Florescu wins as Carlin lock out the podium

In what was an incredible race Carlin has secured a podium lock-out in the second British Formula Four Championship certified by FIA race at Snetterton this afternoon. Petru Florescu took the lead at the first corner and didn’t look back until the finish however it was a fight through the field and on to the podium for both James Pull and Devlin Defrancesco who joined him in second and third. Having clinched 800 podiums earlier in the day following a great result in the opening race of the weekend, Florescu went one better to take a fantastic victory, and the championship lead, with the team adding three more trophies to their collection. Max Fewtrell put on a strong show having started in 18th position to work his way all the way up to ninth as the flag fell.

Off the line Florescu launched incredibly well and was running wheel to wheel with pole sitter Rafael Martins. The pair came extremely close but provided each other just enough of a gap which the Romanian racer used to his advantage to steal the lead of the race as his own. By the end of the first lap Florescu had pulled a strong gap with Pull sixth, Defrancesco eighth and Fewtrell 17th.

With overtaking at a premium at the Snetterton circuit there were few changes of positions in the early laps however an off for Zane Goddard saw him bump over the curbs and put him out of position; elevating Pull and Defrancesco up to fifth and seventh respectively. Fewtrell meanwhile was out of position near the back of the grid and looking to make progress – after five laps the young Brit had already moved up to 13th place and was chasing down Patrik Mattheisen to further his progress.

Florescu at the front looked to be in a league of his own and had soon built up a gap of nearly four seconds however an off for Jack Martin brought the safety car out on track and eliminated the hard earned gap. However it worked perfectly for Fewtrell who had just passed Matthieson and had work to do in order to catch Jamie Caroline who was seven seconds up the road.

The restart provided drama with Florescu heading off in the distance leaving Martins and Luis Leeds to battle between themselves; resulting in the pair making contact and crashing out of contention. This is turn moved Pull up to third but the Brit was not satisfied and pulled a move on Nicolai Kjaergaard to move up to second position. Just a few corners later, the drama continued with Defrancesco, who had been in seventh, holding his nerve and taking third position as his own – in turn ensuring a Carlin 1-2-3 with just moments left in the race.

The three Carlin front runners were untroubled and stormed to a Carlin podium lockout headed by Florescu who took his fifth victory of the season. Fewtrell meanwhile enjoyed a strong recovery drive from his 18th place starting position to cross the line in ninth place.

Florescu said of his victory, “This was a great comeback after the missed opportunities in qualifying earlier today. I am happy to have had a good start and then put in a very strong race – getting the second quickest time of the weekend so far too and the fastest lap of the race. I am also very grateful for the fast car from Carlin that got us on the podium. It’s always a good feeling to be on the podium but when you’re there with your team mates that’s better – and I want to congratulate them for their strong race too; a great team result."

The strong haul of points also means that Carlin head the top four slots in the championship standings with Florescu leading from Fewtrell ahead of Pull and Defrancesco in fourth before the third and final race of the weekend takes place tomorrow at 14.50 UK time.