Calado leads home Carlin 1-2-3-4 at Thruxton
The Racing Steps man passed team mate Jean-Eric Vergne for the lead on lap 15, with Rupert Svendsen-Cook following home the two leaders in third and Adriano Buzaid fourth. Lucas Foresti finished in a competitive sixth place, while Jazeman Jaafar crossed the line 13th having served a drive-through penalty early on. Lining up on pole this afternoon, Vergne had team mate Calado along side him, and Svendsen-Cook just behind in third. As the lights went out, Svendsen-Cook made the best start at the front to beat Calado into the first corner and slot in just behind Vergne for second place. Calado meanwhile lost out to both Buzaid and Jaafar over the first few corners, but his way back to third by the end of the first lap.
Behind him, Buzaid had made a good start to jump Oliver Webb for fourth place, as had Jaafar in fifth, although Jaafar was later deemed to have jumped the start. Foresti was seventh. By lap six, the racing was close, with Buzaid under pressure from Webb for fourth and Foresti being chased by McKenzie for sixth. Jaafar meanwhile dropped down the order having taken a drive-through penalty for his earlier jump start. By lap eight, Buzaid had managed to break the tow from Webb and was pulling away in a comfortable fourth place, which enabled Foresti to close in on Webb for fifth. At the front, the gap between race leader Vergne and second placed man Calado was visibly closing and by lap 13 was just 0.7 seconds. Two laps later Calado found a way past to take the lead although Vergne stayed close for the remainder of the race.
Behind the leaders, Svendsen-Cook ran a lonely race in fourth place 14 seconds behind Vergne, while Buzaid was another four and half seconds behind Svendsen-Cook. While the frontrunners looked unchallenged, the order behind the top four remained uncertain until the checkered flag, as Foresti kept fifth placed man Webb under constant pressure for the duration of the race. In the end, Foresti couldn’t quite manage to find his way through, but finished sixth, just 0.6 seconds behind Webb. At the front, Calado led home Vergne, Svendsen-Cook and Buzaid to take Carlin’s second ever 1-2-3-4 finish, while Jaafar finished a frustrated 13th, but claimed one point for setting the fastest lap on lap three. Speaking about his race, Calado said, “There seemed to be a mistake with the 5 second board at the start and I think it ended up being out for about 8 seconds or something. I was on the biting point the whole time so my clutch was completely burnt out and slipping until the second corner.
“I didn’t make a great start and slipped to fifth on the first lap but managed to pass Jazeman and Adriano around the outside going into the complex. I overtook Rupert in the same place later and then started to close in on Jev. He made a little mistake and I managed to get into his slip stream at the end of the back straight and pass him. Then I had a bit more drama at the end – I backed off as I thought it was the last lap and clearly it wasn’t as Jev was still racing and he got really close! Thankfully I had enough space to keep the lead and take the win." Trevor Carlin added, “It was a great drive by James and a great effort by the whole team. All of the drivers did a fantastic job, to see five of them in the top six and take the fastest lap as well is a great achievement for us."
Provisional results International class
1 James CALADO / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 30m 32.030s / 124.99mph
2 Jean-Eric VERGNE / FRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +0.305s
3 Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +14.387s
4 Adriano BUZAID / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +18.839s
5 Oli WEBB / GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +24.456s
6 Lucas FORESTI / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +25.058s
7 Felipe NASR / BRA, RR Dallara-Mercedes +25.276s
8 Daniel McKENZIE / GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +26.863s
9 William BULLER / GBR, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +30.636s
10 Carlos HUERTAS / COL, RR Dallara-Mercedes +32.845s etc
National Class
1 James COLE / GBR, T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda +54.662s
Fastest lap: Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS, Carlin Dallara-VW 1m 06.892s / 126.79mph