Red Bull Driver Wins Red Flagged Race
Jaime Alguersuari got the best start off the line to lead the 27 car field into Paddock Hill for the first time. Third placed Oliver Turvey got a better start than Atte Mustonen to demote the Finn into the first corner by one place. Further back 5th placed Sebastian Hohenthal and 8th placed Henry Arundel both stalled their cars causing the drivers behind them to take avoiding action off the line, luckily with no incidents.
Brendon Hartley went down the inside of Max Chilton at Graham Hill Bend, gaining the New Zealander three places before the end of lap one. Another driver making a good start off the line was John Martin, the Australian making up six places as he crossed the line for the first time to end the lap in 10th, the place he would've started before his qualifying penalty for a yellow flag infringement.
In the National Class Jay Bridger led the class away but Jonathan Legris got a great start in the Litespeed SLC, moving ahead of Salman Al Khalifa, Stefan Wilson and Steven Guerraro to end lap one second in the National Class and challenging Bridger for the lead.
Alguersuari started to pull away at the front of the field as Mustonen put pressure on Turvey, who on turn had Sergio Perez filling his mirrors, with Marcus Ericsson and Walter Grubmuller not far behind. By lap six the leader had opened a five second gap to the Turvey / Mustonen battle and broke Marko Asmer's lap record as he continued to pull away.
Max Chilton was being challenged by John Martin for 9th place and on lap 8 the Australian picked off the Hitech Dallara. Chilton's race then got worse as the 17-year-old spun off at Paddock Hill, clattering the barriers hard.
Sam Abay was making progress from the back of the field, moving past Ricardo Teixeira to take 12th place from the Angolan. Alistair Jackson, who had started at the back of the field with Abay, was also making swift progress towards the front of the grid. The Northern Irish driver had to negotiate the five car National Class battle and as Stefan Wilson moved over to let Jackson through Salman Al Khalifa saw an opening to move ahead of Wilson for 4th in class.
Then Jackson pushed a little too hard and put two wheels on the outside curb at Surtees, losing control of the Mygale which spun across the track hitting the barriers on the inside of the exit hard. The safety car was deployed slowing the pace and bunching the field back up. With just a few minutes remaining the red flag was shown and the race declared on lap 16. Alistair Jackson was conscious the whole time and was taken to hospital as a precaution after complaining of neck pains and pain in his knee.
Jaime Alguersuari now holds a 10 point lead over Sergio Perez – 132 points to 122 – with Oliver Turvey in third on 118 points. Jay Bridger moves into the National Class lead for the first time, holding a 12 point advantage over the absent Andy Meyrick.
Round 14 of the 2008 British F3 International Series is due to start at 16:15 local time this afternoon.
ROUND 13 – Result
1 – 4 – Int – Jaime ALGUERSUARI – ESP – Carlin Motorsport – 22:24.116 – 16 laps
2 – 17 – Int – Oliver TURVEY – GBR – Carlin Motorsport – 22:24.782 – 16 – 0.666
3 – 26 – Int – Atte MUSTONEN – FIN – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – 22:25.889 – 16 – 1.773
4 – 9 – Int – Sergio PEREZ – MEX – T-Sport – 22:26.514 – 16 – 2.398
5 – 8 – Int – Marcus ERICSSON – SWE – Fortec Motorsport – 22:27.359 – 16 – 3.243
6 – 2 – Int – Walter GRUBMULLER – AUT – Hitech Racing – 22:27.698 – 16 – 3.582
7 – 28 – Int – Nick TANDY – GBR – JTR Marshall Westland – 22:28.615 – 16 – 4.499
8 – 3 – Int – Brendon HARTLEY – NZL – Carlin Motorsport – 22:29.474 – 16 – 5.358
9 – 24 – Int – John MARTIN – AUS – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – 22:29.927 – 16 – 5.811
10 – 16 – Int – Michael DEVANEY – IRL – Ultimate Motorsport – 23:12.545 – 16 – 48.4292
11 – 14 – Int – Philip MAJOR – CAN – Fortec Motorsport – 23:19.071 – 16 – 54.955
12 – 18 – Int – Sam ABAY – AUS – Carlin Motorsport – 23:19.433 – 16 – 55.317
13 – 12 – Int – Ricardo TEIXEIRA – ANG – Ultimate Motorsport – 23:20.449 – 16 – 56.333
14 – 50 – Nat – Jay BRIDGER – GBR – Fluid Motorsport Development – 23:21.947 – 16 – 57.831
15 – 61 – Nat – Jonathan LEGRIS – GBR – Litespeed F3 – 23:22.941 – 16 – 58.825
16 – 53 – Nat – Steven GUERRERO – COL – T-Sport – 23:23.305 – 16 – 59.189
17 – 57 – Nat – Salman AL KHALIFA – BHR – T-Sport – 23:23.881 – 16 – 59.765
18 – 51 – Nat – Stefan WILSON – GBR – Fluid Motorsport Development – 23:25.347 – 16 – 01:01.231
19 – 5 – Int – Viktor JENSEN – ISL – Nexa Racing – 23:25.814 – 16 – 01:01.698
20 – 6 – Int – Henry ARUNDEL – GBR – Raikkonen Robertson Racing – 23:26.172 – 16 – 01:02.056
21 – 56 – Nat – Martin O CONNELL – IRL – Carlin Motorsport – 23:31.683 – 16 – 01:07.567
22 – 52 – Nat – Hywel LLOYD – GBR – C F Racing – 23:34.152 – 16 – 01:10.036
23 – 59 – Nat – Jordan WILLIAMS – GBR – Team Loctite – 23:38.048 – 16 – 01:13.932
24 – 54 – Nat – Kristjan EINAR – ISL – Carlin Motorsport – 23:40.229 – 16 – 01:16.113
Not Classified
DNF – 11 – Int – Alistair JACKSON – GBR – Ultimate Motorsport – 15:13.138 – 11 – 5
DNF – 7 – Int – Sebastian HOHENTHAL – SWE – Fortec Motorsport – 13:58.480 – 10 – 6
DNF – 1 – Int – Max CHILTON – GBR – Hitech Racing – 12:11.452 – 9 – 7
Fastest Lap
4 – Int – Jaime ALGUERSUARI – ESP – Carlin Motorsport – 105.54mph – 01:18.478
50 – Nat – Jay BRIDGER – GBR – Fluid Motorsport Development – 102.42mph – 01:20.869