Ben Hingeley made the most of the safety car restart to win the final BRDC British F3 Championship race from Rockingham. The result gives him his maiden win and Fortec Motorsports first of the year.
A clean start for polesitter Cameron Das saw the American pull away from his rivals as the battle for second drew the attention of the crowd. Championship leader Enaam Ahmed made a clean start, but remained on the outside going into the first corner.
The dirty line provided no grip for Ahmed as he ran wide at the hairpin, dropping to the back as a result. He was given a lifeline though as Harry Hayek‘s contact with Aaron di Comberti brought out the safety car.
As the race leader, Das held the field up far too much into the final corner, allowing James Pull and Hingeley simply drive around either side of him. The green flag running didn’t last long though with Nicolai Kjaergaard clipping the back of Jeremy Wahome and knocking off Omar Ismail.
The second restart saw Hingeley lead the field away with Pull being forced to defend from Das, allowing Toby Sowery and Callan O’Keeffe to catch them.
Behind them, the battle for sixth drew many people’s attention as Wahome, attempted to defend from the quintet of challengers. Chase Owen would pressure the Kenyan, but he held on for his best result in the series to date.
He wasn’t the only driver to claim a personal best with Hingeley clocking in his maiden F3 victory. Pull and Das would follow him across the line, a wasted opportunity for the American who could have dominated.
Sowery would defend from O’Keeffe to secure fourth as Wahome, Owen and Guilherme Samaia rounded out the top eight. Championship leader Ahmed would recover to ninth.
