A lights-to-flag victory saw Linus Lundqvist wrap up the BRDC British F3 Championship as rival Nicolai Kjaergaard retired on the opening lap.
Lundqvist now holds a unassalable 85 point lead going into the final two races, securing him the title that was won over a year ago by Enaam Ahmed. He becomes the first Double R Racing driver since Matheus Leist to secure the crown.
The start had been slightly delayed due a crash in the previous Monoposto race damaged the pit barrier, continuing to build nerves ahead of the first race of the weekend. Weather had also changed with the sun now hitting the Silverstone circuit.
One driver who must have been feeling the pressure was Kjaergaard. On top of needing to overturn a 50 point deficit, it had been revealed the Carlin driver was racing with his hand strapped due to an incident on Friday. With the track improving it was unknown whether he could adapt, saying; “It’s difficult to say whether drier conditions will help us, we didn’t have a lot of dry running yesterday.” to ThePitCrewOnline prior to the race.
As it turned out, Kjaergaard would do more than lose a few places as a disastrous start for all the front-running Carlin’s was made worse with the Dane pulling off on the first lap.
All Lundqvist had to do was finish in the top three and after holding off a challenge by Tom Gamble, maintained the lead by the end of the second lap. From here he continued to extend his advantage, setting fastest lap in the process and winning by over 3 seconds.
In the battle for second, Gamble had jumped a position off the start, but came under early pressure from the fast starting Manuel Maldonado. As the race developed, Billy Monger joined the pair, with all three getting warned for track limits.
Gamble though would hold on for his best result since Spa-Francorchamps. Monger picked up his fourth podium of the year holding off Maldonado in the closing stages. The position was vital for the Carlin driver who is fighting the Venezuelan for sixth in the standings.
Fifth would be Ayrton Simmons after a quiet race for the CDR representative. Krishnaraaj Mahadik‘s sixth ensures the battle for third in the championship continues, with Josuf Owega jumping five places in the opening lap to finish seventh. Rounding out the top eight would be Hampus Ericsson as he spent the race holding off a four car train.
