued to chase fourth place Enaam Ahmed, but was unable to scythe his way through the field. His progress was soon halted and he joined front wing-less Will Palmer after damage from a collision.
Up front, Norris extended his lead after regaining the place from his team mate. Collard found himself going backwards as he was overtaken by Leist. Behind them, Toby Sowery and Tarun Reddy completed the top six.
Just as the race was getting into its flow, a red flag was flown after Quinlan Lall and Akhil Rabindra collided on lap seven at turn 14.
At the time, Norris was leading from Leist and Ahmed. Collard continued to struggle, but was initially handed third place as the results were counted back a lap. Despite this Ahmed collected the podium trophy.
After the results were edited, Sowery was handed fifth ahead of Reddy and Lall. Ben Hingley was handed eighth ensuring he’ll start on pole for tomorrows reverse grid race.
