In the final BRDC British F3 Championship race of the weekend, Nicolai Kjaergaard took a comfortable victory in the damp Oulton Park conditions. While the race had started with only the track covered in spray, the rain came down
At the start, both Kjaergaard and Lundqvist bogged down, but the Dane retained his advantage through the opening sector. With Lundqvist under pressure, Tom Gamble took the advantage and edged the Swede over the grass dropping him down to fourth.
This left Kjaergaard with a large lead after the opening lap. Gamble attempted to follow him, with the Ginetta Junior champion closing the gap as the rain came down. Both pulled away from the opposition with Kush Maini now third.
All eyes soon trurned to Clement Novalak. The Brit had started at the back but was tenth after just the first lap. It was clear the rookie was loving the rain as it started to fall heavier. By the start of the fifth lap, Novalak had overtaken Billy Monger for fifth and set his sights on Lundqvist.
Fortunately for Novalak, he didn’t even need to put in the effort as Lundqvist ran wide at Hislops allowing the Carlin into fourth. Further back, Krishnaraaj Mahadik had made the best start, jumping to sixth, but a tricky second half saw him drop down to ninth by the flag.
Kjaergaard would have been praying for the chequered flag as Gamble closed up to under a second. The Dane leaves Oulton as the championship leader with 88 points, while Maini rounded out the podium.
Novalak’s storm through the field will put a high price on his helmet heading into Rockingham, while Lundqvist will be disappointed to have lost ground to the leaders. Behind them, Tristan Charpentier held off the late advances of Jamie Chadwick.
Monger crossed the line a very distant eighth, having dropped two positions in as many laps. The double-amputee was clearly struggling in the wet conditions, while Mahadik was ninth in front of Manuel Maldonado who had been forced to start from the pitlane.
